« All Theory Quotes · Karl Popper's Page
Theory Quotes by Karl Popper
- Good tests kill flawed theories; we remain alive to guess again.
- Science does not rest upon solid bedrock. The bold structure of its theories rises, as it were, above a swamp. It is like a building…
- The scientific tradition is distinguished from the pre-scientific tradition by having two layers. Like the latter, it passes on its theories; but it also passes…
- In point of fact, no conclusive disproof of a theory can ever be produced; for it is always possible to say that the experimental results…
- It is easy to obtain confirmations, or verifications, for nearly every theory-if we look for confirmations. Confirmations should count only if they are the result…
- Propose theories which can be criticized. Think about possible decisive falsifying experiments-crucial experiments. But do not give up your theories too easily-not, at any rate,…
- The initial stage, the act of conceiving or inventing a theory, seems to me neither to call for logical analysis nor to be susceptible of…
- The method of science depends on our attempts to describe the world with simple theories: theories that are complex may become untestable, even if they…
- The old scientific ideal of episteme - of absolutely certain, demonstrable knowledge - has proved to be an idol. The demand for scientific objectivity makes…
- Understanding a theory has, indeed, much in common with understanding a human personality. We may know or understand a man's system of dispositions pretty well;…
- A theory is just a mathematical model to describe the observations.
- Evolution is not a fact. Evolution doesn't even qualify as a theory or as a hypothesis. It is a metaphysical research program, and it is…
- I have come to the conclusion that Darwinism is not a testable scientific theory, but a metaphysical research programme...
- A theory that explains everything, explains nothing
- There is no pure, disinterested, theory-free observation,
- No number of sightings of white swans can prove the theory that all swans are white. The sighting of just one black one may disprove…
- Astrologers were greatly impressed, and misled, by what they believed to be confirming evidence-so much so that they were quite unimpressed by any unfavorable evidence.…
- No particular theory may ever be regarded as absolutely certain.... No scientific theory is sacrosanct...
- The Conspiracy Theory of Society... [is] a typical result of the secularization of a religious superstition. The belief in the Homeric gods whose conspiracies explain…
- A theory which is not refutable by any conceivable event is non-scientific. Irrefutability is not a virtue of a theory (as people often think) but…
- Why do I think that we, the intellectuals, are able to help? Simply because we, the intellectuals, have done the most terrible harm for thousands…
- But some of these theories are so bold that they can clash with reality: they are the testable theories of science. And when they clash,…
- Whenever a theory appears to you as the only possible one, take this as a sign that you have neither understood the theory nor the…
- There is an almost universal tendency, perhaps an inborn tendency, to suspect the good faith of a man who holds opinions that differ from our…
- All we can do is search for the falsity content in our best theory.
More Theory Quotes
- Our tradition of political thought had its definite beginning in the teachings of Plato and Aristotle. I believe it came to a… — Hannah Arendt
- I have nothing against 3-D in theory. But I've also never run to the movies because something's in 3-D. — J. J. Abrams
- People love conspiracy theories. — Neil Armstrong
- Creationists make it sound as though a 'theory' is something you dreamt up after being drunk all night. — Isaac Asimov
- Journalism was being whittled away by a Wall Street theory that profits can be maximized by minimizing the product. — Russell Baker
- I have this theory that, depending on your attitude, your life doesn't have to become this ridiculous charade that it seems so… — Christian Bale
- Theories are always very thin and insubstantial, experience only is tangible. — Hosea Ballou
- A mathematician is a person who can find analogies between theorems; a better mathematician is one who can see analogies between proofs… — Stefan Banach
- There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here,… — Douglas Adams
- Filibusters should require 35 senators to... make a commitment to continually debate an issue in reality, not just in theory. The number… — Evan Bayh
- All theory of modernity in sociology suggests that the more modernity there is, the less religion. In my theory we can realize… — Ulrich Beck
- In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is. — Yogi Berra