The improvement of forest trees is the work of centuries. So much more the reason for beginning now.
George Perkins MarshRead
Wherever modern Science has exploded a superstitious fable or even a picturesque error, she has replaced it with a grander and even more poetical truth.
Interpretation
Science dispels myths and replaces them with greater truths.
In this quote, George Perkins Marsh emphasizes the transformative power of modern science in confronting and debunking superstitions and outdated beliefs. He suggests that as science reveals the reality of our world, it does not merely eliminate misconceptions; rather, it uncovers more profound and beautiful truths about nature, inviting us to appreciate the complexity and wonder of the universe.
In practice
During a lecture on the importance of critical thinking, you might say, 'As George Perkins Marsh noted, wherever modern science has exploded a superstitious fable...'
One can think of any given axiom system as being like a computer with a certain limited amount of memory or processing power. One could switch to a computer with even more storage, but no matter how large an amount of storage space the computer has, there will still exist some tasks that are beyond its ability.
Science and technology have freed humanity from many burdens and given us this new perspective and great power. This power can be used for the good of all. If wisdom governs our actions; but if the world is mad or foolish, it can destroy itself just when great advances and triumphs are almost without its grasp.
It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.
Our science fails to recognize those special properties of life that make it fundamental to material reality. This view of the world - biocentrism - revolves around the way a subjective experience, which we call consciousness, relates to a physical process. It is a vast mystery and one that I have pursued my entire life.
I took biology in high school and didn't like it at all. It was focused on memorization. ... I didn't appreciate that biology also had principles and logic ... [rather than dealing with a] messy thing called life. It just wasn't organized, and I wanted to stick with the nice pristine sciences of chemistry and physics, where everything made sense. I wish I had learned sooner that biology could be fun as well.
Men became scientific because they expected Law in Nature, and they expected Law in Nature because they believed in a Law Giver.
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