Difficulty Quote by Charles Darwin

The weight of evidence for an extraordinary claim must be proportioned to its strangeness.

— Pierre-Simon Laplace

You have to test your hypothesis against other theories. Certainty in the face of complex situations is very dangerous.

— Richard Holbrooke

But the fact a person denies that he is theorising is no reason for taking him at his word and failing to investigate what…

— Talcott Parsons

“Much can be gained be contrasting a theory with its alternatives, even ones that look too extreme to be true. You can really understand…

— Steven Pinker

“No conclusion can be more agreable to scepticism than such as make discoveries concerning the weakness and narrow limites of human reason and capacity”

— David Hume

“One is not likely to learn much about human beings, by way of psychoanalysis or otherwise, if one adheres unwaveringly to a theory, no…

— Miltiades Zaphiropoulous

Meanwhile, the originator of a theory may have a very lonely time, especially if his colleagues find his views of nature unfamiliar, and difficult…

— Peter D. Mitchell

No conclusions can be more agreeable to scepticism than such as make discoveries concerning the weakness and narrow limits of human reason and capacity.

— David Hume

“A person’s conclusions can only be as solid as the information on which they are based. Thus, a person who is exposed to almost…

— Thomas Gilovich

I have a theory, too, that the best and only answer to a smear or to an honest misunderstanding of the facts is to…

— Richard M. Nixon

“the weight of evidence ‘cannot convince those who do not wish to believe”

— Alison Weir

“metaphysics by showing that these theories are not just false, but unintelligible.”

— David Hume