As a theoretician, I am proud to be part of a counter revolution... discovering that quantum field theory language was not dead and finished but had not really been explored thoroughly enough.
Peter HiggsRead
The growth of our understanding of the world through science weakens some of the motivation which makes people believers. But that's not the same thing as saying they're incompatible. It's just that I think some of the traditional reasons for belief, going back thousands of years, are rather undermined.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Scientific understanding can challenge traditional beliefs, but they are not inherently incompatible.
Peter Higgs reflects on how advancements in science can dilute certain motivations for belief that have been held for centuries. While he acknowledges that these beliefs may be undermined by new knowledge, he suggests that this does not mean that science and belief are fundamentally opposed. Instead, he points to a nuanced relationship where both can coexist yet be questioned by new understandings.
Themes
ScienceBeliefUnderstandingTraditionKnowledge
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate on science and spirituality, this quote can help illustrate the dialogue between faith and scientific understanding.
More from Peter Higgs
All quotes βWhen the basic status of a theory is clear, and all that needs to be cleared are details, you can collaborate. But if the main structure of a hypothesis isn't established, and you want to change the paradigm - like it was the case in the 1960s - it's better to work alone.
Peter HiggsRead
I was an embarrassment to the department when they did research assessment exercises. A message would go round the department: 'Please give a list of your recent publications.' And I would send back a statement: 'None.'
Peter HiggsRead
Similar quotes
nd now that man's history has been for the first time systematically considered as a whole, and has been found to be, like all other phenomena, subject to invariable laws, the preparatory labours of modern Science are ended.
Auguste ComteRead
Imaginary time is a new dimension, at right angles to ordinary, real time.
Stephen HawkingRead
The opinion prevailed among advanced minds that it was time that belief should be replaced increasingly by knowledge; belief that did not itself rest on knowledge was superstition, and as such had to be opposed.
Albert EinsteinRead
Evolution could so easily be disproved if just a single fossil turned up in the wrong date order. Evolution has passed this test with flying colours.
Richard DawkinsRead
In the process of natural selection, then, any device that can insert a higher proportion of certain genes into subsequent generations will come to characterize the species.
E. O. WilsonRead
Biologically inspired materials could revolutionize materials science. People looking at spider silk and abalone shells are looking for new ways to make materials better, cheaper, and with less toxic byproducts.
Janine BenyusRead