Science, at bottom, is really anti-intellectual. It always distrusts pure reason, and demands the production of objective fact.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes that science is grounded in empirical evidence rather than solely on reasoning or intellect.
H. L. Mencken's quote highlights the essence of science as a discipline that prioritizes objective facts over abstract reasoning. It suggests that, at its core, science is skeptical of purely intellectual theories, favoring tangible evidence that can be observed and tested. This viewpoint underscores the importance of empirical data in scientific inquiry, which often challenges conventional wisdom and invites critical scrutiny of ideas.
In practice
During a lecture on the methodology of scientific research, this quote could be used to illustrate the need for evidence in scientific claims.
I know a good many men of great learning-that is, men born with an extraordinary eagerness and capacity to acquire knowledge. One and all, they tell me that they can't recall learning anything of any value in school. All that schoolmasters managed to accomplish with them was to test and determine the amount of knowledge that they had already acquired independently-and not infrequently the determination was made clumsily and inaccurately.
It takes a long while for a naturally trustful person to reconcile himself to the idea that after all God will not help him
It is the theory of all modern civilized governments that they protect and foster the liberty of the citizen; it is the practice of all of them to limit its exercise, and sometimes very narrowly.
The central belief of every moron is that he is the victim of a mysterious conspiracy against his common rights and true deserts.
The cure for the evils of democracy is more democracy.
It is my conviction that no normal man ever fell in love, within the ordinary meaning of the term, after the age of thirty.
I lose sleep at night wondering whether we are intelligent enough to figure out the universe. I don't know.
Thousands of years ago, humans domesticated every possible large wild mammal species fulfilling all those criteria and worth domesticating, with the result that there have been no valuable additions of domestic animals in recent times, despite the efforts of modern science.
Early experience shapes the structure and function of the brain. This reveals the fundamental way in which gene expression is determined by experience.
Testing shows the presence, not the absence of bugs.
Certainly I see the scientific view of the world as incompatible with religion, but that is not what is interesting about it. It is also incompatible with magic, but that also is not worth stressing. What is interesting about the scientific world view is that it is true, inspiring, remarkable and that it unites a whole lot of phenomena under a single heading.
Mathematics as an expression of the human mind reflects the active will, the contemplative reason, and the desire for aesthetic perfection. Its basic elements are logic and intuition, analysis and construction, generality and individuality. Though different traditions may emphasize different aspects, it is only the interplay of these antithetic forces and the struggle for their synthesis that constitute the life, usefulness, and supreme value of mathematical science.
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