--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Science requires a society because even…" description: "\"Science requires a society because even people who are trying to be good thinkers love their own thoughts and theories - much of the debugging has to b..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8e/alan-kay-7358_done_science-requires-a-society-because-even_1488043.jpg" --- # Science requires a society because even people who are… ![“Science requires a society because even people who are trying to be good thinkers love their own thoughts and theories - much of the debugging has to be done by others.” quote by Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8e/alan-kay-7358_done_science-requires-a-society-because-even_1488043.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8e/alan-kay-7358_done_science-requires-a-society-because-even_1488043.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8e/alan-kay-7358_done_science-requires-a-society-because-even_1488043.jpg) > “Science requires a society because even people who are trying to be good thinkers love their own thoughts and theories - much of the debugging has to be done by others.” [Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Collaboration is essential; others help refine and debug ideas. **In simple terms:** Ideas need external critique. Key Takeaway Seek feedback to improve work. Themes collaboration critical thinking debugging Mood analytical constructive Type technical philosophical When to use this quote - software development - research - creative writing Key Concepts peer review scientific method community knowledge Questions to Reflect On - Who can you trust to critique your work? - How to balance self‑trust and external input? A Different Perspective Over‑reliance on others can dilute originality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society/) [Thoughts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thoughts/) ## Related quotes > [The scourge of drug trafficking, that favors violence and sows the seeds of suffering and death, requires of society as a whole an act…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/the-scourge-of-drug-trafficking-that-favors-violence-and-sows-the/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [You need good thinkers around you. Without them, you will go broke.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-dassler/you-need-good-thinkers-around-you-without-them-you-will-go-broke/) Adolf Dassler > [All of the people in my life whom I consider to be close friends or colleagues are good thinkers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-c-maxwell/all-of-the-people-in-my-life-whom-i-consider-to-be-close-friends-or/) [John C. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-c-maxwell/) > [Good thinkers are always in demand. A person who knows how may always have a job, but the person who knows why will always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-c-maxwell/good-thinkers-are-always-in-demand-a-person-who-knows-how-may-always/) [John C. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-c-maxwell/) > [Good thinkers always prime the pump of ideas. They always look for things to get the thinking process started, because what you put in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-c-maxwell/good-thinkers-always-prime-the-pump-of-ideas-they-always-look-for/) [John C. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-c-maxwell/) > [You shouldn't get to live in society and give nothing back. People complain about their taxes, yet they do nothing for the community. That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-turner/you-shouldn-t-get-to-live-in-society-and-give-nothing-back-people/) [Kathleen Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-turner/) > [I believe in a society where all people do well. Not just a handful of billionaires.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anderson-cooper/i-believe-in-a-society-where-all-people-do-well-not-just-a-handful-of/) [Anderson Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anderson-cooper/) > [A society in which people feel they have a legitimate right to stop someone expressing their views on campus simply because they are unfashionable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-gyimah/a-society-in-which-people-feel-they-have-a-legitimate-right-to-stop/) [Sam Gyimah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-gyimah/) > [We are all equal, rich and poor, and we need a society where the people enjoy their rights.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-bertrand-aristide/we-are-all-equal-rich-and-poor-and-we-need-a-society-where-the-people/) [Jean-Bertrand Aristide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-bertrand-aristide/) > [The difference between science and the fuzzy subjects is that science requires reasoning while those other subjects merely require scholarship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/the-difference-between-science-and-the-fuzzy-subjects-is-that-science/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Science is based on experiment, on a willingness to challenge old dogma, on an openness to see the universe as it really is. Accordingly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/science-is-based-on-experiment-on-a-willingness-to-challenge-old/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [ All science requires mathematics. \[Editors' summary of Bacon's idea, not Bacon's wording.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-bacon/all-science-requires-mathematics-editors-summary-of-bacon-s-idea-not/) [Roger Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-bacon/) > [Science is an investigation," Coach said, sanding his hands together. "Science requires us to transform into spies." Put that way, science almost sounded fun.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/becca-fitzpatrick/science-is-an-investigation-coach-said-sanding-his-hands-together/) [Becca Fitzpatrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/becca-fitzpatrick/) > [All science requires mathematics. The knowledge of mathematical things is almost innate in us. This is the easiest of sciences, a fact which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-bacon/all-science-requires-mathematics-the-knowledge-of-mathematical-things/) [Roger Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-bacon/) > [“The successful development of science requires a proper balance to be maintained between the method of building up from observations and the method of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-a-m-dirac/the-successful-development-of-science-requires-a-proper-balance-to-be/) [Paul A.M. Dirac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-a-m-dirac/) ## More by Alan Kay > [In our society we have hard nerds and soft nerds. The hard nerds are the ones who used to have the slide rules at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/in-our-society-we-have-hard-nerds-and-soft-nerds-the-hard-nerds-are/) [Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) > [As far as Apple goes, it was a different company every few years from the time I joined in 1984.