“The greatest advances in science are made when we discover that our assumptions about the world are wrong.”
What this quote means
This quote celebrates the questioning of our certainties as a driver of scientific progress. It suggests that our mistakes and false assumptions are opportunities for learning. It resonates with intellectual humility and open-mindedness. In science and in life, it encourages us to welcome error as a step toward truth, rather than as a failure.
How to apply it daily
Identify a belief you take for granted. Actively seek evidence that might contradict it, and be willing to revise your opinion.
Continue
Related quotes
Same author or same theme — keep reading.
“Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.”Create visual
“It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.”Create visual
“Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature's inexorable imperative.”Create visual
“The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' but 'That's funny...”Create visual
“The task is not so much to see what no one has yet seen, but to think what nobody has yet thought about that which everybody sees.”Create visual
“I don't like it, and I'm sorry I ever had anything to do with it.”Create visual