--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Scientists make mistakes. Accordingly, it…" description: "\"Scientists make mistakes. Accordingly, it is the job of the scientist to recognize our weakness, to examine the widest range of opinions, to be ruthles..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a7/carl-sagan-160_collectives_scientists-make-mistakes-accordingly-it_2695917.jpg" --- # Scientists make mistakes. Accordingly, it is the job of… ![“Scientists make mistakes. Accordingly, it is the job of the scientist to recognize our weakness, to examine the widest range of opinions, to be ruthlessly self-critical. Science is a collective enterprise with the error-correction machinery often running smoothly.” quote by Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a7/carl-sagan-160_collectives_scientists-make-mistakes-accordingly-it_2695917.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a7/carl-sagan-160_collectives_scientists-make-mistakes-accordingly-it_2695917.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a7/carl-sagan-160_collectives_scientists-make-mistakes-accordingly-it_2695917.jpg) > “Scientists make mistakes. Accordingly, it is the job of the scientist to recognize our weakness, to examine the widest range of opinions, to be ruthlessly self-critical. Science is a collective enterprise with the error-correction machinery often running smoothly.” [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. Scientists must constantly question their own assumptions and seek diverse viewpoints to correct errors. **In simple terms:** Scientists need to be self‑critical and open to many ideas. Key Takeaway Embrace humility and critique in research. Themes science humility critical thinking collaboration Mood reflective analytical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - peer review - research design - policy making - public communication Key Concepts self‑criticism error correction collective knowledge Questions to Reflect On - How do you ensure you hear opposing views? - What mechanisms help catch your own bias? A Different Perspective Self‑criticism can be hindered by ego or institutional pressure. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Enterprise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enterprise/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jobs/) [Making mistakes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/making-mistakes/) [Mistake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mistake/) [Opinion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opinion/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Scientist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientist/) [Scientists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientists/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Weakness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weakness/) ## Related quotes > [If the only time you think of me as a scientist is during Black History Month, then I must not be doing my job…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/if-the-only-time-you-think-of-me-as-a-scientist-is-during-black/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Your job as a scientist is to figure out how you're fooling yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-perlmutter/your-job-as-a-scientist-is-to-figure-out-how-you-re-fooling-yourself/) [Saul Perlmutter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-perlmutter/) > [Our world is limited by the machinery we carry. 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And that can be done in only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bakunin/it-clearly-follows-that-to-make-men-moral-it-is-necessary-to-make/) [Mikhail Bakunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bakunin/) > [There is a way in which the collective knowledge of mankind expresses itself, for the finite individual, through mere daily living . . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurens-van-der-post/there-is-a-way-in-which-the-collective-knowledge-of-mankind-expresses/) [Laurens van der Post](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurens-van-der-post/) > [The law is the collective organization of the individual's right to lawful defense of his life, liberty and property. When it is used for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/the-law-is-the-collective-organization-of-the-individual-s-right-to/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [But we need to be very clear: because of our decades of collective denial, no gradual, incremental options are now available to us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-klein/but-we-need-to-be-very-clear-because-of-our-decades-of-collective/) [Naomi Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-klein/) > [A “collective” mind does not exist. It is merely the sum of endless numbers of individual minds. If we have an endless number of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/a-collective-mind-does-not-exist-it-is-merely-the-sum-of-endless/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Through Sahaja Yoga what happens to you, that you become a collective personality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nirmala-srivastava/through-sahaja-yoga-what-happens-to-you-that-you-become-a-collective/) [Nirmala Srivastava](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nirmala-srivastava/) > [If you don't allow people to contribute, to offer their point of view, or to criticize what has been put before them, then they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-mandela/if-you-don-t-allow-people-to-contribute-to-offer-their-point-of-view/) [Nelson Mandela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-mandela/) > [“The whole organization seemed to be in free fall, indulging in a collective fantasy in which experienced colleagues refused to admit that their every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-whole-organization-seemed-to-be-in-free-fall-indulging-in-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We seem to have lost contact with the earlier, more profound functions of art, which have always had to do with personal and collective…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-london/we-seem-to-have-lost-contact-with-the-earlier-more-profound-functions/) [Peter London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-london/) > [If you need someone to come out of the sewer with a wire you don't hire someone who needs laborious collective instruction. 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