Science operates in the natural, not the supernatural. In fact, I go so far as to state that there is no such thing as the supernatural or the paranormal.
Michael ShermerRead
I’m a skeptic not because I do not want to believe, but because I want to know.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Skepticism arises from a desire for knowledge rather than a refusal to believe.
In this quote, Michael Shermer conveys that being a skeptic is not about rejecting the possibility of belief, but rather a pursuit for deeper understanding and truth. It highlights the importance of inquiry and critical thinking as essential tools for gaining knowledge, suggesting that the desire to know is a driving force behind skepticism.
Themes
SkepticismKnowledgeTruthInquiryBelief
In practice
Example use cases
In a classroom discussion about scientific method.
More from Michael Shermer
All quotes →Smart people believe weird things because they are skilled at defending beliefs they arrived at for non-smart reasons.
Michael ShermerRead
Being deeply knowledgeable on one subject narrows one's focus and increases confidence, but it also blurs dissenting views until they are no longer visible, thereby transforming data collection into bias confirmation and morphing self-deception into self-assurance.
Michael ShermerRead
How can we find spiritual meaning in a scientific worldview? Spirituality is a way of being in the world, a sense of one’s place in the cosmos, a relationship to that which extends beyond oneself. . . . Does scientific explanation of the world diminish its spiritual beauty? I think not. Science and spirituality are complementary, not conflicting; additive, not detractive. Anything that generates a sense of awe may be a source of spirituality. Science does this in spades. (158-159)
Michael ShermerRead
But because we live in an age of science, we have a preoccupation with corroborating our myths.
Michael ShermerRead
My libertarian beliefs have not always served me well. Like most people who hold strong ideological convictions, I find that, too often, my beliefs trump the scientific facts.
Michael ShermerRead
Similar quotes
We've got a thing called the 'tall poppy syndrome' in New Zealand, where if anyone is doing really well, it's quite common to try and bring them down - like, cut them down and say, 'You've been to the moon? So what? I mean, plenty of people have been to the moon.'
Taika WaititiRead
The most difficult idea to reconcile in war is the notion that anything is going to be solved by killing a stranger, or in risking your life for a cause anchored in some distant political arena.
Walter Dean MyersRead
Indeed, at hearing the news that 'the old god is dead', we philosophers and 'free spirits' feel illuminated by a new dawn; our heart overflows with gratitude, amazement, forebodings, expectation - finally the horizon seems clear again, even if not bright; finally our ships may set out again, set out to face any danger; every daring of the lover of knowledge is allowed again; the sea, our sea, lies open again; maybe there has never been such an 'open sea'.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
The source of our actions resides in an unconscious propensity to regard ourselves as the center, the cause, and the conclusion of time. Our reflexes and our pride transform into a planet the parcel of flesh and consciousness we are.
Emile M. CioranRead
I learned a long time ago that reality was much weirder than anyone's imagination.
Hunter S. ThompsonRead
To seek "causes" of poverty in this way is to enter an intellectual dead end because poverty has no causes. Only prosperity has causes.
Jane JacobsRead