Science is a way to not fool ourselves.
Carl SaganRead
I would suggest that science is, at least in my part, informed worship.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Science is a deep appreciation and reverence for the wonders of the universe.
In this quote, Carl Sagan expresses the idea that science can be seen as a form of worship, where one's admiration for the complexity and beauty of the universe is informed by empirical inquiry and knowledge. He suggests that engaging in scientific discovery and understanding is akin to a spiritual journey towards recognizing the profound truths of existence, combining intellectual curiosity with a sense of reverence for the natural world.
Themes
ScienceWorshipInformedCuriosityWonder
In practice
Example use cases
During a science lecture, I quoted Sagan to illustrate how science can elicit a sense of wonder and reverence for the universe.
More from Carl Sagan
All quotes βIn more than one respect, the exploring of the Solar System and homesteading other worlds constitutes the beginning, much more than the end, of history.
Carl SaganRead
How smart does a chimpanzee have to be before killing him constitutes murder?
Carl SaganRead
The hole in the ozone layer is a kind of skywriting. At first it seemed to spell out our continuing complacency before a witch's brew of deadly perils. But perhaps it really tells of a newfound talent to work together to protect the global environment.
Carl SaganRead
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
The simplest thought, like the concept of the number one, has an elaborate logical underpinning.
Carl SaganRead
Similar quotes
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Neil Degrasse TysonRead
Science has a culture that is inherently cautious and that is normally not a bad thing. You could even say conservative, because of the peer review process and because the scientific method prizes uncertainty and penalises anyone who goes out on any sort of a limb that is not held in place by abundant and well-documented evidence.
Al GoreRead
Science is nothing but developed perception, interpreted intent, common sense rounded out and minutely articulated.
George SantayanaRead
It is my supposition that the Universe in not only queerer than we imagine, is queerer than we can imagine.
John B. S. HaldaneRead
The act of smelling something, anything, is remarkably like the act of thinking. Immediately at the moment of perception, you can feel the mind going to work, sending the odor around from place to place, setting off complex repertories through the brain, polling one center after another for signs of re recognition, for old memories and old connection.
Lewis ThomasRead
What is especially striking and remarkable is that in fundamental physics a beautiful or elegant theory is more likely to be right than a theory that is inelegant.
Murray Gell-MannRead