I can explain my body and my brain, but there's something more. I can't explain my own existence - what makes me a unique human being.
John EcclesRead
The last thing that man will understand in nature is the performance of his brain.
Interpretation
The complexity of the human brain's functions is often the hardest to grasp in our understanding of nature.
In this quote, John Eccles suggests that despite our exploration and understanding of the natural world, the intricate workings of our own brains are the final frontier in our comprehension. This highlights the remarkable complexity of human cognition and the ongoing journey to decipher how our minds interpret and interact with the world around us.
In practice
In a neuroscience lecture discussing the intricacies of brain function.
I can explain my body and my brain, but there's something more. I can't explain my own existence - what makes me a unique human being.
A better understanding of the brain is certain to lead man to a richer comprehension both of himself, of his fellow man, and of society, and in fact of the whole world with its problems.
Coal is a portable climate. It carries the heat of the tropics to Labrador and the polar circle; and it is the means of transporting itself whithersoever it is wanted. Watt and Stephenson whispered in the ear of mankind their secret, that a half-ounce of coal will draw two tons a mile, and coal carries coal, by rail and by boat, to make Canada as warm as Calcutta, and with its comfort brings its industrial power.
I always felt that a scientist owes the world only one thing, and that is the truth as he sees it. If the truth contradicts deeply held beliefs, that is too bad. Tact and diplomacy are fine in international relations, in politics, perhaps even in business; in science only one thing matters, and that is the facts.
Climate change, demographics, water, food, energy, global health, women's empowerment - these issues are all intertwined. We cannot look at one strand in isolation. Instead, we must examine how these strands are woven together.
One theory which can no longer be taken very seriously is that UFOs are interstellar spaceships.
To promote the healing response, you must get past all the grosser levels of the body - cells, tissues, organs and systems -- and arrive at a junction point between mind and matter, the point where consciousness actually starts to have an effect.
A science is not mere knowledge, it is knowledge which has undergone a process of intellectual digestion. It is the grasp of many things brought together in one, and hence is its power; for, properly speaking, it is Science that is power, not Knowledge.
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