The cultivation - even celebration - of victimhood by intellectuals, tort lawyers, politicians and the media is both cause and effect of today's culture of complaint.
George WillRead
The problem with intelligent-design theory, is not that it is false but that it is not falsifiable. Not being susceptible to contradicting evidence, it is not a testable hypothesis. Hence it is not a scientific but a creedal tenet - a matter of faith, unsuited to a public school's science curriculum.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Intelligent-design theory cannot be tested or disproved, making it unsuitable for scientific discussion.
In this quote, George Will critiques intelligent-design theory by highlighting its lack of falsifiability, which is a fundamental aspect of scientific inquiry. He argues that since this theory cannot be tested or challenged by evidence, it falls more into the realm of belief rather than empirical science, and therefore should not be included in educational curriculums aimed at teaching science.
Themes
Intelligent DesignScienceFalsifiabilityTheoryEducation
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about what should be taught in science classes, this quote can highlight the importance of empirical evidence.
More from George Will
All quotes →Correct thinkers think that 'baseball trivia' is an oxymoron: nothing about baseball is trivial.
George WillRead
Constitutional arguments that seem as dry as dust can have momentous consequences.
George WillRead
The civil forfeiture law - if something so devoid of due process can be dignified as law - is an incentive for perverse behavior: Predatory government agencies get to pocket the proceeds from property they seize from Americans without even charging them with, let alone convicting them of, crimes. Criminals are treated better than this because they lose the fruits of their criminality only after being convicted.
George WillRead
Actually, there is only one first question of government, and it is How should we live? or What kind of people do we want our citizens to be?
George WillRead
The business of America is not business. Neither is it war. The business of america is justice and securing the blessings of liberty.
George WillRead
Similar quotes
Science surpasses the old miracles of mythology.
Ralph Waldo EmersonRead
It doesn't matter what country or what political system you are from. Space brings you together.
Valentina TereshkovaRead
At the simplest level, economics can better show us the consequences of our actions. Less simple are cases in which we don't have the knowledge to predict the full consequences. Global warming and climate change are examples.
Edmund PhelpsRead
The universe has really never made things in ones. The Earth is special and everything else is different? No, we’ve got seven other planets. The sun? No, the sun is one of those dots in the night sky. The Milky Way? No, it’s one of a hundred billion galaxies. And the universe - maybe it’s countless other universes.
Neil Degrasse TysonRead
A scientist is no more a collector and classifier of facts than a historian is a man who complies and classifies a chronology of the dates of great battles and major discoveries.
Peter MedawarRead
It's not going to be just humans colonizing space, it's going to be life moving out from the Earth, moving it into its kingdom. And the kingdom of life, of course, is going to be the universe.
Freeman DysonRead