--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Admittedly, the body of scientists, as a…" description: "\"Admittedly, the body of scientists, as a whole, does uphold the authority of science over the lay public. It controls thereby also the process by which..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c7/michael-polanyi-17316_authority_admittedly-the-body-of-scientists-as-a-w_594098.jpg" --- # Admittedly, the body of scientists, as a whole, does… ![“Admittedly, the body of scientists, as a whole, does uphold the authority of science over the lay public. It controls thereby also the process by which young men are trained to become members of the scientific profession.” quote by Michael Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c7/michael-polanyi-17316_authority_admittedly-the-body-of-scientists-as-a-w_594098.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c7/michael-polanyi-17316_authority_admittedly-the-body-of-scientists-as-a-w_594098.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c7/michael-polanyi-17316_authority_admittedly-the-body-of-scientists-as-a-w_594098.jpg) > “Admittedly, the body of scientists, as a whole, does uphold the authority of science over the lay public. It controls thereby also the process by which young men are trained to become members of the scientific profession.” [Michael Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-polanyi/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Science maintains authority by controlling training and knowledge transmission, shaping who becomes a scientist. **In simple terms:** Science controls who learns and becomes a scientist. Key Takeaway Understand power structures in scientific training. Themes authority education science policy Mood analytical critical Type philosophical academic When to use this quote - university curricula - research labs - mentor relationships - policy debates Key Concepts social control knowledge transmission professional formation Questions to Reflect On - How does authority affect scientific innovation? - Can alternative training models succeed? A Different Perspective May ignore individual agency and alternative pathways. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Authority](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authority/) [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power/) [Process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/process/) [Profession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profession/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Scientist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientist/) [Young men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young-men/) ## Related quotes > [For the educated, the authority of science rested on the strictness of its methods; for the mass, it rested on the powers of explanation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-barzun/for-the-educated-the-authority-of-science-rested-on-the-strictness-of/) [Jacques Barzun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-barzun/) > [Authority in science exists to be questioned, since heresy is the spring from which new ideas flow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/authority-in-science-exists-to-be-questioned-since-heresy-is-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“When you cease to be fearful of Authority, you become Authority. 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Science will win…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hawking/there-is-a-fundamental-difference-between-religion-which-is-based-on/) [Stephen Hawking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hawking/) > [“Though these young men unhappily fail to understand that the sacrifice of life is, in many cases, the easiest of all sacrifices, and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/though-these-young-men-unhappily-fail-to-understand-that-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“U.S. government infrastructure. I am concerned about the growing number of Americans who have been recruited to Islam. They are usually angry young men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-c-rosenberg/u-s-government-infrastructure-i-am-concerned-about-the-growing-number/) [Joel C. Rosenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-c-rosenberg/) > [It is well for young men to have a model, but let them draw the curtain over it while they are painting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gauguin/it-is-well-for-young-men-to-have-a-model-but-let-them-draw-the/) [Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/) > [The game business arose from computer programs that were written by and for young men in the late 1960s and early 1970s. They worked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-laurel/the-game-business-arose-from-computer-programs-that-were-written-by/) [Brenda Laurel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-laurel/) > [ \[D\]on't grow old. With age comes caution, which is another name for cowardice… Whatever else you do in life, don't cultivate a conscience. Without… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hesketh-pearson/d-on-t-grow-old-with-age-comes-caution-which-is-another-name-for/) [Hesketh Pearson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hesketh-pearson/) > [Young men have strong passions and tend to gratify them indiscriminately. Of the bodily desires, it is the sexual by which they are most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/young-men-have-strong-passions-and-tend-to-gratify-them/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [We have the power, as lawmakers, to find ways to support our young men and identify solutions to the hardships they regularly experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-mcbath/we-have-the-power-as-lawmakers-to-find-ways-to-support-our-young-men/) [Lucy McBath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-mcbath/) > [“But young men have not only this frivolous ambition of being thought masters of execution, inciting them on the one hand, but also their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/but-young-men-have-not-only-this-frivolous-ambition-of-being-thought/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) ## More by Michael Polanyi > [These maxims and the art of interpreting them may be said to constitute the premisses of science but I prefer to call them our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-polanyi/these-maxims-and-the-art-of-interpreting-them-may-be-said-to/) [Michael Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-polanyi/) > [We could not, for example, arrive at a principle like that of entropy without introducing some additional principle, such as randomness, to this topography.