All practical teachers know that education is a patient process of mastery of details, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day.
Alfred North WhiteheadRead
The guiding motto in the life of every natural philosopher should be, seek simplicity and distrust it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of pursuing simplicity in thought and understanding, while also remaining skeptical of overly simplistic solutions.
Alfred North Whitehead suggests that natural philosophers, or those who explore the natural world, should strive for simplicity in their ideas and theories. However, he warns that one must be cautious and critical, as overly simplified concepts can often overlook complexities that are crucial for a deeper understanding of the subject. This dual approach encourages a balance between seeking clarity and maintaining a critical perspective.
Themes
SimplicityPhilosophySkepticismUnderstandingTruth
In practice
Example use cases
In a philosophy class discussing the nature of theories, one might quote this to emphasize critical thinking.
More from Alfred North Whitehead
All quotes βThe vitality of thought is in adventure. Idea's won't keep. Something must be done about them. When the idea is new, its custodians have fervour, live for it, and, if need be, die for it. Their inheritors receive the idea, perhaps now strong and successful, but without inheriting the fervour; so the idea settles down to a comfortable middle age, turns senile, and dies.
Alfred North WhiteheadRead
As society is now constituted, a literal adherence to the moral precepts scattered throughout the Gospels would mean sudden death.
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I consider Christianity to be one of the great disasters of the human race... It would be impossible to imagine anything more un - Christianlike than theology.
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Inventive genius requires pleasurable mental activity as a condition for its vigorous exercise. "Necessity is the mother of invention" is a silly proverb. "Necessity is the mother of futile dodges" is much closer to the truth. The basis of growth of modern invention is science, and science is almost wholly the outgrowth of pleasurable intellectual curiosity.
Alfred North WhiteheadRead
The progress of Science consists in observing interconnections and in showing with a patient ingenuity that the events of this ever-shifting world are but examples of a few general relations, called laws. To see what is general in what is particular, and what is permanent in what is transitory, is the aim of scientific thought.
Alfred North WhiteheadRead
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