Some Poor grad student pressing on the flanks of a hamster and out comes a doctorate on the other side
Robert M. SapolskyRead
I love science, and it pains me to think that so many are terrified of the subject or feel that choosing science means you cannot also choose compassion, or the arts, or be awed by nature. Science is not meant to cure us of mystery, but to reinvent and reinvigorate it.
Interpretation
Science can coexist with compassion and appreciation for the arts and nature.
In this quote, Robert M. Sapolsky expresses his passion for science while acknowledging a common fear surrounding the subject. He advocates for the idea that embracing science does not exclude appreciation for compassion, beauty in the arts, or the wonders of nature; rather, science should enhance our sense of mystery and wonder about the world.
In practice
This quote could be used in a speech about the importance of integrating arts and sciences in education.
If the United States commits to the goal of reaching Mars, it will almost certainly do so in reaction to the progress of other nations - as was the case with NASA, the Apollo program, and the project that became the International Space Station.
Science isn't just about solving this or that puzzle. It's about understanding how the world works: the whole world from the vastness of the cosmos to the particularity of an individual human life. It's worth thinking about how all the different ways we have to talk about the world manage to fit together.
The imposing edifice of science provides a challenging view of what can be achieved by the accumulation of many small efforts in a steady objective and dedicated search for truth.
When we have any function, whether it's language or vision or cognitive functions like memory, we aren't dealing with a straight line to the brain that says 'This is what I do.' The brain builds a network of connections, a network of neurons that have a particular role in that function.
There was a magic about pulsars... no other things in the sky had such labels on them. Each one had its own distinct pulsing frequency, so it could be identified by anybody, including other creatures, after a long period of time and far, far away.
Science does not know its debt to imagination.
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