Reciprocal accountability, or criticism [is] the only known antid... by David Brin

Reciprocal accountability, or criticism [is] the only known antidote to error.

David Brin

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Categorized in : Criticism Errors Accountability

For all its beauty, honesty, and effectiveness at improving the human condition, science demands a terrible price - that we accept what experiments tell us about the universe, whether we like it or not. It's about consensus and teamwork and respectful critical argument, working with, and through, natural law. It requires that we utter, frequently, those hateful words - 'I might be wrong.'

honesty teamwork law

In all of history, we have found just one cure for error—a partial antidote against making and repeating grand, foolish mistakes, a remedy against self-deception. That antidote is criticism.

errors self mistake

It is said that power corrupts, but actually it's more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power.

favourite corruption power

Why must conversions always come so late? Why do people always ap... by David Brin

Why must conversions always come so late? Why do people always apologize to corpses?

carpe-diem apology inspiring

Learn to control ego. Humans hold their dogmas and biases too tightly, and we only think that our opponents are dogmatic! But we all need criticism. Criticism is the only known antidote to error.

ego errors thinking

If an outsider perceives 'something wrong' with a core scientific model, the humble and justified response of that curious outsider should be to ask 'what mistake am I making?' before assuming 100% of the experts are wrong.

humble experts mistake

When it comes to privacy and accountability, people always demand the former for themselves and the latter for everyone else.

accountability literature people

The measure of (mental) health is flexibility (not comparison to some 'norm'), the freedom to learn from experience ... to be influenced by reasonable arguments ... and the appeal to the emotions ... and especially the freedom to cease when sated. The essence of illness is the freezing of behavior into unalterable and insatiable patterns.

patterns emotion essence

In historical fact, all of history's despots, combined, never managed to get things done as well as this rambunctious, self-critical civilization of free and sovereign citizens, who have finally broken free of worshipping a ruling class and begun thinking for themselves. Democracy can seem frustrating and messy at times, but it delivers.

self civilization thinking

If you believe you can make a living as a writer, you already hav... by David Brin

If you believe you can make a living as a writer, you already have enough ego.

ego writing believe

In the end, the work of diplomats continues even while others fight. So, it's not necessarily true that everyone needs to march.

diplomats fighting needs

If you have other things in your life-family, friends, good productive day work-these can interact with your writing and the sum will be all the richer.

family-friends family-life writing

Beware of assumptions that seem "obvious" in one decade. They may... by David Brin

Beware of assumptions that seem "obvious" in one decade. They may become quaint in the next.

assumption next may

We already live a very long time for mammals, getting three times as many heartbeats as a mouse or elephant. It never seems enough though, does it?

mammals elephants long

There's no doubt that scientific training helps many authors to write better science fiction. And yet, several of the very best were English majors who could not parse a differential equation to save their lives.

training doubt writing

The village is coming back, like it or not. by David Brin

The village is coming back, like it or not.

village coming-back community

Self-righteous people can talk themselves into forgetting they are part of a civilization. They can then feed on that culture, bringing it down. It's happened many times in the past. It could happen to us.

self civilization past

Indeed, the maligned American pastime of baseball may be by-far the greatest and best sport by one criterion, when it comes to emulating and training for genuinely useful Neolithic skills! Think about it. The game consists of lots of patient waiting and watching (stalking), throwing with incredible accuracy and speed, sprinting, dodging... and hitting moving objects real hard with clubs! And arguing. Hey, what else could you possibly need? Now, tell me, how do soccer or basketball prepare you to survive in the wild, hm?

basketball soccer sports

Change is the principal feature of our age and literature should explore how people deal with it. The best science fiction does that, head-on.

age doe people

Everything isn't subjective. Reality also matters. Truth matters.... by David Brin

Everything isn't subjective. Reality also matters. Truth matters. It is still a word with meaning.

stills matter reality