I'm jealous. But I'm in total agreement with you regarding preconceived notions and political correctness. We have made fascinating discoveries over the past few decades and undoubtedly we will make more.
Viewing them objectively is essential.
We weren't exactly bosom buddies but developed an acqaintance over several years when he made several trips to lecture at the local university. I was a newspaper reporter with an interest in his field and interviewed him several times for news and feature pieces. I later carried on an interesting correspondence with him for a few years while he was with the Coryndon Museum in Nairobi.