Quotes About Theory

The dark-matter hypothesis is preferred mostly because the only other possibility—that we are wrong about Newton's laws, and by extension general relativity—is too scary to contemplate.

What we have, in fact, is not a theory at all but a large collection of approximate calculations, together with a web of conjectures that, if true, point to the existence of a theory.

Today, the concrete data point strongly in the direction of the God hypothesis. . . . Those who wish to oppose it have no testable theory to marshal, only speculations about unseen universes spun from fertile scientific imagination. . . . Ironically, the picture of the universe bequeathed to us by the most advanced twentieth-century science is closer in spirit to the vision presented in the Book of Genesis than anything offered by science since Copernicus.27

The appeal of many conspiracy theories depends on the misunderstanding of this logic. That is, it depends on confusing the probability that a series of events would happen if it were the product of a huge conspiracy with the probability that a huge conspiracy exists if a series of events occurs.

Well, I have been working on my own theory for twelve years," and then he proceeded to describe it in excruciating detail. When he was finished, Feynman turned to me and said, in front of the man who had just proudly described his work, "That's exactly what I mean about wasting your time.

Pauli turned to the audience and argued, "Yes, my theory is crazy enough!" Then Bohr insisted, "No, your theory is not crazy enough!

We choose the facts that we want to believe. We also choose our friends, lovers, and spouses not just because of the way we perceive them but because of the way they perceive us. Unlike phenomena in physics, in life, events can often obey one theory or another, and what actually happens can depend largely upon which theory we choose to believe.

In degree, however, the total state does differ from its predecessors: it represents statism pressed to its limits, in theory and in practice, devouring the last remnants of the individual.

The alleged political equality of men under such a government, declared Rosa Luxemburg, the top Spartacist theoretician, "is nothing but lies and falsehoods so long as the economic power of capital still exists.

The branch of philosophy that studies knowledge is epistemology.

The system which Hitler established—the social reality which so many Germans were so eager to embrace or so willing to endure—the politics which began in a theory and ended in Auschwitz—was: the "total state." The term, from which the adjective "totalitarian" derives, was coined by Hitler's mentor, Mussolini.

The voluntarist worship of mindless action may be designated by the term "activism." Activism is the form of irrationalism which extols direct physical action, based on will or instinct or faith, while repudiating the intellect and its products, such as abstractions, theory, programs, philosophy. In a very literal sense, activism is irrationalism—in action. "We approach the realities of the world only in strong emotion and in action ... ," says Hitler.

He who loves practice without theory is like the sailor who boards ship without a rudder and compass and never knows where he may cast.

The supreme misfortune is when theory outstrips performance

Quelli che s'innamorano della pratica senza la scienza, sono come i nocchieri che entrano in naviglio senza timone o bussola, che mai hanno certezza dove si vadano. Sempre la pratica dev'essere edificata sopra la buona teorica, della quale la prospettiva è guida e porta, e senza questa nulla si fa bene.

Practice must always be founded on sound theory.

but then I was so utterly entranced by our discussion of Einstein's relative theory - Relativity, Ling corrected quickly under her breath. - that I completely lost track of the time. Funny, Ling whispered. What? Henry said. Lost track of... Ling shook her head, never mind.

Got a better theory?

There is a real world; its properties are not merely social constructions; facts and evidence do matter. What sane person would contend otherwise? And yet, much contemporary academic theorizing consists precisely of attempts to blur these obvious truths.

Theory and practice sometimes clash. And when that happens, theory loses. Every single time.

Evolution as such is no longer a theory for a modern author. It is as much a fact as that the earth revolves around the sun.

Psychoanalysis can provide a theory of 'progress,' but only by viewing history as a neurosis.

Obscurantism is the academic theorist's revenge on society for having consigned him or her to relative obscurity - a way of proclaiming one's superiority in the face of one's diminished influence.

The Darwinian theory is in principle capable of explaining life. No other theory that has ever been suggested is in principle capable of explaining life.