|
Post by Tamrin on Jun 2, 2013 10:12:50 GMT 10
There is a condition worse than blindness, and that is, seeing something that isn't there
Thomas Hardy (Born this day 1840)
*
It is morally as bad not to care whether a thing is true or not, so long as it makes you feel good, as it is not to care how you got your money as long as you have got it
Edwin Way Teale (Born this day 1899)
|
|
|
Post by Tamrin on Jun 2, 2013 11:14:19 GMT 10
I don't care about motivation. I care about credibility
Eliot Spitzer
*
I mean, you could claim that anything's real if the only basis for believing in it is that nobody's proved it doesn't exist!
J.K. Rowling
*
Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is an absurd one
Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities
When we hear news, we should always wait for the sacrament of confirmation
Voltaire
*
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence
The truth may be puzzling. It may take some work to grapple with. It may be counter- intuitive. It may contradict deeply held prejudices. It may not be consonant with what we desperately want to be true. But our preferences do not determine what's true
Who is more humble? The scientist who looks at the universe with an open mindand accepts whatever the universe has to teach us, or somebody who says everything in this book must be considered the literal truth and never mind the fallibility of all the human beings involved? Carl Sagan
*
I know of no society in human history that ever suffered because its people became too desirous of evidence in support of their core beliefs
Tell a devout Christian that his wife is cheating on him, or that frozen yogurt can make a man invisible, and he is likely to require as much evidence as anyone else, and to be per- suaded only to the extent that you give it. Tell him that the book he keeps by his bed was written by an invisible deity who will punish him with fire for eternity if he fails to accept its every incredible claim about the universe, and he seems to require no evidence what so ever
It is also worth noting that one can obtain a Ph.D. in any branch of science for no other purpose than to make cynical use of scientific language in an effort to rationalize the glaring inadequacies of the Bible. A handful of Christians appear to have done this; some have even obtained their degrees from reputable universities. No doubt, others will follow in their footsteps. While such people are technically "scientists," they are not behaving like scientists. They simply are not engaged in an hon- est inquiry into the nature of the universe. And their proclamations about God and the failures of Darwinism do not in the least signify that there is a legitimate scientific controversy about evolution
Sam Harris
*
What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence
Christopher Hitchens
*
“Don't you believe in flying saucers, they ask me? Don't you believe in telepathy? — in ancient astronauts? — in the Bermuda triangle? — in life after death? No, I reply. No, no, no, no, and again no. One person recently, goaded into desperation by the litany of unrelieved negation, burst out "Don't you believe in anything?" Yes", I said. "I believe in evidence. I believe in observation, measurement, and reasoning, confirmed by independent observers. I'll believe anything, no matter how wild and ridiculous, if there is evidence for it. The wilder and more ridiculous something is, however, the firmer and more solid the evidence will have to be” Isaac Asimov
*
Ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions. Ideas must be distinct before reason can act upon them; and no man ever had a distinct idea of the trinity. It is the mere Abracadabra of the mountebanks calling themselves the priests of Jesus
Tomas Jefferson
*
Give me the storm and tempest of thought and action, rather than the dead calm of ignorance and faith. Banish me from Eden when you will; but first let me eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge
No one, in the world's whole history, ever attempted to substantiate a truth by a miracle. Truth scorns the assistance of miracle. Nothing but falsehood ever attested itself by signs and wonders. No miracle ever was performed, and no sane man ever thought he had performed one, and until one is per- formed, there can be no evidence of the existence of any power superior to, and independent of nature Robert G. Ingersoll
*
Most institutions demand unqualified faith; but the institution of science makes skepticism a virtue
Robert K. Merton
*
The opinions that are held with passion are always those for which no good ground exists; indeed the passion is the measure of the holders lack of rational conviction. Opinions in politics and religion are almost always held passionately
Bertrand Russell
*
Men think epilepsy divine, merely because they do not understand it. But if they called everything divine which they do not understand, why, there would be no end to divine things
Hippocrates
*
People wrap themselves in their beliefs. And they do it in such a way that you can't set them free. Not even the truth will set them free Michael Specter
*
Is it more probable that nature should go out of her course or that a man should tell a lie? We have never seen, in our time, nature go out of her course. But we have good reason to believe that millions of lies have been told in the same time. It is therefore at least millions to one that the reporter of a miracle tells a lie
Thomas Paine
*
So my antagonist said, "Is it impossible that there are flying saucers? Can you prove that it's impossible?" "No", I said, "I can't prove it's impossible. It's just very unlikely." At that he said, "You are very unscientific. If you can't prove it impossible then how can you say that it's unlikely?" But that is the way that is scientific. It is scientific only to say what is more likely and what less likely, and not to be proving all the time the possible and impossible
Richard P. Feynman
*
When anyone tells me that he saw a dead man restored to life, I immediately consider with myself whether it be more probable that this person should either deceive or be deceived or that the fact which he relates should really have happened. I weigh the one miracle against the other and according to the superiority which I discover, I pronounce my decision. Always I reject he greater miracle. If the falsehood of his testimony would be more miraculous than the event which he relates, then and not till then, can he pretend to command my belief or opinion
David Hume
*
If you are searching for sacred knowledge and not just a palliative for your fears, then you will train yourself to be a good skeptic
Ann Druyan
*
One special advantage of the skeptical attitude of mind is that a man is never vexed to find that after all he has been in the wrong
William Osler
*
Scepticism is the chastity of the intellect, and it is shameful to surrender it too soon or to the first comer: there is nobility in preserving it coolly and proudly through long youth, until at last, in the ripeness of instinct and discretion, it can be safely exchanged for fidelity and happiness
George Santayana
*
One of the biggest problems with the world today is that we have large groups of people who will accept whatever they hear on the grapevine, just because it suits their worldview—not because it is actually true or because they have evidence to support it. The really striking thing is that it would not take much effort to establish validity in most of these cases… but people prefer reassurance to research
Neil deGrasse Tyson
|
|
|
Post by Smithee on Jun 2, 2013 14:36:38 GMT 10
"The superstition that a belief based on faith is different from a superstition is the greatest superstition of all." - Karlheinz Deschner
|
|
|
Post by Smithee on Jun 2, 2013 14:38:01 GMT 10
"It is ambition enough to be employed as an under-labourer in clearing the ground a little, and removing some of the rubbish which lies in the way to knowledge." - John Locke.
