What if there is no rebirth?

Recently, I found a rather interesting quote of HH Dalai Lama XIV, which he said in Bodhgaya interviews, 1981: > *“Buddhists believe in rebirth. But suppose through various investigative means, science comes one day to a definite conclusion that **there is no rebirth**. If this is definitely proven, then **we must accept it** and we will accept it.”* — [see, for example, here](http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/private/flanagan_lectures/Science_for_Monks.pdf) First of all, it's worth mentioning that this phrase seems to be one of the most progressive thought I have ever seen. However, I would like to know, **how exactly the Buddhist community will behave** in case if, indeed, scientific method proves some day that one of key concepts of Buddhism (not necessarily, rebirth) is not correct. Obviously, it's impossible to rewrite sacral books, rethink important consequences of a mentioned concept, restructure rituals, etc. Also, many people are *happy* with current paradigms, and such discovery may have disastrous effect on many of them.