The more important the subject and the closer it cuts to the bone of our hopes and needs, the more we are likely to err in establishing a framework for analysis.

Quote by Stephen Jay Gould

Topics: Stephen Jay Gould Quotes

When people learn no tools of judgment and merely follow their hopes, the seeds of...

When people learn no tools of judgment and merely follow their hopes, the seeds of...

The most erroneous stories are those we think we know best - and therefore never...

The most erroneous stories are those we think we know best - and therefore never...

The most important scientific revolutions all include, as their only common feature, the dethronement of...

The most important scientific revolutions all include, as their only common feature, the dethronement of...

Few tragedies can be more extensive than the stunting of life, few injustices deeper than...

Few tragedies can be more extensive than the stunting of life, few injustices deeper than...

Nothing is more dangerous than a dogmatic worldview - nothing more constraining, more blinding to...

Nothing is more dangerous than a dogmatic worldview - nothing more constraining, more blinding to...

The proof of evolution lies in those adaptations that arise from improbable foundations.

The proof of evolution lies in those adaptations that arise from improbable foundations.

The most important scientific revolutions all include, as their only common feature, the dethronement of...

The most important scientific revolutions all include, as their only common feature, the dethronement of...

Look in the mirror, and don't be tempted to equate transient domination with either intrinsic...

Look in the mirror, and don't be tempted to equate transient domination with either intrinsic...

Creationist critics often charge that evolution cannot be tested, and therefore cannot be viewed as...

Creationist critics often charge that evolution cannot be tested, and therefore cannot be viewed as...

The most important scientific revolutions all include, as their only common feature, the dethronement of...

The most important scientific revolutions all include, as their only common feature, the dethronement of...

We are glorious accidents of an unpredictable process with no drive to complexity, not the...

We are glorious accidents of an unpredictable process with no drive to complexity, not the...

In science, fact can only mean confirmed to such a degree that it would be...

In science, fact can only mean confirmed to such a degree that it would be...

We pass through this world but once.

We pass through this world but once.

Science is an integral part of culture. It's not this foreign thing, done by an...

Science is an integral part of culture. It's not this foreign thing, done by an...

Facts do not 'speak for themselves', they are read in the light of theory

Facts do not 'speak for themselves', they are read in the light of theory

No rational order of divine intelligence unites species. The natural ties are genealogical along contingent...

No rational order of divine intelligence unites species. The natural ties are genealogical along contingent...

The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.

The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.

A formal manipulator in mathematics often experiences the discomforting feeling that his pencil surpasses him...

A formal manipulator in mathematics often experiences the discomforting feeling that his pencil surpasses him...

We must remember that we have to make judges out of men, and that by...

We must remember that we have to make judges out of men, and that by...

But our society does not grant nontraditional forms of intelligence equal recognition, no matter how...

But our society does not grant nontraditional forms of intelligence equal recognition, no matter how...