Every genuine test of a theory is an attempt to falsify it, or to refute it. Karl Popper More Quotes by Karl Popper More Quotes From Karl Popper Whenever we propose a solution to a problem, we ought to try as hard as we can to overthrow our solution, rather than defend it. Karl Popper proposeproblemtrying Our aim as scientists is objective truth; more truth, more interesting truth, more intelligible truth. We cannot reasonably aim at certainty. Once we realize that human knowledge is fallible, we realize also that we can never be completely certain that we have not made a mistake. Karl Popper objective-truthmistakeinteresting Astrologers were greatly impressed, and misled, by what they believed to be confirming evidence-so much so that they were quite unimpressed by any unfavorable evidence. Moreover, by making their interpretations and prophecies sufficiently vague they were able to explain away anything that might have been a refutation of the theory had the theory and the prophecies been more precise. In order to escape falsification they destroyed the testability of their theory. It is a typical soothsayer's trick to predict things so vaguely that the predictions can hardly fail: that they become irrefutable. Karl Popper typicalmightorder no matter how many instances of white swans we may have observed, this does not justify the conclusion that all swans are white. Karl Popper swanswhitedoe Evolution is not a fact. Evolution doesn't even qualify as a theory or as a hypothesis. It is a metaphysical research program, and it is not really testable science. Karl Popper evolutionresearchfacts For myself, I am interested in science and in philosophy only because I want to learn something about the riddle of the world in which we live, and the riddle of man's knowledge of that world. And I believe that only a revival of interest in these riddles can save the sciences and philosophy from an obscurantist faith in the expert's special skill and in his personal knowledge and authority. Karl Popper menphilosophybelieve It is wrong and dangerous to extol freedom by telling people that they will certainly be all right once they are free. The most we can say of democracy or freedom is that they give our personal abilities a little more influence on our well-being. Karl Popper democracygivingpeople The difference between the amoeba and Einstein is that, although both make use of the method of trial and error elimination, the amoeba dislikes erring while Einstein is intrigued by it. Karl Popper errorsdifferencesscience It is easy to obtain confirmations, or verifications, for nearly every theory-if we look for confirmations. Confirmations should count only if they are the result of risky predictions... A theory which is not refutable by any conceivable event is non-scientific. Irrefutability is not a virtue of a theory (as people often think) but a vice. Every genuine test of a theory is an attempt to falsify it, or refute it. Karl Popper sciencepeoplethinking Philosophers should consider the fact that the greatest happiness principle can easily be made an excuse for a benevolent dictatorship. We should replace it by a more modest and more realistic principle - the principle that the fight against avoidable misery should be a recognized aim of public policy, while the increase of happiness should be left, in the main, to private initiative. Karl Popper inner-peacefightinghappiness We are social creatures to the inmost centre of our being. The notion that one can begin anything at all from scratch, free from the past, or unindebted to others, could not conceivably be more wrong. Karl Popper gratitudehumilitymath If you know that things are bound to happen whatever you do, then you may feel free to give up the fight against them. Karl Popper giving-upfightingmay . . . it seems to me certain that more people are killed out of righteous stupidity than out of wickedness. Karl Popper wickednessstupiditypeople Rationalism is an attitude of readiness to listen to contrary arguments and to learn from experience... of admitting that "I may be wrong and you may be right and, by an effort, we may get nearer the truth." Karl Popper admittingeffortattitude It is not possible to write clearly enough to avoid being misrepresented by people who are sufficiently determined to do so. Karl Popper determinedwritingpeople The survival value of intelligence is that it allows us to extinct a bad idea, before the idea extincts us. Karl Popper bad-ideassurvivalideas Every solution of a problem raises new unsolved problems. Karl Popper obstaclesraisesproblem We all remember how many religious wars were fought for a religion of love and gentleness; how many bodies were burned alive with the genuinely kind intention of saving souls from the eternal fire of hell. Karl Popper religiouslovewar The more we learn about the world, and the deeper our learning, the more conscious, specific, and articulate will be our knowledge of what we do not know, our knowledge of our ignorance Karl Popper ignoranceworldknowledge The belief in a political Utopia is especially dangerous. This is possibly connected with the fact that the search for a better world, like the investigation of our environment, is (if I am correct) one of the oldest and most important of all the instincts. Karl Popper politicalimportantfacts
