Our psychological predispositions pros or cons must not misleads us. All that matters is the evidence, and the evident is not in.
Leave nothing to chance. Overlook nothing. Combine contradictory observations. Allow yourself enough time.
Equally, where the technological application of scientific discoveries is clear and obvious – as when a scientist works on nerve gases – he cannot properly claim that such applications are “none of his business,” merely on the ground that it is the military forces, not scientists, who use the gases to disable or kill. This is even more obvious when the scientist deliberately offers help to governments, in exchange for funds.
Vigorous criticism is more constructive in science than in some other areas of human endeavor because in science there are adequate standards of validity that can be agreed upon by competent practitioners the world over. The objective of such criticism is not to suppress but rather to encourage the advance of new ideas: those that survive a firm skeptical scrutiny have a fighting chance of being right, or at least useful.
Would not a rational society spend more on understanding and preventing, than on preparing for, the next war?
Que haya cosas que el observador ordinario, o incluso el experto, no entiende, es inevitable.
We lack consensus about our place in the Universe. There is no generally agreed upon long-term vision of the goal of our species – other than, perhaps, simple survival. Especially when times are hard, we become desperate for encouragement, unreceptive to the litany of great demotions and dashed hopes, and much more willing to hear that we’re special, never mind if the evidence is paper-thin.
This planet is run by crazy people. Remember what they have to do to get where they are. Their perspective is so narrow, so... brief. A few years. In the best of them a few decades. They care only about the time they are in power.
If we can accomplish the integration of the search without obliterating cultural differences or destroying ourselves, we will have accomplished a great thing.
We are too small and our statecraft is too feeble to be seen by a spacecraft between the Earth and the Moon. From this vantage point, our obsession with nationalism is nowhere in evidence.
Because science carries us toward an understanding of how the world is, rather than how we would wish it to be, its findings may not in all cases be immediately comprehensible or satisfying. It may take a little work to restructure our mindsets. Some of science is very simple. When it gets complicated, that’s usually because the world is complicated – or because we’re complicated.
Exponential increases in population will dominate any arithmetic increases, even those brought about by heroic technological initiatives, in the availability of food and resources, as Malthus long ago realized. While some industrial nations have approached zero population growth, this is not the case for the world as a whole.
I’m frequently asked, “Do you believe there’s extraterrestrial intelligence?” I give the standard arguments – there are a lot of places out there, the molecules of life are everywhere, I use the word billions, and so on.
Who is really in charge of this planet?
There are so many examples of human misuse of the Earth that even phrasing this question chills me. If there is life on Mars, I believe we should do nothing with Mars. Mars then belongs to the Martians, even if the Martians are only microbes. The existence of an independent biology on a nearby planet is a treasure beyond assessing, and the preservation of that life must, I think, supersede any other possible use of Mars.
In addition, human beings have, in the most recent few tenths of a percent of our existence, invented not only extra-genetic but also extrasomatic knowledge: information stored outside our bodies, of which writing is the most notable example.
Those who avoid decapitation leave more offspring.
When too much cynicism threatens to engulf us, it is buoying to remember how pervasive goodness is.
If God is omnipotent and omniscient, why didn’t he start the universe out in the first place so it would come out the way he wants? Why’s he constantly repairing and complaining? No, there’s one thing the Bible makes clear: The biblical God is a sloppy manufacturer.
Evolution is adventitious and not foresighted. Only through the deaths of an immense number of slightly maladapted organisms are we, brains and all, here today.