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Without initiation into the scientific spirit one is not in possession of the best tools which humanity has so far devised for effectively directed reflection. One in that case not merely conducts inquiry and learning without the use of the best instruments, but fails to understand the full meaning of knowledge.
John Dewey
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Understanding the scientific spirit is essential for effective inquiry and learning.

John Dewey emphasizes the importance of cultivating a scientific spirit for meaningful inquiry and education. He argues that without this mindset, individuals lack the best tools for reflection and do not fully grasp the depth of knowledge, which hinders their ability to learn and conduct effective investigations.

Themes

Scientific SpiritEducationInquiryKnowledgeReflection

In practice

Example use cases

In a speech about innovative teaching methods, one might say, 'As John Dewey stated, the scientific spirit is crucial for our students' understanding of knowledge.'

More from John Dewey

Every teacher should realize he is a social servant set apart for the maintenance of the proper social order and the securing of the right social growth. In this way, the teacher always is the prophet of the true God and the usherer-in of the true Kingdom of God.
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Democracy has to be born anew every generation, and education is its midwife.
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It science involves an intelligent and persistent endeavor to revise current beliefs so as to weed out what is erroneous, to add to their accuracy, and, above all, to give them such shape that the dependencies of the various facts upon one another may be as obvious as possible.
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For in spite of itself any movement that thinks and acts in terms of an ‘ism becomes so involved in reaction against other ‘isms that it is unwittingly controlled by them. For it then forms its principles by reaction against them instead of by a comprehensive, constructive survey of actual needs, problems, and possibilities.
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Any genuine teaching will result, if successful, in someone's knowing how to bring about a better condition of things than existed earlier.
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The reactionaries are in possession of force, in not only the army and police, but in the press and the schools
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