Quotes from Massimo Pigliucci

The many-worlds theory basically maintains that the reason quantum mechanics seems so strange is because we have access to only one of an infinite number of worlds. From our narrow perspective, the output of certain measurements (like that of the double-slit experiment) seems random and probabilistic, but that is an artifact of the fact that, literally, we don't have the full picture.

science makes progress not by proving its theories right-because that's impossible-but by eliminating an increasing number of wrong theories. Pseudoscience, however, does not make progress because its "theories" are so flexible that they can accommodate any observation whatsoever, which means that pseudoscientific theories do not actually have any explanatory teeth.

Epictetus suggests that those who fall into circumstances they wish to avoid are those who suffer misfortune, by which he means that much suffering comes from a disconnect between what you want to happen and what actually happens. Or, as the Stoics would say, what is in accordance to nature as opposed to contrary to nature.

But if your desire is directed properly, toward doing the best job you are capable of doing, then you cannot possibly fail. In fact, if you do the best job you can at every moment, you've already succeeded!

The way the Stoics put all of this into practice is by means of the four cardinal virtues: practical wisdom, the ability to navigate complex situations, especially morally salient ones, in the best way possible; courage, of the moral kind, as in the courage to stand up and do the right thing; justice, meaning treating others as worthy of the respect and dignity that comes with being fellow humans; and temperance, responding to situations in just measure, without excess or defect.

Eugenicists weren't just about propaganda, they catalyzed significant political action. As early as 1896 the state of Connecticut passed a eugenic law according to which anyone who was epileptic, imbecile, or feeble-minded could not obtain a marriage license.

The New Testament frequently affirms that the Christian hope of eternal life in the future is linked with the experience of suffering in the present, and sees this link as expressed in the story of Christ's passion and crucifixion: "We share in [Christ's] sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory" (Romans 8:17).

if I think (and I do) that Deepak Chopra talks nonsense when he tells people about quantum mechanical elixirs of youth, I would first have to be an expert in quantum mysticism. But the problem is that quantum mysticism is (I think) quackery, and that therefore there is no such thing as an "expert" on quantum mysticism.

are we going to teach the best of what we currently know about the world (however provisional such knowledge may be), or shall we decide if the earth is flat or round by majority consensus?

He is reminding us that—as he puts it elsewhere—everything we have is actually "on loan" from the universe, and the right attitude is to enjoy it while we have it and relinquish it when it is gone. Indeed, precisely because it will one day be gone, it is all the more precious while we have it.

Zhuangzi, another pivotal Daoist sage in the fourth century BCE, says, "Resign yourself to what cannot be avoided and nourish what is within you—this is the best.

This activation of our living root involves focusing on what is most important and what is within our control, such as our abilities, desires, plans, and daily routines. Through these teachings, we can learn the Daoist way to be comfortable with uncertainty and build a bridge between ancient Daoist wisdom and contemporary challenges.

These are often referred to as the three Stoic disciplines: desire, action, and assent.

But as Epictetus tells his students: "Remember that it is we who torment, we who make difficulties for ourselves—that is, our opinions do. What, for instance, does it mean to be insulted? Stand by a rock and insult it, and what have you accomplished? If someone responds to insult like a rock, what has the abuser gained with his invective?

Two of the four Stoic virtues are pertinent to regulating desire: courage (to face facts and act accordingly) and temperance (to rein in our desires and make them commensurate with what is achievable).

Or maybe, another explanation goes, we are in fact surrounded by ETs and simply don't know it, perhaps because they decided to make the solar system a natural reserve, a place where other races can go and see what it is like to be in the infancy of civilization (appropriately, this has been nicknamed the "zoo hypothesis").

What should we do then? Make the best use of what is in our power, and treat the rest in accordance with its nature." Epictetus, Discourses I, 1.17