--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Science operates in the natural, not the…" description: "\"Science operates in the natural, not the supernatural. In fact, I go so far as to state that there is no such thing as the supernatural or the paranorm..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6d/michael-shermer-2567_fact_science-operates-in-the-natural-not-the_2627802.jpg" --- # Science operates in the natural, not the supernatural. In… ![“Science operates in the natural, not the supernatural. In fact, I go so far as to state that there is no such thing as the supernatural or the paranormal.” quote by Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6d/michael-shermer-2567_fact_science-operates-in-the-natural-not-the_2627802.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6d/michael-shermer-2567_fact_science-operates-in-the-natural-not-the_2627802.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6d/michael-shermer-2567_fact_science-operates-in-the-natural-not-the_2627802.jpg) > “Science operates in the natural, not the supernatural. In fact, I go so far as to state that there is no such thing as the supernatural or the paranormal.” [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Science limits itself to observable, testable phenomena, rejecting unverified supernatural claims. **In simple terms:** Science deals with what can be tested. Key Takeaway Trust evidence over speculation. Themes science skepticism empiricism Mood analytical critical Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - medical research - policy making - education - public discourse Key Concepts naturalism philosophy of science Questions to Reflect On - How do you evaluate extraordinary claims? - What role should belief play in science? A Different Perspective Supernatural claims persist despite lack of proof. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Paranormal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paranormal/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Supernatural](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/supernatural/) ## Related quotes > [“There is no such thing as the supernatural or the paranormal. There is only the natural, the normal, and mysteries we have yet to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/there-is-no-such-thing-as-the-supernatural-or-the-paranormal-there-is/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [“As to my intense wish never to come into contact with the eldila myself, I am not sure whether I can make you understand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/as-to-my-intense-wish-never-to-come-into-contact-with-the-eldila/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [Mysteries once thought to be supernatural or paranormal happenings - such as astronomical or meteorological events - are incorporated into science once their causes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/mysteries-once-thought-to-be-supernatural-or-paranormal-happenings/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [Mysticism occurs whenever a human being sees the separation between the natural and the supernatural, between the temporal and the eternal, as overcome.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/mysticism-occurs-whenever-a-human-being-sees-the-separation-between/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [The natural/supernatural distinction itself, and the near-equation of 'supernatural' with 'superstition', are scarecrows that Enlightenment thought has erected in its fields to frighten away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-t-wright-2/the-natural-supernatural-distinction-itself-and-the-near-equation-of/) [N. T. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-t-wright-2/) > [That so many manage to accommodate belief systems encompassing both the natural and the supernatural is a testament not to the compatibility of science…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jacoby/that-so-many-manage-to-accommodate-belief-systems-encompassing-both/) [Susan Jacoby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jacoby/) > [When I am writing, I do not distinguish between the natural and supernatural. Everything seems real. That is my world, you could say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/when-i-am-writing-i-do-not-distinguish-between-the-natural-and-2/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“Religion, for Father Pavel, involved no escape from the natural into the supernatural, no repudiation of this world for the sake of a better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/religion-for-father-pavel-involved-no-escape-from-the-natural-into/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [“When I am writing, I do not distinguish between the natural and supernatural. Everything seems real. That is my world”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/when-i-am-writing-i-do-not-distinguish-between-the-natural-and/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [The problem of the novelist who wishes to write about a man's encounter with God is how he shall make the experience--which is both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/the-problem-of-the-novelist-who-wishes-to-write-about-a-man-s/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [“I am not sure whether I can make you understand it. It was something more than a prudent desire to avoid creatures alien in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/i-am-not-sure-whether-i-can-make-you-understand-it-it-was-something/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [The border between the natural and the supernatural, religion and philosophy, may not always be clear. But there are lines, and we should know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-baggini/the-border-between-the-natural-and-the-supernatural-religion-and/) [Julian Baggini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-baggini/) > [“The