The enemy of science is not religion... . The true enemy is the substitution of thought, reflection, and curiosity with dogma.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes that the real threat to scientific progress is not religion, but rather uncritical acceptance of dogmatic beliefs over thoughtful inquiry.
Frans De Waal argues that science thrives on questioning and exploration; thus, the refusal to engage in reflective thought and curiosity—often replaced by rigid dogma—poses a far greater danger to the pursuit of knowledge than any religious perspective. The essence of scientific endeavor lies in its foundation of skepticism and inquiry, making it imperative to foster an environment where questioning is valued over accepting predefined beliefs.
In practice
In a debate about the role of religion in education, one might say this quote to emphasize the importance of critical thinking.
As in a Russian doll, however, the outer layers always contain an inner core. Instead of evolution having replaced simpler forms of empathy with more advanced ones, the latter are merely elaborations on the former and remain dependent on them. This also means that empathy comes naturally to us. It is not something we only learn later in life, or that is culturally constructed.
Sometimes I read about someone saying with great authority that animals have no intentions and no feelings, and I wonder, 'Doesn't this guy have a dog?'
Experiments with animals have long been handicapped by our anthropocentric attitude: We often test them in ways that work fine with humans but not so well with other species.
Being both more systematically brutal than chimps and more empathetic than _x000D_ bonobos, we are by far the most bipolar ape. Our societies are never completely peaceful, never completely competitive, never ruled by sheer selfishness, and never perfectly moral.
If you look at human society, it is very easy, of course, to compare our warfare and territoriality with the chimpanzee. But that's only one side of what we do. We also trade, we intermarry, we allow each other to travel through our territory. There's an enormous amount of cooperation.
Human morality is unthinkable without empathy.
In the long run, curiosity-driven research just works better... Real breakthroughs come from people focusing on what they're excited about.
Burning carbon-based substances like oil, gas, and especially coal, produces billions of tons of extra carbon dioxide each year. Methane gas from cows and pigs and other animals on our large farms ends up in the atmosphere as well, trapping more of the sun's energy as heat.
Sometimes the probabilities are very close to certainties, but they're never really certainties
And I don't care what else anyone has ever told you, the Sun is white, not yellow. Human color perception is a complicated business, but if the Sun were yellow, like a yellow lightbulb, then white stuff such as snow would reflect this light and appear yellow-a snow condition confirmed to happen only near fire hydrants.
The magnitude of the atomic weight determines the character of the element, just as the magnitude of the molecule determines the character of a compound body.
It {Darwin's theory of evolution] was a concept of such stunning simplicity, but it gave rise, naturally, to all of the infinite and baffling complexity of life. The awe it inspired in me made the awe that people talk about in respect of religious experience seem, frankly, silly beside it. I'd take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance any day.
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