Do you know what we call opinion in the absence of evidence? We call it prejudice.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes that opinions without supporting evidence are essentially biases or prejudices.
Michael Crichton's quote highlights the danger of forming opinions without a solid foundation of evidence. It suggests that such opinions are not just flawed but are intrinsically biased, implying that rational thought and judgment require substantiation to be deemed valid or reasonable.
In practice
During a debate on social issues, one might use this quote to remind others to support their statements with facts.
In other centuries, human beings wanted to be saved, or improved, or freed, or educated. But in our century, they want to be entertained. The great fear is not of disease or death, but of boredom. A sense of time on our hands, a sense of nothing to do. A sense that we are not amused.
Let's be clear. The planet is not in jeopardy. We are in jeopardy. We haven't got the power to destroy the planet - or to save it. But we might have the power to save ourselves.
Scientific research was much like prospecting: you went out and you hunted, armed with your maps and instruments, but in the ened your preparations did not matter, or even your intuition. You needed your luck, and whatever benefits accrued to the diligent, through sheer, grinding hard work.
Living systems are never in equilibrium. They are inherently unstable. They may seem stable, but theyβre not. Everything is moving and changing. In a sense, everything is on the edge of collapse.
The characteristic human trait is not awareness but conformity, and the characteristic result is religious warfare. Other animals fight for territory or food; but, uniquely in the animal kingdom, human beings fight for their 'beliefs.'
A wonderful area for speculative academic work is the unknowable. These days religious subjects are in disfavor, but there are still plenty of good topics. The nature of consciousness, the workings of the brain, the origin of aggression, the origin of language, the origin of life on earth, SETI and life on other worlds...this is all great stuff. Wonderful stuff. You can argue it interminably. But it can't be contradicted, because nobody knows the answer to any of these topics.
There can be no vulnerability without risk; there can be no community without vulnerability; there can be no peace, and ultimately no life, without community.
Modern travelling is not travelling at all; it is merely being sent to a place, and very little different from becoming a parcel.
To renounce the conquest of power is voluntarily to leave the power with those who wield it, the exploiters. The essence of every revolution consisted and consists in putting a new class in power, thus enabling it to realize its own program in life. It is impossible to wage war and to reject victory.
I don't accept ideologies that are not a product of consensus. I don't have an ideology, but I do have a sense of what's right and what's wrong.
The pictures do not lie, but neither do they tell the whole story. They are merely a record of time passing, the outward evidence.
We're all killers at heart . . . . I have never taken anybody's life, but I have often read obituary notices with considerable satisfaction.
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