#log

[...] we have in our treatise a series of fifty-seven examinations, almost exclusively of injuries of the human body forming a group of observations furnishing us with the earliest known nucleus of fact regarding the anatomy, physiology and pathology of the human body. Crude and elementary as they are, the method by which they were collected was scientific, and these observations, together with the diagnoses and the explanatory commentary in the ancient glosses, form the oldest body of science now extant. ↗

— James Henry Breasted

#ancient-egypt #ancient-medicine #biology #hieroglyphic #medical-history

A blade of grass is a commonplace on Earth; it would be a miracle on Mars. Our descendants on Mars will know the value of a patch of green. And if a blade of grass is priceless, what is the value of a human being? ↗

— Carl Sagan

#earth #science #space-exploration #science

…the Genesis story is just one that happened to have been adopted by one particular tribe of Middle Eastern herders. It has no more special status than the belief of a particular West African tribe that the world was created from the excrement of ants. ↗

— Richard Dawkins

#creation-myths #mythology #science #science

In a sense who you are has always been a story that you told to yourself. Now your self is a story that you tell to others. ↗

— Geoff Ryman

#science-fiction #stories #the-self #writing #science

Science cuts two ways, of course; its products can be used for both good and evil. But there's no turning back from science. The early warnings about technological dangers also come from science. ↗

— Carl Sagan

#earth #perspective #science #space-exploration #science

The soul is a mystery. Scientists and Theologians constantly butt heads on the soul’s definitive and can’t come to grips with its purpose and actual existence. Yet, the basic framework taught in a High School physics class helps with an explanation of the latter - the existence of the soul. ↗

— H.D. Rennerfeldt

#science-vs-religion #souls #religion

...She nourishes the poison in her veins and is consumed by a secret fire. ↗

— Virgil

#greek #greek-mythology #mythology #mythology

Ideology knows the answer before the question has been asked. Principles are something different: a set of values that have to be adapted to circumstances but not compromised away. ↗

— George Packer

#compromise #ideology #principles #values #ideology

The significance of feminist movement (when it is not co-opted by opportunistic, reactionary forces) is that it offers a new ideological meeting ground for the sexes, a space for criticism, struggle, and transformation. ↗

— Bell Hooks

#ideology

...we're also extremely sensitive to the difference between literacy and ideology. It is our belief that the first helps to thwart intolerance, challenge dogma, and reinforce our common humanity. The second does the opposite. ↗

— Greg Mortenson

#literacy #ideology