Science is a way to not fool ourselves.
Carl SaganRead
My view is that if there is no evidence for it, then forget about it. An agnostic is somebody who doesn’t believe in something until there is evidence for it, so I’m agnostic.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of evidence in forming beliefs, aligning with an agnostic viewpoint.
Carl Sagan's quote reflects the foundational principle of skepticism and critical thinking that underpins scientific inquiry. By identifying as agnostic, he asserts that beliefs should be based on evidence, and without sufficient proof, one should remain open-minded and refrain from accepting claims as true. This perspective promotes a rational approach to knowledge and understanding.
In practice
In a philosophy class discussion on belief systems and science.
Science is a way to not fool ourselves.
In more than one respect, the exploring of the Solar System and homesteading other worlds constitutes the beginning, much more than the end, of history.
How smart does a chimpanzee have to be before killing him constitutes murder?
The hole in the ozone layer is a kind of skywriting. At first it seemed to spell out our continuing complacency before a witch's brew of deadly perils. But perhaps it really tells of a newfound talent to work together to protect the global environment.
There is a reward structure in science that is very interesting: Our highest honors go to those who disprove the findings of the most revered among us. So Einstein is revered not just because he made so many fundamental contributions to science, but because he found an imperfection in the fundamental contribution of Isaac Newton.
The simplest thought, like the concept of the number one, has an elaborate logical underpinning.
To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring.
We in the Western world suffer from too many categories and classes; we've forgotten that we all still have diapers on. We've separated music from life.
Let him who wants a true church cling to the Word by which everything is upheld.
What can be said, lacks reality. Only what fails to make its way into words exists and counts.
Whatever you accept completely will take you to peace, including the acceptance that you cannot accept, that you are in resistance.
You cannot really have the world and hold on to it. It is all too temporary and the more you try to hold on to it, the more it actually holds you. By contrast, the more you hold on to the true and the good, the more you are free to really live.
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