Crash programs fail because they are based on theory that, with nine women pregnant, you can get a baby in a month.
I find it as difficult to understand a scientist who does not acknowledge the presence of a superior rationality behind the existence of the universe as it is to comprehend a theologian who would deny the advances of science.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the conflict and harmony between science and spirituality, urging the acknowledgment of both rationality and faith.
Wernher Von Braun highlights the importance of integrating scientific knowledge with a sense of deeper meaning or higher intelligence governing the universe. He suggests that rejecting either the insights of science or the presence of a superior rationality leads to an incomplete understanding of existence, urging both scientists and theologians to respect the other’s perspective and work towards a more holistic comprehension of reality.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a debate about science and religion, this quote can illustrate the necessity of balance between both perspectives.
More from Wernher Von Braun
All quotes →Basic research is what I am doing when I don't know what I am doing.
I have learned to use the word 'impossible' with the greatest caution.
It will free man from the remaining chains, the chains of gravity which still tie him to this planet.
We can lick gravity, but sometimes the paperwork is overwhelming.
Development of the space station is as inevitable as the rising of the sun; man has already poked his nose into space and he is not likely to pull it back . . . . There can be no thought of finishing, for aiming at the stars-both literally and figuratively-is the work of generations, and no matter how much progress one makes, there is always the thrill of just beginning.
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Human rights pale beside the rights of machines. In more and more cities, especially in the great metropolises of the South, people have been banned. Automobiles usurp human space, poison the air, and frequently murder the interlopers who invade their conquered territory -and no one lifts a finger to stop them. Is there a difference between violence that kills by car and that which kills by knife or bullet?" (p.231)
That was Thorin's style. He was an important dwarf. If he had been allowed, he would probably have gone on like this until he was out of breath, without telling anyone there anything that was not known already. But he was rudely interrupted.
Nip the shoots of arbitrary power in the bud, is the only maxim which can ever preserve the liberties of any people.
The Anthropocentic Age - the first age in which humankind is the dominant species on the planet - cuts both ways: it is up to us to destroy or save the planet. We certainly have the ability.
Time is not an empirical concept. For neither co-existence nor succession would be perceived by us, if the representation of time did not exist as a foundation a priori.
It is impossible for a man to be freed from the habit of sin before he hates it, just as it is impossible to receive forgiveness before confessing his trespasses.