It takes so long to train a physicist to the place where he understands the nature of physical problems that he is already too old to solve them.
Eugene WignerRead
The great mathematician fully, almost ruthlessly, exploits the domain of permissible reasoning and skirts the impermissible. That his recklessness does not lead him into a morass of contradictions is a miracle in itself: certainly it is hard to believe that our reasoning power was brought, by Darwin's process of natural selection, to the perfection which it seems to possess.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the remarkable nature of human reasoning and its evolution through natural selection.
Eugene Wigner highlights the extraordinary talent of mathematicians and scientists who navigate the boundaries of logical reasoning. He marvels at how their ability to reason, which appears nearly flawless, could have evolved from a process like Darwinian natural selection, suggesting that it is a remarkable feat that they do not often fall into contradictions despite their bold explorations of thought.
Themes
MathematicsReasoningNatural SelectionEvolutionScience
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on the philosophical implications of mathematics, one might quote Wigner to emphasize the interplay of logic and creativity.
More from Eugene Wigner
All quotes →It was not possible to formulate the laws of quantum mechanics in a fully consistent way without reference to the consciousness.
Eugene WignerRead
The full meaning of life, the collective meaning of all human desires, is fundamentally a mystery beyond our grasp. As a young man, I chafed at this state of affairs. But by now I have made peace with it. I even feel a certain honor to be associated with such a mystery.
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The miracle of the appropriateness of the language of mathematics for the formulation of the laws of physics is a wonderful gift which we neither understand nor deserve.
Eugene WignerRead
The simplicities of natural laws arise through the complexities of the language we use for their expression.
Eugene WignerRead
The unreasonable efficiency of mathematics in science is a gift we neither understand nor deserve.
Eugene WignerRead
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