--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Our reliance on the validity of a…" description: "\"Our reliance on the validity of a scientific conclusion depends ultimately on a judgment of coherence; and as there can exist no strict criterion for c..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b42/michael-polanyi-17316_coherence_our-reliance-on-the-validity-of-a-scient_1876965.jpg" --- # Our reliance on the validity of a scientific conclusion… ![“Our reliance on the validity of a scientific conclusion depends ultimately on a judgment of coherence; and as there can exist no strict criterion for coherence, our judgment of it must always remain a qualitative, nonformal, tacit, personal judgment.” quote by Michael Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b42/michael-polanyi-17316_coherence_our-reliance-on-the-validity-of-a-scient_1876965.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b42/michael-polanyi-17316_coherence_our-reliance-on-the-validity-of-a-scient_1876965.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b42/michael-polanyi-17316_coherence_our-reliance-on-the-validity-of-a-scient_1876965.jpg) > “Our reliance on the validity of a scientific conclusion depends ultimately on a judgment of coherence; and as there can exist no strict criterion for coherence, our judgment of it must always remain a qualitative, nonformal, tacit, personal judgment.” [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. Scientific conclusions are judged by how coherently they fit existing knowledge, a judgment that is inherently subjective. **In simple terms:** Science relies on personal, qualitative judgment. Key Takeaway Recognize the role of intuition in science. Themes epistemology science subjectivity Mood analytical critical Type academic philosophical When to use this quote - research evaluation - peer review - theory development - policy making Key Concepts coherence judgment qualitative assessment Questions to Reflect On - How can we improve transparency in scientific judgment? - What safeguards address subjective bias? A Different Perspective Coherence lacks a strict, objective metric. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Coherence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coherence/) [Coherence Exist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coherence-exist-2627556/) [Coherence Judgment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coherence-judgment-2627554/) [Conclusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conclusion/) [Criteria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/criteria/) [Depends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depends/) [Judgment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judgment/) [Judgment Coherence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judgment-coherence-2627555/) [Personal Judgment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personal-judgment-1703018/) [Qualitative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/qualitative/) [Reliance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reliance/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Strict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strict/) [Tacit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tacit/) [Validity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/validity/) [Validity Scientific](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/validity-scientific-1159520/) ## Related quotes > [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/) > [To mistrust science and deny the validity of scientific method is to resign your job as a human. 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