We are all agreed that your theory is crazy. The question which divides us is whether it is crazy enough to have a chance of being correct. My own feeling is that it is not crazy enough.
Interpretation
This quote reflects the idea that sometimes, unconventional theories can lead to groundbreaking discoveries, though they need to be sufficiently bold to be credible.
Niels Bohr’s quote suggests that the nature of scientific theories often requires a degree of boldness or unconventional thinking to be considered valid. While it is common for groundbreaking ideas to be initially dismissed as crazy, there is a nuanced difference in the level of 'craziness' that may actually lead to correct theories. Bohr implies that some theories may not push boundaries enough to be impactful, indicating that real progress in science often comes from thinking outside the box.
In practice
This quote can be used in a science class to encourage students to think creatively.
When asked ... [about] an underlying quantum world, Bohr would answer, 'There is no quantum world. There is only an abstract quantum physical description. It is wrong to think that the task of physics is to find out how nature is. Physics concerns what we can say about Nature.'
An independant reality in the ordinary physical sense can neither be ascribed to the phenomenon nor to the agencies of observation.
An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made, in a narrow field.
Those who are not shocked when they first come across quantum theory cannot possibly have understood it.
When searching for harmony in life one must never forget that in the drama of existence we are ourselves both actors and spectators.
And anyone who thinks they can talk about quantum theory without feeling dizzy hasn't yet understood the first thing about it.
Molecular evidense suggests that our common ancestor with the chimpanzees lived, in Africa, between 5 and 7 million years ago, say half a million generations ago. This is not long by evolutionary standards.
I had a bet with Gordon Kane of Michigan University that the Higgs particle wouldn't be found.
Science is simply common sense at its best.
Given her deafness, the auditory part of the brain, deprived of its usual input, had started to generate a spontaneous activity of its own, and this took the form of musical hallucinations, mostly musical memories from her earlier life. The brain needed to stay incessantly active, and if it was not getting its usual stimulation..., it would create its own stimulation in the form of hallucinations.
A most unfailing experience... of the excitement of sublunary (that is, human) natures by the conjunctions and aspects of the planets has instructed and compelled my unwilling belief.
The same things that lead to disparities in health in this country on a day-to-day basis led to disparities in the impact of Hurricane Katrina.
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