Quotes About Knowledge

Bad philosophy before the Enlightenment was typically of the because-I-say-so variety. When the Enlightenment liberated philosophy and science, they both began to make progress, and increasingly there was good philosophy. But, paradoxically, bad philosophy became worse.

the assumption that progress in a hypothetical rapacious civilization is limited by raw materials rather than by knowledge.

one thing that all conceptions of the Enlightenment agree on is that it was a rebellion, and specifically a rebellion against authority in regard to knowledge.

on learning how to reject their authority. This is why the Royal Society (one of the earliest scientific academies, founded in London in 1660) took as its motto 'Nullius in verba', which means something like 'Take no one's word for it.

What was needed for the sustained, rapid growth of knowledge was a tradition of criticism. Before the Enlightenment, that was a very rare sort of tradition: usually the whole point of a tradition was to keep things the same.

Richard Feynman said, 'Science is what we have learned about how to keep from fooling ourselves.

Quantum theory is, as I have said, one such theory. But the other three main strands of explanation through which we seek to understand the fabric of reality are all 'high level' from the point of view of quantum physics. They are the theory of evolution (primarily the evolution of living organisms), epistemology (the theory of knowledge) and the theory of computation (about computers and what they can and cannot, in principle, compute).

This is why the Royal Society (one of the earliest scientific academies, founded in London in 1660) took as its motto 'Nullius in verba', which means something like 'Take no one's word for it.

Thus 'how do we know…?' is transformed into 'by what authority do we claim…?' The latter question is a chimera that may well have wasted more philosophers' time and effort than any other idea. It converts the quest for truth into a quest for certainty (a feeling) or for endorsement (a social status). This misconception is called justificationism.

For most of the history of our species, we had almost no success in creating such knowledge. Where does it come from? Empiricism said that we derive it from sensory experience. This is false. The real source of our theories is conjecture, and the real source of our knowledge is conjecture alternating with criticism.

The usefulness of an elder will depend in the long run more on his character than on his gifts and knowledge.

Many times information was most effective when it wasn't used. The same was true of any other weapon.

I think what a life in science really teaches you is the vastness of our ignorance.

The old man was peering intently at the shelves. 'I'll have to admit that he's a very competent scholar.' Isn't he just a librarian?' Garion asked, 'somebody who looks after books?' That's where all the rest of scholarship starts, Garion. All the books in the world won't help you if they're just piled up in a heap.

We are summoned to know him only on his terms. He is not known on our terms. This summons is heard in and through his Word. It is not heard through our intuitions.

Seneca then suddenly changes the subject to talk about selecting and reading the right books, to discuss how "not wandering" is vital in reading also: "If you wish to take in something that will settle reliably in your mind," he says, "you must dwell with a few chosen thinkers and be nourished by their works. Someone who is everywhere is nowhere. Those who travel constantly end up with many acquaintances, but no real friends."7

Science cannot promise eternal truths; only the elimination of false hypotheses and the establishment of what is currently the most likely explanation of an aspect of reality

miré las estanterías de libros. Me da la impresión de que se puede saberlo todo de una persona observando los libros que tiene.

La curiosidad delimita el mundo de los vivos del de las sombras.

Aby Warburg est ainsi à l'origine d'un fonds bibliophilique inouï. Il a des théories sur le rangement des livres. Notamment celle du bon voisinage. Le livre que l'on cherche n'est pas forcément celui que l'on doit lire. Il faut regarder celui d'à côté.

I do things like get in a taxi and say, "The library, and step on it.

Decisions, by all accounts, including those of the participants, were made with little knowledge of, or concern for, the lands and peoples about which and whom the decisions were being made.

Leaving the self out of Christian spirituality results in a spirituality that is not well grounded in experience. It is, therefore, not well grounded in reality. Focusing on God while failing to know ourselves deeply may produce an external form of piety, but it will always leave a gap between appearance and reality. This is dangerous to the soul of anyone—and in spiritual leaders it can also be disastrous for those they lead.

Truly transformational knowledge is always personal, never merely objective. It involves knowing of, not merely knowing about. And it is always relational. It grows out of a relationship to the object that is known—whether this is God or one's self.