All scientific progress requires a climate of strong…

“All scientific progress requires a climate of strong skepticism.”

Jerry A. Coyne

About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Scientific advancement depends on questioning assumptions and demanding evidence.

In simple terms: Progress needs strong doubt.

Key Takeaway

Question everything.

Themes

science skepticism progress

Mood

thoughtful analytical

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

research labs
policy debates
education curricula
public discourse

Key Concepts

philosophy of science critical thinking

Questions to Reflect On

How do you balance doubt with openness?
When is skepticism harmful?

A Different Perspective

Skepticism can stall innovation if taken to extremes.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet

More by Jerry A. Coyne

In the end theologians are jealous of science, for they are aware that it has greater authority than do their own ways of finding…

Jerry A. Coyne

Evolution tells us where we came from, not where we can go.

Jerry A. Coyne

“Many people require more than just evidence before they’ll accept evolution. To these folks, evolution raises such profound questions of purpose, morality, and meaning…

Jerry A. Coyne

“since many traits can affect an individual's adaptation to it's environment (it's "fitness") natural selection can over eons sculpt an animal or plant into…

Jerry A. Coyne

These mysteries about how we evolved should not distract us from the indisputable fact that we did evolve.

Jerry A. Coyne

Some believers are fundamentalists about everything, but every believer is a fundamentalist about something.

Jerry A. Coyne

“In science's pecking order, evolutionary biology lurks somewhere near the bottom, far closer to phrenology than to physics. For evolutionary biology is a historical…

Jerry A. Coyne

Theology is the post hoc rationalization of what you want to believe.

Jerry A. Coyne

“There is an increasing (and disturbing) tendency of psychologists, biologists, and philosophers to Darwinize every aspect of human behavior, turning its study into a…

Jerry A. Coyne

Can a geology teacher blithely tell his students that the earth is flat, or a European history professor that the Holocaust didn't happen? That's…

Jerry A. Coyne

“Life on earth evolved gradually beginning with one primitive life form – perhaps a self-replicating molecule – that lived more than 3.5 billion years…

Jerry A. Coyne

Science has only two things to contribute to religion: an analysis of the evolutionary, cultural, and psychological basis for believing things that aren't true,…

Jerry A. Coyne

“IDers argue that such traits, involving many parts that must cooperate for that trait to function at all, defy Darwinian explanation. Therefore, by default,…

Jerry A. Coyne

“Natural selection is not a master engineer, but a tinkerer. It doesn't produce the absolute perfection achievable by a designer starting from scratch, but…

Jerry A. Coyne

“Selection is both revolutionary and disturbing for the same reason: it explains apparent design in nature by a purely materialistic process that doesn't require…

Jerry A. Coyne

Explore all 48 Jerry A. Coyne quotes

More Climate quotes

Irish research will contribute to global progress and have the potential to help all countries realise the potential of their land sectors in addressing…

Enda Kenny

In the current climate, things that are true, brave human stories become political.

Cate Blanchett

Windmills and solar cells are carbon-free sources of electricity. But they are costly. If you've been investing in those, give it up. That game…

Kenneth Fisher

Society understands the architecture of academia and knows there are relevant qualifications in different fields, and the media accepts the idea of specialisations and…

Jay Griffiths

There are many more traits that the climate deniers share with the creationists and Holocaust deniers and others who distort the truth.

Donald R. Prothero

Some would call me an environmentalist. I don't know why. I reuse the water that falls in my backyard in the winter. I reuse…

Ed Begley, Jr

I talk to fashion designers and say I want some money to save the rainforest, and they say, 'Oh, I agree with you completely…

Vivienne Westwood

Assuming normal winter weather, we currently anticipate the coal markets to remain difficult through 2015; while we always strive to operate a full capacity…

Joe Craft

Climate change poses clear, catastrophic threats. We may not agree on the extent, but we certainly can't afford the risk of inaction.

Rupert Murdoch

Fossil fuels, including oil, are running out and supplies are getting harder to find. If we do nothing, prices will continue to rise and…

Lucy Powell

Local and state governments have outrun the federal government. The EPA has served notice that it will enact a rule requiring CO2 reductions by…

Al Gore

I am sympathetic to developing countries’ concerns: because of our emissions it’s their crops that will disappear; because of our inaction, it’s their fields…

John F. Kerry

We live in a state with a wonderful climate and plenty of natural beauty, from the shores of Cumberland Island to the Chattahoochee River…

Roy Barnes

Right now, the government is spending billions of dollars supporting the problem-makers in the U.S. economy - the polluters, despoilers, incarcerators, and warmongers.

Van Jones

All of the barriers to innovation in the energy sector are arguments for a big commitment to public investment. Only the public sector can…

Ted Nordhaus

Browse all 8,549 Climate quotes

All scientific progress requires a climate of strong…

About This Quote

Related quotes

More by Jerry A. Coyne

More Climate quotes