The wise man doesn't give the right answers, he poses the right questions.
Claude Levi-StraussRead
The scientist is not a person who gives the right answers, he is one who asks the right questions.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of inquiry and curiosity in scientific exploration rather than simply arriving at correct conclusions.
Claude Levi-Strauss highlights that the essence of being a scientist lies in the ability to ask pertinent and thought-provoking questions rather than merely providing accurate answers. This approach fosters deeper understanding and innovative thinking, suggesting that progress in science is driven more by the quest for knowledge than the possession of definitive solutions.
Themes
ScientistQuestionsCuriosityInquiryAnswers
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on scientific methodology, one might use this quote to emphasize the significance of questioning.
More from Claude Levi-Strauss
All quotes βObjects are what matter. Only they carry the evidence that throughout the centuries something really happened among human beings.
Claude Levi-StraussRead
Civilization has ceased to be that delicate flower which was preserved and painstakingly cultivated in one or two sheltered areas of a soil rich in wild species ... Mankind has opted for monoculture; it is in the process of creating a mass civilization, as beetroot is grown in the mass. Henceforth, man's daily bill of fare will consist only of this one item.
Claude Levi-StraussRead
The world began without man, and it will complete itself without him.
Claude Levi-StraussRead
Nor must we forget that in science there are no final truths.
Claude Levi-StraussRead
Our system is the height of absurdity, since we treat the culprit both as a child, so as to have the right to punish him, and as an adult, in order to deny him consolation.
Claude Levi-StraussRead
Similar quotes
I was always interested in figuring things out. I'd do experiments, like combining things I found around the house to see what would happen if I put them together.
Alan AldaRead
My own experience of over 60 years in biomedical research amply demonstrated that without the use of animals and of human beings, it would have been impossible to acquire the important knowledge needed to prevent much suffering and premature death not only among humans but also among [other] animals.
Albert SabinRead
There is a reward structure in science that is very interesting: Our highest honors go to those who disprove the findings of the most revered among us. So Einstein is revered not just because he made so many fundamental contributions to science, but because he found an imperfection in the fundamental contribution of Isaac Newton.
Carl SaganRead
I think that the future of the human race is to spread through the universe, and now is the time that we should be laying the foundations for that.
Kip ThorneRead
The universe is a symphony of strings, and the mind of God that Einstein eloquently wrote about for thirty years would be cosmic music resonating through eleven-dimensional hyper space.
Michio KakuRead
I believe that the extraordinary should be pursued. But extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
Carl SaganRead