---
title: "1 New Theory Quotes By Michael Shermer"
description: "1 New Theory quotes by Michael Shermer. Plus more from Michael Shermer and more New Theory sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/219/michael-shermer-2567_cannot_in-order-to-displace-a-prevailing-theory_1045896.jpg"
---

> [In order to displace a prevailing theory or paradigm in science, it is not enough to merely point out what it cannot explain; you have to offer a new theory that explains more data, and do so in a testable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/in-order-to-displace-a-prevailing-theory-or-paradigm-in-science-it-is/)

[Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/219/michael-shermer-2567_cannot_in-order-to-displace-a-prevailing-theory_1045896.jpg)

## More by Michael Shermer

> [I’m a skeptic not because I do not want to believe, but because I want to know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/i-m-a-skeptic-not-because-i-do-not-want-to-believe-but-because-i-want/)

[Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/)

> [“According to Dembski, for example, “scientific creationism has prior religious commitments whereas intelligent design does not.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/according-to-dembski-for-example-scientific-creationism-has-prior/)

[Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/)

> [The first-cause and prime-mover argument, brilliantly proffered by St. Thomas Aquinas in the fourteenth century (and brilliantly refuted by David Hume in the eighteenth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/the-first-cause-and-prime-mover-argument-brilliantly-proffered-by-st/)

[Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/)

> [“Mind is just a word we use to describe neural activity in the brain. No brain, no mind. We know this because if a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/mind-is-just-a-word-we-use-to-describe-neural-activity-in-the-brain/)

[Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/)

> [Through no divine design or cosmic plan, we have inherited the mantle of life's caretaker on the earth, the only home we have ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/through-no-divine-design-or-cosmic-plan-we-have-inherited-the-mantle/)

[Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/)

> [I always accepted the libertarian position of minimum regulation in the sale and use of firearms because I placed guns under the beneficial rubric…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/i-always-accepted-the-libertarian-position-of-minimum-regulation-in/)

[Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/)

> [If spirituality is the sense of awe and humility in the face of the creation, what could be more awesome and humbling than the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/if-spirituality-is-the-sense-of-awe-and-humility-in-the-face-of-the/)

[Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/)

> [We know evolution happened not because of transitional fossils such as A. natans but because of the convergence of evidence from such diverse fields…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/we-know-evolution-happened-not-because-of-transitional-fossils-such/)

[Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/)

> [“Yet basically, libertarians are for freedom and liberty for individuals, while recognizing that in order to be free we must also be protected. Your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/yet-basically-libertarians-are-for-freedom-and-liberty-for/)

[Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/)

> [Scientists like Bjorn Lomborg in The Skeptical Environmentalist have, in my opinion, properly nailed environmental extremists for these exaggerated scenarios.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/scientists-like-bjorn-lomborg-in-the-skeptical-environmentalist-have/)

[Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/)

> [When religious believers invoke miracles and acts of creation ex nihilo, that is the end of the search for them, whereas for scientists, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/when-religious-believers-invoke-miracles-and-acts-of-creation-ex/)

[Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/)

> [Darwin matters because evolution matters. Evolution matters because science matters. Science matters because it is the preeminent story of our age, an epic saga…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/darwin-matters-because-evolution-matters-evolution-matters-because/)

[Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/)

> [What can be more soul shaking than peering through a 100-inch telescope at a distant galaxy, holding a 100-million-year-old fossil or a 500,000-year-old stone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/what-can-be-more-soul-shaking-than-peering-through-a-100-inch/)

[Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/)

> [Skepticism is not a position that you stake out ahead of time and stick to no matter what.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/skepticism-is-not-a-position-that-you-stake-out-ahead-of-time-and/)

[Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/)

> [“Neuroscientist David Comings drew out the larger implications of such hallucinations for the relationship between our rational and spiritual brains: The psychedelic drugs like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/neuroscientist-david-comings-drew-out-the-larger-implications-of-such/)

[Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "ItemList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-theory/michael-shermer/#itemlist",
            "name": "1 New Theory Quotes By Michael Shermer",
            "numberOfItems": 1,
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "In order to displace a prevailing theory or paradigm in science, it is not enough to merely point out what it cannot explain; you have to offer a new theory that explains more data, and do so in a testable way.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Michael Shermer"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/in-order-to-displace-a-prevailing-theory-or-paradigm-in-science-it-is/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/219/michael-shermer-2567_cannot_in-order-to-displace-a-prevailing-theory_1045896.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/219/michael-shermer-2567_cannot_in-order-to-displace-a-prevailing-theory_1045896.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/219/michael-shermer-2567_cannot_in-order-to-displace-a-prevailing-theory_1045896.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“In order to displace a prevailing theory or paradigm in science, it is not enough to merely point out what…” — Michael Shermer",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "CollectionPage",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-theory/michael-shermer/#webpage",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-theory/michael-shermer/",
            "name": "New Theory Quotes by Michael Shermer",
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "mainEntity": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-theory/michael-shermer/#itemlist"
            },
            "primaryImageOfPage": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/219/michael-shermer-2567_cannot_in-order-to-displace-a-prevailing-theory_1045896.jpg"
            },
            "description": "1 New Theory quotes by Michael Shermer. Plus more from Michael Shermer and more New Theory sayings from other authors.",
            "breadcrumb": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-theory/michael-shermer/#breadcrumb"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-theory/michael-shermer/#breadcrumb",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Topics",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "New Theory",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-theory/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 5,
                    "name": "Michael Shermer",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-theory/michael-shermer/"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```