world of magic is double, natural, and supernatural. Magic is impossible in a purely materialist world, a purely sceptical world, a world of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt/the-world-of-magic-is-double-natural-and-supernatural-magic-is/) [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) > [“Never expect anything less than devotion from someone who has claim on your heart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dannika-dark/never-expect-anything-less-than-devotion-from-someone-who-has-claim/) [Dannika Dark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dannika-dark/) > [“Mortals were such fickle creatures. They called into the dark, demanded answers and attention from forces they could not comprehend, and yet when they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philippa-ballantine/mortals-were-such-fickle-creatures-they-called-into-the-dark-demanded/) [Philippa Ballantine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philippa-ballantine/) ## More by Michael Shermer > [I’m a skeptic not because I do not want to believe, but because I want to know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/i-m-a-skeptic-not-because-i-do-not-want-to-believe-but-because-i-want/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [“According to Dembski, for example, “scientific creationism has prior religious commitments whereas intelligent design does not.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/according-to-dembski-for-example-scientific-creationism-has-prior/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [The first-cause and prime-mover argument, brilliantly proffered by St. Thomas Aquinas in the fourteenth century (and brilliantly refuted by David Hume in the eighteenth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/the-first-cause-and-prime-mover-argument-brilliantly-proffered-by-st/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [“Mind is just a word we use to describe neural activity in the brain. No brain, no mind. We know this because if a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/mind-is-just-a-word-we-use-to-describe-neural-activity-in-the-brain/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [Through no divine design or cosmic plan, we have inherited the mantle of life's caretaker on the earth, the only home we have ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/through-no-divine-design-or-cosmic-plan-we-have-inherited-the-mantle/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [I always accepted the libertarian position of minimum regulation in the sale and use of firearms because I placed guns under the beneficial rubric…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/i-always-accepted-the-libertarian-position-of-minimum-regulation-in/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [If spirituality is the sense of awe and humility in the face of the creation, what could be more awesome and humbling than the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/if-spirituality-is-the-sense-of-awe-and-humility-in-the-face-of-the/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [We know evolution happened not because of transitional fossils such as A. natans but because of the convergence of evidence from such diverse fields…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/we-know-evolution-happened-not-because-of-transitional-fossils-such/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [“Yet basically, libertarians are for freedom and liberty for individuals, while recognizing that in order to be free we must also be protected. Your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/yet-basically-libertarians-are-for-freedom-and-liberty-for/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [Scientists like Bjorn Lomborg in The Skeptical Environmentalist have, in my opinion, properly nailed environmental extremists for these exaggerated scenarios.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/scientists-like-bjorn-lomborg-in-the-skeptical-environmentalist-have/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [When religious believers invoke miracles and acts of creation ex nihilo, that is the end of the search for them, whereas for scientists, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/when-religious-believers-invoke-miracles-and-acts-of-creation-ex/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [Darwin matters because evolution matters. Evolution matters because science matters. Science matters because it is the preeminent story of our age, an epic saga…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/darwin-matters-because-evolution-matters-evolution-matters-because/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [What can be more soul shaking than peering through a 100-inch telescope at a distant galaxy, holding a 100-million-year-old fossil or a 500,000-year-old stone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/what-can-be-more-soul-shaking-than-peering-through-a-100-inch/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [Skepticism is not a position that you stake out ahead of time and stick to no matter what.