--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One of the reasons for its success is…" description: "\"One of the reasons for its success is that science has a built-in, error-correcting machinery at its very heart. Some may consider this an overbroad ch..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b99/carl-sagan-160_characterization_one-of-the-reasons-for-its-success-is-th_707470.jpg" --- # One of the reasons for its success is that science has a… ![“One of the reasons for its success is that science has a built-in, error-correcting machinery at its very heart. Some may consider this an overbroad characterization, but to me every time we exercise self-criticism, every time we test our ideas against the outside world, we are doing science. When…” quote by Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b99/carl-sagan-160_characterization_one-of-the-reasons-for-its-success-is-th_707470.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b99/carl-sagan-160_characterization_one-of-the-reasons-for-its-success-is-th_707470.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b99/carl-sagan-160_characterization_one-of-the-reasons-for-its-success-is-th_707470.jpg) > “One of the reasons for its success is that science has a built-in, error-correcting machinery at its very heart. Some may consider this an overbroad characterization, but to me every time we exercise self-criticism, every time we test our ideas against the outside world, we are doing science. When we are self-indulgent and uncritical, when we confuse hopes and facts, we slide into pseudoscience and superstition.” [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Science advances by constantly questioning and testing ideas, correcting errors through self‑criticism. **In simple terms:** Science self‑corrects through testing. Key Takeaway Embrace critical self‑review. Themes science critical thinking self‑correction Mood analytical thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - research - product development - policy making - education Key Concepts philosophy methodology epistemology Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance skepticism with confidence? - When is it okay to trust intuition over data? A Different Perspective Over‑reliance on self‑criticism can stall progress if not balanced with confidence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Characterization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/characterization/) [Criticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/criticism/) [Doing Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doing-science-247388/) [Errors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/errors/) [Exercise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exercise/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Machinery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/machinery/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Outside world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outside-world/) [Pseudoscience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pseudoscience/) [Pseudoscience Superstition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pseudoscience-superstition-272168/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Science Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science-self-254789/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self criticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-criticism/) [Self indulgent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-indulgent/) [Slides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slides/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) [Success Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success-science-913371/) [Superstitions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/superstitions/) [Tests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tests/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“When we are self-indulgent and uncritical, when we confuse hopes and facts, we slide into pseudoscience and superstition.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/when-we-are-self-indulgent-and-uncritical-when-we-confuse-hopes-and/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“I worry that, especially as the Millennium edges nearer, pseudoscience and superstition will seem year by year more tempting, the siren song of unreason…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/i-worry-that-especially-as-the-millennium-edges-nearer-pseudoscience/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time -- when the United States is a service and information economy;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/i-have-a-foreboding-of-an-america-in-my-children-s-or-grandchildren-s-2/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [There are many hypotheses in science which are wrong. That’s perfectly all right: it’s the aperture to finding out what’s right. Science is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/there-are-many-hypotheses-in-science-which-are-wrong-that-s-perfectly-2/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“There are many hypotheses in science that are wrong. That's perfectly alright; it's the aperture to finding out what's right. Science is a self-correcting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/there-are-many-hypotheses-in-science-that-are-wrong-that-s-perfectly/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Whenever our ethnic or national prejudices are aroused, in times of scarcity, during challenges to national self esteem or nerve, when we agonize about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/whenever-our-ethnic-or-national-prejudices-are-aroused-in-times-of/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“It may be that there are kernels of truth in a few of these doctrines, but their widespread acceptance betokens a lack of intellectual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/it-may-be-that-there-are-kernels-of-truth-in-a-few-of-these-doctrines/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“The method of science, as stodgy and grumpy as it may seem, is far more important than the findings of science.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-method-of-science-as-stodgy-and-grumpy-as-it-may-seem-is-far-more/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“The dumbing down of America is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30-second sound bites…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-dumbing-down-of-america-is-most-evident-in-the-slow-decay-of/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“Pseudoscience is embraced, it might be argued, in exact proportion as real science is misunderstood.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/pseudoscience-is-embraced-it-might-be-argued-in-exact-proportion-as/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“deluded or not, supporters of superstition and pseudoscience are human beings with real feelings, who, like the skeptics, are trying to figure out how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/deluded-or-not-supporters-of-superstition-and-pseudoscience-are-human/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [The candle flame gutters. Its little pool of light trembles. Darkness gathers. The demons begin to stir.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-candle-flame-gutters-its-little-pool-of-light-trembles-darkness/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Science arouses a soaring sense of wonder. But so does pseudoscience. Sparse and poor popularizations of science abandon ecological niches that pseudoscience promptly fills.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/science-arouses-a-soaring-sense-of-wonder-but-so-does-pseudoscience/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“Science thrives on errors, cutting them away one by one. False conclusions are drawn all the time, but they are drawn tentatively. Hypotheses are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/science-thrives-on-errors-cutting-them-away-one-by-one-false/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [If we teach only the findings and products of science - no matter how useful and even inspiring they may be - without communicating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/if-we-teach-only-the-findings-and-products-of-science-no-matter-how/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) ## More by Carl Sagan > [It is sometimes said that scientists are unromantic, that their passion to figure out robs the world of beauty and mystery. But is it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/it-is-sometimes-said-that-scientists-are-unromantic-that-their/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [The prediction of nuclear winter is drawn not, of course, from any direct experience with the consequences of global nuclear war, but rather from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-prediction-of-nuclear-winter-is-drawn-not-of-course-from-any/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [The suppression of uncomfortable ideas may be common in religion or in politics, but it is not the path to knowledge; it has no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-suppression-of-uncomfortable-ideas-may-be-common-in-religion-or/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“Telepathy’ literally means to feel at a distance, just as ‘telephone’ is to hear at a distance and ‘television’ is to see at a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/telepathy-literally-means-to-feel-at-a-distance-just-as-telephone-is/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“On the scale of worlds—to say nothing of stars or galaxies—humans are inconsequential, a thin film of life on an obscure and solitary lump…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/on-the-scale-of-worlds-to-say-nothing-of-stars-or-galaxies-humans-are/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/every-one-of-us-is-in-the-cosmic-perspective-precious-if-a-human/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [In our time, we have sifted the sands of Mars, we have established a presence there, we have fulfilled a century of dreams!