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/as-far-as-apple-goes-it-was-a-different-company-every-few-years-from/) [Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) > [When I first prepared this particular talk... I realized that my usual approach is usually critical. That is, a lot of the things that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/when-i-first-prepared-this-particular-talk-i-realized-that-my-usual/) [Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) > [Quite a few people have to believe something is normal before it becomes normal - a sort of 'voting' situation. But once the threshold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/quite-a-few-people-have-to-believe-something-is-normal-before-it/) [Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) > [Every technology really needs to be shipped with a special manual - not how to use it but why, when and for what.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/every-technology-really-needs-to-be-shipped-with-a-special-manual-not/) [Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) > [Java and C++ make you think that the new ideas are like the old ones. Java is the most distressing thing to hit computing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/java-and-c-make-you-think-that-the-new-ideas-are-like-the-old-ones/) [Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) > [It's hard to change information in books, but if we have everything online, then a somewhat untrustworthy group of people controlling the thing -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/it-s-hard-to-change-information-in-books-but-if-we-have-everything/) [Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) > [Computer programmers do it byte by byte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/computer-programmers-do-it-byte-by-byte/) [Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) > [Lisp isn't a language, it's a building material.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/lisp-isn-t-a-language-it-s-a-building-material/) [Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) > [The tree of research must be fed from time to time with the blood of bean-counters, for it is its natural manure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/the-tree-of-research-must-be-fed-from-time-to-time-with-the-blood-of/) [Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) > [People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/people-who-are-really-serious-about-software-should-make-their-own/) [Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) > [I think the trick with knowledge is to “acquire it, and forget all except the perfume” - because it is noisy and sometimes drowns…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/i-think-the-trick-with-knowledge-is-to-acquire-it-and-forget-all/) [Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) > [Possibly the only real object-oriented system in working order. (About Internet)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/possibly-the-only-real-object-oriented-system-in-working-order-about/) [Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) > [“A change in perspective is worth 80 IQ points.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/a-change-in-perspective-is-worth-80-iq-points/) [Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) > [Humans are communications junkies. We just can't get enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/humans-are-communications-junkies-we-just-can-t-get-enough/) [Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) [Explore all 91 Alan Kay quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) ## More Done quotes > [Entertainment is a sacred pursuit when done well. When done well, it raises the quality of human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/entertainment-is-a-sacred-pursuit-when-done-well-when-done-well-it/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [Usually male directors have to use foul language to get the job done. But I never came down to that level as being a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/divya-khosla-kumar/usually-male-directors-have-to-use-foul-language-to-get-the-job-done/) [Divya Khosla Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/divya-khosla-kumar/) > [You'll seldom experience regret for anything that you've done. It is what you haven't done that will torment you. 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But when those transitions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelli-o-hara/when-you-step-out-and-do-a-song-in-a-musical-the-easier-thing-to-do/) [Kelli O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelli-o-hara/) > [Against his own will, almost, Will felt himself understanding; he would have done anything, he thought, told any lie, taken any risk, to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/against-his-own-will-almost-will-felt-himself-understanding-he-would/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [Failures happen. You can't cry over them. You just take it in your stride because you know that you have done your best... Sometimes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/divya-dutta/failures-happen-you-can-t-cry-over-them-you-just-take-it-in-your/) [Divya Dutta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/divya-dutta/) > [If the members of parliament no longer consider themselves mandatories of the taxpayers but deputies of those receiving salaries, wages, subsidies, doles, and other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/if-the-members-of-parliament-no-longer-consider-themselves/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [I'm a business first and foremost so whatever my business is, it's separate from my personal. It's like whatever I do business wise, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/snoop-dogg/i-m-a-business-first-and-foremost-so-whatever-my-business-is-it-s/) [Snoop Dogg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/snoop-dogg/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [I've used the Phoenix Centrifuge to replicate what the body's going to go through on the flight up. I've also done some gravity tests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/i-ve-used-the-phoenix-centrifuge-to-replicate-what-the-body-s-going/) [Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/) > [I always watch my matches back 100 times afterwards because that's how I improve. This is something I've always done, even in NXT.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mandy-rose/i-always-watch-my-matches-back-100-times-afterwards-because-that-s/) [Mandy Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mandy-rose/) > [In the future, I would like to do more films with contemporary themes. 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