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.
Global warming is controversial, of course, but the controversy is mainly over whether human activity is driving it.
One can say, looking at the papers in this symposium, that the elucidation of the genetic code is indeed a great achievement. It is, in a sense, the key to molecular biology because it shows how the great polymer languages, the nucleic acid language and the protein language, are linked together.
The true scientific understanding of the nature of existence is so utterly fascinating; how could you not want people to share it? Carl Sagan, I think, said 'when you're in love, you want to tell the world.' And who, on understanding a scientific view of reality, would not, as it were, fall in love and want to tell the world.
At the extremes it is difficult to distinguish pseudoscience from rigid, doctrinaire religion.
Whoever wishes to investigate medicine should proceed thus: In the first place, consider the seasons of the year and what effect each of them produces.
We need to look at NASA, not as a handout, but as an investment.
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