Do not become archivists of facts. Try to penetrate to the secret of their occurrence, persistently search for the laws which govern them.
Interpretation
The quote encourages deep exploration and understanding beyond mere facts. It emphasizes the importance of discovering underlying principles and laws.
Ivan Pavlov suggests that simply storing information is insufficient; instead, he advocates for an analytical approach to understand the mechanisms behind the information we encounter. This involves probing deeper into the nature of facts and uncovering the principles and patterns that dictate their behavior, fostering a more profound comprehension of the world.
In practice
In a lecture on scientific methods, this quote can be used to inspire students to think critically.
If we could look through the skull into the brain of a consciously thinking person, and if the place of optimal excitability were luminous, then we should see playing over the cerebral surface, a bright spot with fantastic, waving borders constantly fluctuating in size and form, surrounded by a darkness more or less deep, covering the rest of the hemisphere.
From the described experiment it is clear that the mere act of eating, the food even not reaching the stomach, determines the stimulation of the gastric glands.
When the dog is repeatedly teased with the sight of objects inducing salivary secretion from a distance, the reaction of the salivary glands grows weaker and weaker and finally drops to zero.
It is not accidental that all phenomena of human life are dominated by the search for daily bread - the oldest link connecting all living things, man included, with the surrounding nature.
Science demands from a man all his life. If you had two lives that would not be enough for you. Be passionate in your work and in your searching.
Learn the ABC of science before you try to ascend to its summit.
Even your chin is made up of exploded stars.
What I like about sceptics is that in good science you need critics that make you think: 'Crumbs, have I made a mistake here?' If you don't have that continuously, you really are up the creek. The good sceptics have done a good service, but some of the mad ones I think have not done anyone any favours.
We're in very bad trouble if we don't understand the planet we're trying to save.
Quantum physics thus reveals a basic oneness of the universe.
All matter comes from a primary substance, the luminiferous ether
There's a small worm called Loa Loa Filariasis. This parasite can survive in one environment exclusively- namely, underneath the skin and inside the eyes of human beings. Children and the elderly in tropical regions (usually the poorest) are the most widely affected. A painful, slow death is virtually certain. The worm can actually live in the host for 17 years before the host finally dies.
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