--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I was in school I studied biology. I…" description: "\"“When I was in school I studied biology. I learned that in making their experiments scientists will take some group - bacteria, mice, people - and subj..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e2/cormac-mccarthy-181_biology_when-i-was-in-school-i-studied-biology-i_41584.jpg" --- # When I was in school I studied biology. I learned that in… ![“When I was in school I studied biology. I learned that in making their experiments scientists will take some group - bacteria, mice, people - and subject that group to certain conditions. They compare the results with a second group which has not been disturbed. This second group is called the…” quote by Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e2/cormac-mccarthy-181_biology_when-i-was-in-school-i-studied-biology-i_41584.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e2/cormac-mccarthy-181_biology_when-i-was-in-school-i-studied-biology-i_41584.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e2/cormac-mccarthy-181_biology_when-i-was-in-school-i-studied-biology-i_41584.jpg) > ““When I was in school I studied biology. I learned that in making their experiments scientists will take some group - bacteria, mice, people - and subject that group to certain conditions. They compare the results with a second group which has not been disturbed. This second group is called the control group. It is the control group which enables the scientist to gauge the effect of his experiment. To judge the significance of what has occurred. In history there are no control groups. There is no one to tell us what might have been. We weep over the might have been, but there is no might have been. There never was.”” [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote contrasts scientific methodology, which relies on control groups to isolate cause and effect, with history, which lacks such experimental controls, making it impossible to know how events might have unfolded under different conditions. **In simple terms:** History lacks experimental controls, unlike science. Key Takeaway History is inherently speculative. Themes epistemology history science counterfactuals uncertainty Mood reflective melancholic thoughtful Type philosophical analytical narrative When to use this quote - academic lectures on historiography - philosophical debates about determinism - writing historical fiction - teaching scientific method Key Concepts control group causality historical analysis Practical Applications - illustrating limits of historical knowledge - highlighting importance of experimental design Questions to Reflect On - How does the absence of control groups shape our understanding of the past? - Can historical narratives ever achieve the same rigor as scientific experiments? A Different Perspective Some argue that counterfactual reasoning can be systematically applied in history through comparative analysis and modeling, though it remains speculative. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Biology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/) [Control Group](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/control-group-457698/) [Control Groups](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/control-groups-457699/) [Group Bacteria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/group-bacteria-457702/) [Group Control](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/group-control-457701/) [Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power/) [Research](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/research/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Scientists Group](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientists-group-457700/) ## Related quotes > [“When I was in school I studied biology. I learned that in making their experiments scientists will take some group--bacteria, mice, people--and subject that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/when-i-was-in-school-i-studied-biology-i-learned-that-in-making-their-2/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [In history there are no control groups. There is no one to tell us what might have been. We weep over the might have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/in-history-there-are-no-control-groups-there-is-no-one-to-tell-us/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [I don't control it at all. It's all up to the musicians in the group. They control it. They make all the cues, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-zorn/i-don-t-control-it-at-all-it-s-all-up-to-the-musicians-in-the-group/) [John Zorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-zorn/) > [I don't think it would be a good idea for scientists to have more political power. 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It intrigues me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-spottiswoode/i-think-the-ethics-and-morals-of-genetic-engineering-are-very/) [Roger Spottiswoode](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-spottiswoode/) > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [I'm all about evolution. I'm the first person to judge myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-weeknd/i-m-all-about-evolution-i-m-the-first-person-to-judge-myself/) [The Weeknd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-weeknd/) > [“Toshiaki learned that all living organisms were governed by their DNA. 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We've done all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wangechi-mutu/we-became-homo-sapiens-not-that-long-ago-from-the-scientific/) [Wangechi Mutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wangechi-mutu/) > [“Genetics is a science full of gods, Mr. Sanchez.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valeria-luiselli/genetics-is-a-science-full-of-gods-mr-sanchez/) [Valeria Luiselli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valeria-luiselli/) > [In the fight between biology and morality, biology has commonly won in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/semir-zeki/in-the-fight-between-biology-and-morality-biology-has-commonly-won-in/) [Semir Zeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/semir-zeki/) ## More by Cormac McCarthy > [The cooler days have brought a wistful mood upon him. The smell of coalsmoke in the air at night. Old times, dead years. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-cooler-days-have-brought-a-wistful-mood-upon-him-the-smell-of/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“The events of the world can have no separate life from the world. And yet the world itself can have no temporal view of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-events-of-the-world-can-have-no-separate-life-from-the-world-and/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“I had two dreams about him after he died. I dont remember the first one all that well but it was about meetin him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/i-had-two-dreams-about-him-after-he-died-i-dont-remember-the-first/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“You think people was meaner then than they are now? the deputy said. The old man was looking out at the flooded town. 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Where'd he go?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/ultimo-hombre-last-man-standing-must-ve-been-one-where-d-he-go/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“To seek out the upright. No fall but preceded by a declination. He took great marching steps into the nothingness, counting them against his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/to-seek-out-the-upright-no-fall-but-preceded-by-a-declination-he-took/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“They went through the last of the cars and then walked up the track to the locomotive and climbed up to the catwalk. Rust…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/they-went-through-the-last-of-the-cars-and-then-walked-up-the-track/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“Night fell upon them dark and starblown and the wagon grew swollen near mute with dew. 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