Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

Belief in the Truth of a Theory

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I wrote these two laws down on a scrap of paper years ago. I still have the scrap of paper but not the original reference.

Harris’s First Law:
Belief in the truth of a theory is inversely proportional to the precision of the science.

Harris’s Second Law:
The creativity of a scientist is directly proportional to how much he knows, and inversely proportional to how much he believes.

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Comments

  1. Steve says

    So do you have any data to support the validity of these two “laws” Jennifer? Or do you merely believe that they are true? (sorry, couldn’t resist!)

  3. Forester says

    My favourites:

    “We haven’t got time to do it right the first time, but we’ve got time to get it wrong a few times”

    “A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.”
    Max Planck

    And a special one for you ‘Ender’ 😉
    “It is impossible to reason someone out of something they weren’t reasoned into.”
    Jonathan Swift

    Forester

  5. Louis Hissink says

    Ender, we were only born humans, and then some of us changed, more or less. And some of us remain satisfied with our original state, hence the absence of the urge to be “reborn”, or whatever.

  6. forester says

    Ender, I too was born an environmentalist, but my socialist indoctrination eventually wore off…

    Forester