"The meaning of the world is the separation of wish and fact." - KURT GÖDEL
"According to Peirce's doctrine of fallibilism, the conclusions of science are always tentative. The rationality of the scientific method does not depend on the certainty of its conclusions, but on its self-corrective character: by continued application of the method science can detect and correct its own mistakes, and thus eventually lead to the discovery of truth".
A guiding principle for accepting claims of catastrophic global events, miracles, incredible healing, invisible friends, or fill in the blank is:
“extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” - Carl Sagan
"Faith may be defined briefly as an illogical belief in the occurrence of the improbable." - H. L. Mencken
I would add irrational and highly delusional to the mix when faith requires one to accept magical violations of the well known, well tested or easily demonstrated laws of Nature. - PWL
"Science is Progress and the Future. Faith is regression to the Dark Ages." - PWL
“It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open your brains fall out.” - Carl Sagan
"It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan
"Two important characteristics of maps should be noticed. A map is not the territory it represents, but, if correct, it has a similar structure to the territory, which accounts for its usefulness." - Alfred Korzybski
"Science is a search for basic truths about the Universe, a search which develops statements that appear to describe how the Universe works, but which are subject to correction, revision, adjustment, or even outright rejection, upon the presentation of better or conflicting evidence." - James Randi
"Hypotheses are nets: only he who casts will catch." - Novalis
"Nullius in verba. Take no one's word for it." - Motto of the Royal Society
"I'm trying to find out NOT how Nature could be, but how Nature IS." - Richard Feynman
"The improver of natural knowledge absolutely refuses to acknowledge authority, as such. For him, scepticism is the highest of duties; blind faith the one unpardonable sin." - Thomas Henry Huxley
“A foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of truth.” Albert Einstein
"Science is empirical. Knowing the answer means nothing. Testing your knowledge means everything." - Lawrence Krauss
"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
"Science is best defined as a careful, disciplined, logical search for knowledge about any and all aspects of the universe, obtained by examination of the best available evidence and always subject to correction and improvement upon discovery of better evidence. What's left is magic. And it doesn't work." - James Randi
This entry was posted on March 4, 2009 at 1:42 am and is filed under Ethics in Science.
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5 Responses to “Richard Feynman Messenger Lectures + Character of Physical Law”
OK. I’m familiar with what’s available in books & audio.
This particular FILMED lecture was quite motivating visually, unlike other videos of RPF’s movements & chalkboard at lectures.
Why not get a signature list to request that Caltech or Cornell make a nice boxed DVD for “Character of Physical Law” VIDEO ?
Years ago the full set of messenger lectures were on google video, then they got taken down and I’ve been looking for them ever since. They are easily the most engaging and informative introduction to the subject I have ever seen, and it is such a shame they are no longer available
Mariano Mauro said
Is there a way of buying the FULL video RPF’s “Character of Physical Law”?
(We can’t burn to disc at the library.)
Any other great lectures?
pwl said
Well, search a site like Amazon for “Feynman Character of Physical Law” and there are audio tapes available.
Mauro said
OK. I’m familiar with what’s available in books & audio.
This particular FILMED lecture was quite motivating visually, unlike other videos of RPF’s movements & chalkboard at lectures.
Why not get a signature list to request that Caltech or Cornell make a nice boxed DVD for “Character of Physical Law” VIDEO ?
Daniel said
Years ago the full set of messenger lectures were on google video, then they got taken down and I’ve been looking for them ever since. They are easily the most engaging and informative introduction to the subject I have ever seen, and it is such a shame they are no longer available
Jim Hultman said
Try this link. It might help some.
http://www.feynmanlectures.info/