QuoteProject
Be sceptical, ask questions, demand proof. Demand evidence. Don't take anything for granted. But here's the thing: When you get proof, you need to accept the proof. And we're not that good at doing that.
Michael Specter
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Be critical and inquisitive, but also open-minded when presented with evidence.

This quote emphasizes the importance of skepticism and critical thinking in our pursuit of knowledge. It encourages individuals to question information and seek proof, while also highlighting the challenge of being open to accepting evidence when it arrives.

Themes

SkepticismEvidenceTruthInquiryOpen-Mindedness

In practice

Example use cases

In a science class discussing the importance of evidence in experiments.

More from Michael Specter

If there is anything more frightening than the threat of global nuclear war, it is the certainty that humans not only stand on the verge of producing new life forms but may soon be able to tinker with them as if they were vintage convertibles or bonsai trees.
Michael SpecterRead
The Maldives, a string of islands off the coast of India whose highest point above sea level is eight feet, may be the first nation to drown. In Alaska, entire towns have begun to shift in the loosening permafrost.
Michael SpecterRead
Humanity has nearly suffocated the globe with carbon dioxide, yet nuclear power plants that produce no such emissions are so mired in objections and obstruction that, despite renewed interest on every continent, it is unlikely another will be built in the United States.
Michael SpecterRead
There are people who could watch a hurricane like Sandy blow out of the Atlantic every other day and blame it on anything but human activity. They are like those who, having been diagnosed with diabetes, eat donuts for breakfast. There's not much to do about them.
Michael SpecterRead
Why do people refuse to vaccinate their children against measles or whooping cough? In many cases, because they have never seen measles and have no idea what it might do.
Michael SpecterRead

Similar quotes

Be careful when you fight the monsters, lest you become one.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
The power of imagination makes us infinite.
John MuirRead
When we become expert in something, our tastes grow more esoteric and complex.
Malcolm GladwellRead
At this age, I should be leading a quiet life.
Aung San Suu KyiRead
Beware: Ignorance Protects itself. Ignorance Promotes suspicion. Suspicion Engenders fear. Fear quails, Irrational and blind, Or fear looms, Defiant and closed. Blind, closed, Suspicious, afraid, Ignorance Protects itself, And protected, Ignorance grows.
Octavia ButlerRead
I think you remember certain phrases from bad reviews. You don't remember all the bad reviews.
John UpdikeRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.

Quote by Michael Specter | QuoteProject