#skeptic

Those whose acquaintance with scientific research is derived chiefly from its practical results easily develop a completely false notion of the mentality of the men who, surrounded by a skeptical world, have shown the way to kindred spirits scattered wide through the world and through the centuries. Only one who has devoted his life to similar ends can have a vivid realization of what has inspired these men and given them the strength to remain true to their purpose in spite of countless failures. It is cosmic religious feeling that gives a man such strength. A contemporary has said, not unjustly, that in this materialistic age of ours the serious scientific workers are the only profoundly religious people. ↗

— Albert Einstein

#science #skepticism #age

If we can't think for ourselves, if we're unwilling to question authority, then we're just putty in the hands of those in power. But if the citizens are educated and form their own opinions, then those in power work for us. In every country, we should be teaching our children the scientific method and the reasons for a Bill of Rights. With it comes a certain decency, humility and community spirit. In the demon-haunted world that we inhabit by virtue of being human, this may be all that stands between us and the enveloping darkness. ↗

— Carl Sagan

#education #humanity #rights #science #skepticism

What we call rational grounds for our beliefs are often extremely irrational attempts to justify our instincts. ↗

— Thomas Henry Huxley

#faith #religion #science #skepticism #faith

We should be cautiously open to the spiritual and non-rational, and skeptical of the more invisible magical thinking—what we might call “magical reason”—pervading secular thought and experience in modern society. Science and technology are for most people a new religion, and their orthodoxies are believed with the same fervor. ↗

— David Watson

#magical-thinking #religion #science #skepticism #experience

Truth has two beautiful daughters; their names are skepticism and faith. Skepticism to examine the past to make sure it was not full of lies, and faith to believe that the future won't be full of them also. ↗

— Shannon L. Alder

#choices #commonsense #decisions #faith #investigation

I would think a sense of the absurd is more important for a political cartoonist, because that could define things like a sense of hypocrisy or a sense of the things one has to be skeptical about. ↗

— Jonathan Shapiro

#absurd #because #cartoonist #could #define

Skepticism has never founded empires, established principals, or changed the world's heart. The great doers in history have always been people of faith. ↗

— Edwin Hubbel Chapin

#been #changed #doers #empires #established

Observation: I can't see a thing. Conclusion: Dinosaurs. ↗

— Carl Sagan

#sagan #skepticism #humor

To point out nonepistemic motives in another’s view of the world, therefore, is always a criticism, as it serves to cast doubt upon a person’s connection to the world as it is. ↗

— Sam Harris

#criticism #skepticism #motivational

Dean, you've been to Hell, I started the Apocalypse, and we're supposed to be possessed by an archangel and the devil. Now you're being skeptical? ↗

— Keith R.A. DeCandido

#apocalypse #dean-winchester #devil #hell #sam-winchester