The enemy of knowledge and science is irrationalism, not religion Stephen Jay Gould More Quotes by Stephen Jay Gould More Quotes From Stephen Jay Gould We who revel in nature's diversity and feel instructed by every animal tend to brand Homo sapiens as the greatest catastrophe since the Cretaceous extinction. Stephen Jay Gould diversity nature animal Each of the major sciences has contributed an essential ingredient in our long retreat from an initial belief in our own cosmic importance. Astronomy defined our home as a small planet tucked away in one corner of an average galaxy among millions; biology took away our status as paragons created in the image of God; geology gave us the immensity of time and taught us how little of it our own species has occupied. Stephen Jay Gould taught-us home average Perhaps I am just a hopeless rationalist, but isn't fascination as comforting as solace? Isn't nature immeasurably more interesting for its complexities and its lack of conformity to our hopes? Isn't curiosity as wondrously and fundamentally human as compassion? Stephen Jay Gould nature compassion interesting Few tragedies can be more extensive than the stunting of life, few injustices deeper than the denial of an opportunity to strive or even to hope, by a limit imposed from without, but falsely identified as lying within. Stephen Jay Gould hope fear lying Skepticism is the agent of reason against organized irrationalism--and is therefore one of the keys to human social and civic decency. Stephen Jay Gould agents evolution keys Nothing is more dangerous than a dogmatic worldview - nothing more constraining, more blinding to innovation, more destructive of openness to novelty. Stephen Jay Gould novelty innovation religion Death is the ultimate enemy - and I find nothing reproachable in those who rage mightily against the dying of the light. Stephen Jay Gould light dying enemy If genius has any common denominator, I would propose breadth of interest and the ability to construct fruitful analogies between fields. Stephen Jay Gould analogies genius fields We have become, by the power of a glorious evolutionary accident called intelligence, the stewards of life's continuity on earth. We did not ask for this role, but we cannot abjure it. We may not be suited to it, but here we are. Stephen Jay Gould roles earth may Nothing matches the holiness and fascination of accurate and intricate detail. Stephen Jay Gould holiness details fascination Antiessentialist thinking forces us to view the world differently. We must accept shadings and continua as fundamental. We lose criteria for judgment by comparison to some ideal: short people, retarded people, people of other beliefs, colors, and religions are people of full status. Stephen Jay Gould color views thinking Nothing is more dangerous than a dogmatic worldview. Stephen Jay Gould novelty dangerous innovation We pass through this world but once. Stephen Jay Gould helping-others kindness giving Without a commitment to science and rationality in its proper domain, there can be no solution to the problems that engulf us. Still, the Yahoos never rest. Stephen Jay Gould problem science commitment Creationist critics often charge that evolution cannot be tested, and therefore cannot be viewed as a properly scientific subject at all. This claim is rhetorical nonsense. Stephen Jay Gould nonsense evolution religion Contrary to current cynicism about past golden ages, the abstraction known as 'the intelligent layperson' does exist - in the form of millions of folks with a passionate commitment to continuous learning. Stephen Jay Gould intelligent past commitment Life is a copiously branching bush, continually pruned by the grim reaper of extinction, not a ladder of predictable progress. Stephen Jay Gould progress life science Memory is a fascinating trickster. Words and images have enormous power and can easily displace actual experience over the years. Stephen Jay Gould enormous memories years Science is all those things which are confirmed to such a degree that it would be unreasonable to withhold one's provisional consent. Stephen Jay Gould degrees would-be science Darwinian evolution may be the most truthful and powerful idea ever generated by Western Science, but if we continue to illustrate our conviction with an indefensible, unsupported, entirely speculative, and basically rather silly story, then we are clothing a thing of beauty in rags - and we should be ashamed, "for the apparel oft proclaims the man. Stephen Jay Gould powerful silly men