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/skepticism-is-not-a-position-that-you-stake-out-ahead-of-time-and/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [“Neuroscientist David Comings drew out the larger implications of such hallucinations for the relationship between our rational and spiritual brains: The psychedelic drugs like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/neuroscientist-david-comings-drew-out-the-larger-implications-of-such/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) [Explore all 160 Michael Shermer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) ## More Fact quotes > [The shelves of many evangelicals are full of books that point out the flaws in evolution, discuss it only as a theory, and almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-collins/the-shelves-of-many-evangelicals-are-full-of-books-that-point-out-the/) [Francis Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-collins/) > [Maybe there's some kind of modeling that can be tedious, like catalogue modeling, but there's a kind of modeling, with runways or working with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabella-rossellini/maybe-there-s-some-kind-of-modeling-that-can-be-tedious-like/) [Isabella Rossellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabella-rossellini/) > [“Religion, like science, is only noteworthy when it emphasizes a matter of what is true rather than whose belief is greater or lesser or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/religion-like-science-is-only-noteworthy-when-it-emphasizes-a-matter/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [There is no science without fancy and no art without fact.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/there-is-no-science-without-fancy-and-no-art-without-fact/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [You basically have a group of four spies who are chosen for a mission they feel for the fact of how competent they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-leblanc/you-basically-have-a-group-of-four-spies-who-are-chosen-for-a-mission/) [Matt LeBlanc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-leblanc/) > [I'm not an artist, and I want to take risks, and when the possibility of failure occurs, it's because the idea is all exciting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-morgan/i-m-not-an-artist-and-i-want-to-take-risks-and-when-the-possibility/) [Peter Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-morgan/) > [Two elements are needed to form a truth - a fact and an abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/remy-de-gourmont/two-elements-are-needed-to-form-a-truth-a-fact-and-an-abstraction/) [Remy de Gourmont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/remy-de-gourmont/) > [I'm just, like, totally normal. The fact that any of this has happened, that we're sitting here at the Beverly Hills Hotel just gets…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwen-stefani/i-m-just-like-totally-normal-the-fact-that-any-of-this-has-happened/) [Gwen Stefani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwen-stefani/) > [“The fact that I can get away with something is the very reason why I shouldn’t do it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/the-fact-that-i-can-get-away-with-something-is-the-very-reason-why-i/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [I'm a fact-based leader.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/london-breed/i-m-a-fact-based-leader/) [London Breed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/london-breed/) > [The fact of the matter is that the Internet has brought together millions of people who trust one another for reasons that are unknown.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-huh/the-fact-of-the-matter-is-that-the-internet-has-brought-together/) [Ben Huh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-huh/) > [As human beings, we aren't as individual as we'd like to believe we are. And I think that's what makes acting possible. Despite the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lupita-nyong-o/as-human-beings-we-aren-t-as-individual-as-we-d-like-to-believe-we/) [Lupita Nyong'o](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lupita-nyong-o/) > [I suppose I'm led to do so by the fact of what happened to my contemporaries - people whom I've admired, people who I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-woodcock/i-suppose-i-m-led-to-do-so-by-the-fact-of-what-happened-to-my/) [George Woodcock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-woodcock/) > [Any fact becomes important when it's connected to another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/any-fact-becomes-important-when-it-s-connected-to-another/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [The fact that I'm very close with my past relationships is something I pride myself on. My mom is still close to her first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-bosworth/the-fact-that-i-m-very-close-with-my-past-relationships-is-something/) [Kate Bosworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-bosworth/) Browse all 2,571 Fact quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Science operates in the natural, not the supernatural. In fact, I go so far as to state that there is no such thing as the supernatural or the paranormal.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michael Shermer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/science-operates-in-the-natural-not-the-supernatural-in-fact-i-go-so/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Fact" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/science-operates-in-the-natural-not-the-supernatural-in-fact-i-go-so/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6d/michael-shermer-2567_fact_science-operates-in-the-natural-not-the_2627802.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6d/michael-shermer-2567_fact_science-operates-in-the-natural-not-the_2627802.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6d/michael-shermer-2567_fact_science-operates-in-the-natural-not-the_2627802.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Science operates in the natural, not the supernatural. In fact, I go so far as to state that there is no…” — Michael Shermer", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Michael Shermer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Science operates in the natural, not...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/science-operates-in-the-natural-not-the-supernatural-in-fact-i-go-so/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/science-operates-in-the-natural-not-the-supernatural-in-fact-i-go-so/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```