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/in-our-time-we-have-sifted-the-sands-of-mars-we-have-established-a/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [ “\[ When a religious couple wrote to Sagan about fulfilled prophecies, he wrote back in May 1996 :\] If ‘fulfilled prophecy’ is your criterion,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/when-a-religious-couple-wrote-to-sagan-about-fulfilled-prophecies-he/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Don't judge everyone else by your own limited experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/don-t-judge-everyone-else-by-your-own-limited-experience/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“Books permit us to voyage through time, to tap the wisdom of our ancestors. The library connects us with the insight and knowledge, painfully…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/books-permit-us-to-voyage-through-time-to-tap-the-wisdom-of-our/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [We live on a hunk of rock and metal that circles a humdrum star that is one of 400 billion other stars that make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/we-live-on-a-hunk-of-rock-and-metal-that-circles-a-humdrum-star-that/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [A tiny blue dot set in a sunbeam. Here it is. That's where we live. That's home. We humans are one species and this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/a-tiny-blue-dot-set-in-a-sunbeam-here-it-is-that-s-where-we-live-that/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Any sufficiently crisp question can be answered by a single binary digit-0 or 1, yes or no.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/any-sufficiently-crisp-question-can-be-answered-by-a-single-binary/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Humans — who enslave, castrate, experiment on, and fillet other animals — have had an understandable penchant for pretending animals do not feel pain.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/humans-who-enslave-castrate-experiment-on-and-fillet-other-animals/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Every star may be a sun to someone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/every-star-may-be-a-sun-to-someone/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) [Explore all 1,043 Carl Sagan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) ## More Characterization quotes > [ Steve \[King\] has been incredibly supportive. He's also really good about getting back to me when I have questions about plot or characterization. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-furth/steve-king-has-been-incredibly-supportive-he-s-also-really-good-about/) [Robin Furth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-furth/) > [Sometimes after a compliment about my characterization skills, I'm asked if I model my characters on real people. Emphatically, no. And sort of, yes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brent-weeks/sometimes-after-a-compliment-about-my-characterization-skills-i-m/) [Brent Weeks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brent-weeks/) > [You can use the fun of the genre, but I also really wanted to come at it from the point of view of some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-hodges/you-can-use-the-fun-of-the-genre-but-i-also-really-wanted-to-come-at/) [Adrian Hodges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-hodges/) > [Characterization is not divorced from plot, not a coat of paint you slap on after the structure of events is already built. Rather characterization…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-kress/characterization-is-not-divorced-from-plot-not-a-coat-of-paint-you/) [Nancy Kress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-kress/) > [“I do not know the man I should avoid So soon as that spare Cassius. He reads much, He is a great observer, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-do-not-know-the-man-i-should-avoid-so-soon-as-that-spare-cassius-he/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Characterization requires self-knowledge, insight into human nature . . . it is more than impersonation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-surmelian/characterization-requires-self-knowledge-insight-into-human-nature-it/) [Leon Surmelian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-surmelian/) > [I think with any characterization there's a point where you empathize, no matter how much of a deviance his or her actions may be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benedict-cumberbatch/i-think-with-any-characterization-there-s-a-point-where-you-empathize/) [Benedict Cumberbatch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benedict-cumberbatch/) > [Now, learning how to make a movie is something you can figure out in about an afternoon. The physics of it, the marks, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hanks/now-learning-how-to-make-a-movie-is-something-you-can-figure-out-in/) [Tom Hanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hanks/) > [Characterization requires a constant back-and-forth between the exterior events of the story and the inner life of the character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-corbett/characterization-requires-a-constant-back-and-forth-between-the/) [David Corbett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-corbett/) > [There are technical tricks that may help you create more effective characters. My approach to characterization is not at all technical. I can't really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juliet-marillier/there-are-technical-tricks-that-may-help-you-create-more-effective/) [Juliet Marillier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juliet-marillier/) > [I think my wife would take objection to any characterization of me as perfect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-blair-henry/i-think-my-wife-would-take-objection-to-any-characterization-of-me-as/) [Peter Blair Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-blair-henry/) > [Because the world of this film begins and ends in the imagination of Tim Burton, you're not seeing a movie that's been shot on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-hathaway/because-the-world-of-this-film-begins-and-ends-in-the-imagination-of/) [Anne Hathaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-hathaway/) > [“the characterization of actions allegedly prior to any narrative form being imposed upon them will always turn out to be the presentation of what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/the-characterization-of-actions-allegedly-prior-to-any-narrative-form/) [Alasdair MacIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-macintyre/) > [He defined me first, as parents do. Those early characterizations can become the shimmering self-image we embrace or the limited, stifling perception we rail…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-corrigan/he-defined-me-first-as-parents-do-those-early-characterizations-can/) [Kelly Corrigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-corrigan/) > [I get letters from adults saying that they love the books because they are more in-depth with characterization than the comics. The luxury of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-yee/i-get-letters-from-adults-saying-that-they-love-the-books-because/) [Lisa Yee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-yee/) [Browse all 117 Characterization quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/characterization/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "One of the reasons for its success is that science has a built-in, error-correcting machinery at its very heart. 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