Quotes About Explanation

Myth does not deny thing, on the contrary, its function is to talk about them; simply, it purifies them, it makes them innocent, it gives them a natural and eternal justification, it gives them a clarity which is not that of an explanation but of a statement of fact.

Whenever one asks "Why?" in science, one actually means "How?". "Why?" is not really a sensible question in science because it usually implies purpose and, as anyone who has been the parent of a small child knows, one can keep on asking "Why?" forever, no matter what the answer to the previous question. Ultimately, the only way to end the conversation seems to be to say "Because!

She didn't explain. So knowing that, where would you start?" "I could tell you, but then I'd have to bill you.

Your chimp ? Bennett asked with a half laugh. Despite what you might think, that is not a term of endearment for your girlfriend! Harry explained, raising his hands in a placating gesture. Even though she has monkey toes.

Darwinists say they're under some sort of epistemological obligation to continue trying, because to invoke design would be to give up on science. Well, I say it's time to redefine science. We should not be looking for only the best naturalistic explanation, but the best explanation, period. And intelligent design is the explanation that's most in conformity with how the world works.

Science should be the search for truth, not merely the search for materialistic explanations.

Let us not forget that revolutions are accomplished through people, although they be nameless. Materialism does not ignore the feeling, thinking, and acting man, but explains him.

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.

As Lerner had predicted, the observers had a need to understand the situation in terms of cause and effect.

I'm afraid I can't explain myself, sir. Because I am not myself, you see?

Take off your hat, the King said to the Hatter. It isn't mine, said the Hatter. Stolen! the King exclaimed, turning to the jury, who instantly made a memorandum of the fact. I keep them to sell, the Hatter added as an explanation; I've none of my own. I'm a hatter.

I'm afraid I can't explain myself. Because I am not myself, you see?

It was a thread woven through all of humankind: this need for story to explain the unexplainable, to comfort the hurting, to promise that no one was alone. Evie's uncle Will had said there was no greater power on earth than story. And in this shared moment, Memphis knew that it was so.

Qwilleran worked hard and fast at the office that day, while the clerk in the Feature Department intercepted all phone calls and uninvited visitors with the simple explanation that permits no appeal, no argument, no exceptions. "Sorry, he's on deadline.

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.

It is almost impossible to write fiction about the Mormons, for the reason that Mormon institutions and Mormon society are so peculiar that they call for constant explanation.

I didn't beat her. I just pushed her out of bed.

Charles II once invited the members of the Royal Society to explain to him why a dead fish weighs more than the same fish alive; a number of subtle explanations were offered to him. He then pointed out that it does not.

You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother.

Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity, but don't rule out malice.

Science may be defined as the reduction of multiplicity to unity. It seeks to explain the endlessly diverse phenomena of nature by ignoring the uniqueness of particular events, concentrating on what they have in common and finally abstracting some kind of "law," in terms of which they make sense and can be effectively dealt with.

The fact that extremely diversified phenomena are explained in terms of laws having the same form or pattern gives us information... about the structure of the various levels of reality with which the mind deals; for presumably the pattern of a hypothesis must have some correspondence, if it works, with the pattern of the phenomena which it explains.

Perché una soluzione perfetta che non riesco a spiegare alla gente è destinata a fallire.

Chance; pure chance. But chance was a dull explanation because it denied the possibility of the paranormal, and people were often disappointed by dull explanations. Mystery and the unknown were far more exciting because they suggested that our world was not quite as prosaic as we feared it might be. Yet we had to adjure those temptations because they lead to a world of darkness and fear.