|
|
|
Post by Smithee on Jun 2, 2013 14:55:25 GMT 10
"I think that it is much more likely that the reports of flying saucers are the results of the known irrational characteristics of terrestrial intelligence than of the unknown rational efforts of extra-terrestrial intelligence." - Richard P Feynman.
|
|
|
Post by Tamrin on Jun 3, 2013 10:55:50 GMT 10
There is science, logic, reason; there is thought verified by experience. And then there is California
Edward Abbey
*
When people thought the Earth was flat, they were wrong. When people thought the Earth was spherical they were wrong. But if you think that thinking the Earth is spherical is just as wrong as thinking the Earth is flat, then your view is wronger than both of them put together
Isaac Asimov
*
The Requisites of a good Hypothesis are: That It be Intelligible. That It neither Assume nor Suppose anything Impossible, unintelligible, or demonstrably False. That It be con- sistent with Itself. That It be lit and sufficient to Explicate the Phaenomena, especially the chief. That It be, at least, consistent, with the rest of the Phaenomena It particularly relates to, and do not contradict any other known Phaenomena of nature, or manifest Physical Truth
The Qualities and Conditions of an Excellent Hypothesis are: That It be not Precarious, but have sufficient Grounds In the nature of the Thing Itself or at least be well recom- mended by some Auxiliary Proofs. That It be the Simplest of all the good ones we are able to frame, at least containing nothing that is superfluous or Impertinent. That It be the only Hypothesis that can Explicate the Phaenomena; or at least, that do's Explic- ate them so well. That it enable a skilful Naturailst to foretell future Phaenomena by the Congruity or Incongruity to it; and especially the event of such Experlm'ts as are aptly devis'd to examine It, as Things that ought, or ought not, to be consequent to It
Robert Boyle
*
Speculation is perfectly all right, but if you stay there you've only founded a superstition. If you test it, you've started a science
Hal Clement
*
Let us be well assured of the Matter of Fact, before we trouble ourselves with enquiring into the Cause. It is true, that this Method is too slow for the greatest part of Mankind, who run naturally to the Cause, and pass over the Truth of the Matter of Fact
Bernard Fontenelle
*
Science is all those things which are confirmed to such a degree that it would be unreasonable to withhold one's provisional consent
Stephen Jay Gould
*
Science walks forward on two feet, namely theory and experiment
Robert Andrews Millikan
*
The path of sound credence is through the thick forest of scepticism
George Jean Nathan
*
To mistrust science and deny the validity of the scientific method is to resign your job as a human. You’d better go look for work as a plant or wild animal
P.J. O’Rourke
*
If you get careless or go romanticizing scientific information, giving it a flourish here and there, Nature will soon make a complete fool out of you
Robert M Pirsig
*
When you hear hoof-beats think horses not zebras
Theodore Woodward
[Prefer even zebras to unicorns]
*
The work of science is to substitute facts for appearances, and demonstrations for impressions
John Ruskin
*
There are many hypotheses in science which are wrong. That's perfectly all right; they're the aperture to finding out what's right. Science is a self-correcting process. To be accepted, new ideas must survive the most rigorous standards of evidence and scrutiny
At the heart of science is an essential balance between two seemingly contradictory attitudes — an openness to new ideas, no matter how bizarre or counterintuitive they may be, and the most ruthless skeptical scrutiny of all ideas, old and new. This is how deep truths are winnowed from deep nonsense
In science it often happens that scientists say, "You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken," and then they actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion
Carl Sagan
*
Science is the great antidote to the poison of enthusiasm and superstition
Adam Smith
*
Let us unite on the safe and sure ground of fact and experiment, and we can never err; yet better, we can never differ
Frances Wright
|
|
|
Post by Tamrin on Jun 4, 2013 6:54:06 GMT 10
As it is the chief concern of wise men, to retrench the evils of life, by reasonings of philosophy; so it is the employment of fools, to multiply them, by sentiments of superstition
Bro. Wellins Calcott (“Father of the Didactic School of Freemasonry”)
|
|
|
Post by Tamrin on Jun 8, 2013 11:24:34 GMT 10
Human beings... are far too prone to generalize from one instance. The technical word for this, interestingly enough, is superstition
Francis Crick, FRS English biologist, co-discovered DNA's structure (Born this day 1916)
*
Theory without practice — that's ignorance!
Eric F. Wieschaus American developmental biologist and Nobel laureate (1995) (Born this day 1947)
|
|
|
Post by Tamrin on Jun 9, 2013 8:42:33 GMT 10
Rationalism doesn’t require “belief,” only observation. The real, measurable world doesn’t care what you believe
Joe Haldeman (Born this day 1943)
|
|
|
Post by Tamrin on Jun 10, 2013 7:46:40 GMT 10
Authority has every reason to fear the skeptic, for authority can rarely survive in the face of doubt
Vita Sackville-West
|
|