Certainty is not biologically possible. We must learn (and teach our children) to tolerate the unpleasantness of uncertainty. Science has given us the language and tools of probabilities. We have methods for analyzing and ranking opinion according to their likelihood… — Robert A. Burton Copy Share Image
No one seriously doubts Socrates' maxim: The unexamined life isn't worth living. Self-assessment and attempts at self-improvement are essential aspects of "the good life."… — Robert A. Burton Copy Share Image
“the brain has developed a constellation of mental sensations that feel like thoughts but aren’t.” — Robert A. Burton Copy Share Image
“Imagine how different dialogue might be with future generations raised on the idea that there are biological constraints on our ability to know what… — Robert A. Burton Copy Share Image
“How different the science-religion controversy would be if we acknowledged that a deeply felt sense of purpose is as necessary as hunger and thirst… — Robert A. Burton Copy Share Image
Good science requires distinguishing between "felt knowledge" and knowledge arising out of testable observations. "I am sure" is a mental sensation, not a testable… — Robert A. Burton Copy Share Image
“Though not necessarily aware of when we feel purpose and meaning, we are nearly always aware of the sickening feeling when we don't possess… — Robert A. Burton Copy Share Image
Properly conducted scientific studies . . . give us a pretty good idea of when something is likely to be correct. To me, pretty… — Robert A. Burton Copy Share Image
“If a conservationist has more stathmin, less risk-taking gene, and the pro-drilling advocate has less stathmin, more risk-taking gene, how can the two have… — Robert A. Burton Copy Share Image
“The history of science is the back-and-forth movement of trial-and-error advances and retreats, punctuated by moments of brilliance and marred by periods of excess.” — Robert A. Burton Copy Share Image
Our mental limitations prevent us from accepting our mental limitations. — Robert A. Burton Copy Share Image
