In this paper I introduce the thesis of cultural readiness about science found in the historical analysis of the Alvarez impact hypothesis of the end-Cretaceous mass extinction. Cultural readiness posits that in some scientific domains, there are scientifically apt questions, methodologies or theories that are only developed, considered, and adopted by a scientific community once some combination of empirical and cultural factors obtains within and without that domain. I demonstrate that 21st century philosophy of the historical sciences has been motivated by a commitment to legitimization and has prioritized epistemic ingenuity and has not addressed cultural readiness. I then argue that one vehicle for cultural readiness in the historical sciences is their use of narrative explanatory forms. Narratives offer an arena to blend cultural and empirical phenomena by their characteristic elicitation of familiarity and emotionality.

中文翻译：

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文化对历史科学的影响

在本文中，我介绍了在白垩纪末期大规模灭绝的阿尔瓦雷斯撞击假说的历史分析中发现的关于科学的文化准备论点。文化准备假定在某些科学领域中，存在科学上恰当的问题、方法论或理论，只有在经验的某种组合后才被科学界发展、考虑和采用和文化因素在该领域内外都有影响。我证明了 21 世纪历史科学哲学的动机是对合法化的承诺，并且优先考虑认知独创性，并没有解决文化准备问题。然后我认为，历史科学中文化准备的一种载体是他们使用叙事解释形式。叙事提供了一个舞台，通过其熟悉和情感的特征引出来融合文化和经验现象。