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-polanyi/we-could-not-for-example-arrive-at-a-principle-like-that-of-entropy/) [Michael Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-polanyi/) > [“A steady recognition that the evils which prevent the fullness of moral development are precisely the elements which are also the source of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-polanyi/a-steady-recognition-that-the-evils-which-prevent-the-fullness-of/) [Michael Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-polanyi/) > [“Christianity sedulously fosters, and in a sense permanently satisfies, man's craving for mental dissatisfaction by offering him the comfort of a crucified God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-polanyi/christianity-sedulously-fosters-and-in-a-sense-permanently-satisfies/) [Michael Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-polanyi/) > [Of course language manifests a belief only if we use its words with the implied acceptance of their appositeness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-polanyi/of-course-language-manifests-a-belief-only-if-we-use-its-words-with/) [Michael Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-polanyi/) > [The first thing to make clear is that scientists, freely making their own choice of problems and pursuing them in the light of their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-polanyi/the-first-thing-to-make-clear-is-that-scientists-freely-making-their/) [Michael Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-polanyi/) > [The information in DNA could no more be reduced to the chemical than could the ideas in a book be reduced to the ink…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-polanyi/the-information-in-dna-could-no-more-be-reduced-to-the-chemical-than/) [Michael Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-polanyi/) > [“Sartre puts it, value arises simply from our choices. What we choose, we value simply because we have chosen it (and apparently we remain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-polanyi/sartre-puts-it-value-arises-simply-from-our-choices-what-we-choose-we/) [Michael Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-polanyi/) > [I shall reconsider human knowledge by starting from the fact that we can know more than we can tell,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-polanyi/i-shall-reconsider-human-knowledge-by-starting-from-the-fact-that-we/) [Michael Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-polanyi/) > [The amount of knowledge which we can justify from evidence directly available to us can never be large. The overwhelming proportion of our factual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-polanyi/the-amount-of-knowledge-which-we-can-justify-from-evidence-directly/) [Michael Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-polanyi/) > [“It was the merit of Gestalt psychology to make us aware of the remarkable performance involved in perceiving shapes. Take, for example, a ball…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-polanyi/it-was-the-merit-of-gestalt-psychology-to-make-us-aware-of-the/) [Michael Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-polanyi/) > [We know more than we can tell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-polanyi/we-know-more-than-we-can-tell/) [Michael Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-polanyi/) > [We cannot ultimately specify the grounds (either metaphysical or logical or empirical) upon which we hold that our knowledge is true. Being committed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-polanyi/we-cannot-ultimately-specify-the-grounds-either-metaphysical-or/) [Michael Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-polanyi/) > [The process of philosophic and scientific enlightenment has shaken the stability of beliefs held explicitly as articles of faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-polanyi/the-process-of-philosophic-and-scientific-enlightenment-has-shaken/) [Michael Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-polanyi/) > [Personal participation is the universal principle of knowing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-polanyi/personal-participation-is-the-universal-principle-of-knowing/) [Michael Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-polanyi/) [Explore all 37 Michael Polanyi quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-polanyi/) ## More Authority quotes > [I don't believe in competitions between artists. This is insane. 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However, even if a woman is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusuf-al-qaradawi/islam-never-differentiates-between-men-and-women-as-regards-political/) [Yusuf al-Qaradawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusuf-al-qaradawi/) > [I think people need to be comfortable questioning the authority of a doctor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susannah-cahalan/i-think-people-need-to-be-comfortable-questioning-the-authority-of-a/) [Susannah Cahalan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susannah-cahalan/) > [At a distance, we cannot conceive of the authority of a despot who knows all his subjects on sight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/at-a-distance-we-cannot-conceive-of-the-authority-of-a-despot-who/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [Throughout human history, as our species has faced the frightening, terrorizing fact that we do not know who we are, or where we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/throughout-human-history-as-our-species-has-faced-the-frightening/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [“I'm of the age and immaturity level that I cannot give you my respect solely because you are older or ranked higher on an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-goros/i-m-of-the-age-and-immaturity-level-that-i-cannot-give-you-my-respect/) [Erica Goros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-goros/) > [In the end theologians are jealous of science, for they are aware that it has greater authority than do their own ways of finding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-a-coyne/in-the-end-theologians-are-jealous-of-science-for-they-are-aware-that/) [Jerry A. Coyne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-a-coyne/) > [Every wife ought to answer for her man. If the husband be engaged in a seditious club, or drinks mysterious healths, or be frugal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/every-wife-ought-to-answer-for-her-man-if-the-husband-be-engaged-in-a/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Miracles are like candles lit up until the sun rises, and then blown out. Therefore, I am amused when I hear sects and churches…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/miracles-are-like-candles-lit-up-until-the-sun-rises-and-then-blown/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [The execution was set for the 29th of March, at nine in the morning. This delay was due to a desire on the part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/the-execution-was-set-for-the-29th-of-march-at-nine-in-the-morning/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [I started with the belief that every person who came to the laboratory was free to accept or to reject the dictates of authority.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-milgram/i-started-with-the-belief-that-every-person-who-came-to-the/) [Stanley Milgram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-milgram/) > [The rationale which accompanies that imposition of male authority euphemistically referred to as 'the battle of the sexes' bears a certain resemblance to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-millett/the-rationale-which-accompanies-that-imposition-of-male-authority/) [Kate Millett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-millett/) > [“We are at the mercy of whoever wields authority over the things we either desire or detest. 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