When we find a thinker reflecting or echoing an apparently erroneous, narrow, or even illogical thought that was popular or authoritative in his time, we must never rule out the possibility that what we have discovered is not the limit of his vision but only an example of his deliberate rhetorical accommodation to reigning prejudice which he does not share but thinks it best not to expose.
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The history of science knows scores of instances where an investigator was in the possession of all the important facts read more
The history of science knows scores of instances where an investigator was in the possession of all the important facts for a new theory but simply failed to ask the right questions.
The most basic inherent constraint is that neither time nor wisdom are free goods available in unlimited quantity. This means read more
The most basic inherent constraint is that neither time nor wisdom are free goods available in unlimited quantity. This means that in social processes, as in economic processes, it is not only impossible to attain perfection but irrational to seek perfection- or even to seek the "best possible" result in each separate instance.
Just as some plants bear fruit only if they don't shoot up too high, so in practical arts the leaves read more
Just as some plants bear fruit only if they don't shoot up too high, so in practical arts the leaves and flowers of theory must be pruned and the plant kept close to its proper soil- experience.
We keep, in science, getting a more and more sophisticated view of our essential ignorance.
We keep, in science, getting a more and more sophisticated view of our essential ignorance.
Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it.
Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it.
The desire to belong is partly a desire to lose oneself.
The desire to belong is partly a desire to lose oneself.
The endeavor to understand is the first and only basis of virtue.
The endeavor to understand is the first and only basis of virtue.
...the evils of mankind are caused, not by the primary aggressiveness of individuals, but by their self-transcending identification with groups read more
...the evils of mankind are caused, not by the primary aggressiveness of individuals, but by their self-transcending identification with groups whose common denominator is low intelligence and high emotionality.
Add a few drops of malice to a half truth and you have an absolute truth.
Add a few drops of malice to a half truth and you have an absolute truth.
