“Extinction is the rule. Survival is the exception.” — Carl Sagan Quote

Extinction is the rule. Survival is the exception.

The universe seems neither benign nor hostile, merely indifferent.

Why do we put up with it? Do we like to be criticized? No, no scientist enjoys it. Every scientist feels a proprietary affection for his or her ideas and findings. Even so, you don’t reply to critics, Wait a minute; this is a really good idea; I’m very fond of it; it’s done you no harm; please leave it alone. Instead, the hard but just rule is that if the ideas don’t work, you must throw them away.

If we no longer insist on our notions of how Nature ought to behave, but instead stand before Nature with an open and receptive mind, we find that common sense often doesn't work. Why not? Because our notions, both hereditary and learned, of how Nature works were forged in the millions of years our ancestors were hunters and gatherers. In this case common sense is a faithless guide because no hunter-gatherer's life ever depended on understanding time-variable electric and magnetic fields. There were no evolutionary penalties for ignorance of Maxwell's equations. In our time it's different.

We feel that even if all possible scientific questions be answered, the problems of life have still not been touched at all.

perhaps,thought Felix,that's what magic is--physics with a different twist to it.

It is interesting to wonder whether taxonomists of the future may regret the way our generation messed around with genomes.

Scientists have become the bearers of the torch of discovery in our quest for knowledge.

I deeply respect literature and expect to gain insight from a book and to identify emotionally with its characters. I therefore avoid reading suspense novels or science fiction.