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Where we have good, testable explanations, they then have to be tested, and we drop the ones that fail the tests.
David Deutsch
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote emphasizes the importance of testing explanations to ensure their validity and reliability.

David Deutsch highlights the scientific method's core principles: the necessity of having explanations that can be rigorously tested, and the willingness to discard those that do not withstand scrutiny. This reflective process is essential for advancing knowledge and understanding the world around us.

Themes

TestingExplanationsScienceValidityKnowledge

In practice

Example use cases

In a scientific conference, when discussing research findings, one might quote this to emphasize rigorous testing.

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Science is objective. And in my view we cannot take any experimental results seriously except in the light of good explanations of them.
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Feeling insignificant because the universe is large has exactly the same logic as feeling inadequate for not being a cow.
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To me quantum computation is a new and deeper and better way to understand the laws of physics, and hence understanding physical reality as a whole.
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