#skeptic

There was a danger that skeptics and opponents would misread those likelihood ratio tests as rejections of an entire class of models, which of course they were not. ↗

— Thomas J. Sargent

#course #danger #entire #likelihood #models

Because a truly skeptical position would be a very uncertain one. ↗

— Rupert Sheldrake

#position #skeptical #truly #uncertain #very

With their backs to the sunrise they worship the night. ↗

— Robert G. Ingersoll

#skepticism #superstition #religion

Some information is classified legitimately; as with military hardware, secrecy sometimes really is in the national interest. Further, military, political, and intelligence communities tend to value secrecy for its own sake. It's a way of silencing critics and evading responsibility - for incompetence or worse. It generates an elite, a band of brothers in whom the national confidence can be reliably vested, unlike the great mass of citizenry on whose behalf the information is presumably made secret in the first place. With a few exceptions, secrecy is deeply incompatible with democracy and with science. ↗

— Carl Sagan

#rationality #science #skepticism #intelligence

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

Bertrand Russell declared that, in case he met God, he would say to Him, "Sir, you did not give us enough information." I would add to that, "All the same, Sir, I'm not persuaded that we did the best we could with the information we had. Toward the end there, anyway, we had tons of information. ↗

— Kurt Vonnegut

#freethinker #humor #skeptic #humor

A Christian telling an atheist they're going to hell is as scary as a child telling an adult they're not getting any presents from Santa. ↗

— Ricky Gervais

#christianity #comedy #humor #humour #rationality

Scepticism is the chastity of the intellect, and it is shameful to surrender it too soon or to the first comer: there is nobility in preserving it coolly and proudly through long youth, until at last, in the ripeness of instinct and discretion, it can be safely exchanged for fidelity and happiness. ↗

— George Santayana

#freethinking #skepticism #nobility

It's a most distressing affliction to have a sentimental heart and a skeptical mind. ↗

— نجيب محفوظ

#heart #sentimentality #skepticism #skepticism

Pardon me, but there’s someone on the phone who says they have a call for you.” There’s a call to tell me I have a call?” he asked with heavy skepticism. ↗

— Jeaniene Frost

#destined #early #grave #skepticism