"Sounds mighty nice and cozy, but I'll be damned if it means anything," p27
Gould was referring to those foisting their beliefs about love and humanity defying the natural laws of entropy. Sounds good, but is it realistic? I often ponder, is there something unique about humans that cannot eventually be explained away by science eventually? Are we just a bundle of molecules and atoms working together to form us? Is our brain just a serious of on and off switches that we have no absolute free will in controlling? These are tough and scary questions, and to listen to those that claim to have 'nice and cozy' answer can be comforting, but is there enough evidence for me to believe in their claims? There likely is and always will be things that exist outside the measurable, outside the testable and the observable, outside the realm of science. How can others then purport such knowledge?
"Nothing could be more antithetical to intellectual reform than an appeal against thoughtful scrutiny of our most hidebound mental habits - notions so "obviously" true that we stopped thinking about them generations ago, and moved them into our hearts and bosoms." p 28
This reminds me of a few of my favorite quotes.
"If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things." - Descartes
"Whatever may be the limitations which trammel inquiry elsewhere we believe the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found." -1894 Ely trial committee final report
Nothing should be exempt from scrutiny. In science, we must require ample evidence to make a claim and demand worthy, universal and repeatable evidence from the claim-makers. No hypothesis or idea, as longstanding and accepted as it may be, deserves to be accepted unless it undergoes the sifting and winnowing of inquiry. Experiment.
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