--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The material which a scientist actually…" description: "\"The material which a scientist actually has at his disposal, his laws, his experimental results, his mathematical techniques, his epistemological preju..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca2/paul-feyerabend-10420_absurd_the-material-which-a-scientist-actually_1287711.png" --- # The material which a scientist actually has at his… ![“The material which a scientist actually has at his disposal, his laws, his experimental results, his mathematical techniques, his epistemological prejudices, his attitude towards the absurd consequences of the theories which he accepts, is indeterminate in many ways, ambiguous, and never fully…” quote by Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca2/paul-feyerabend-10420_absurd_the-material-which-a-scientist-actually_1287711.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca2/paul-feyerabend-10420_absurd_the-material-which-a-scientist-actually_1287711.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca2/paul-feyerabend-10420_absurd_the-material-which-a-scientist-actually_1287711.png) > “The material which a scientist actually has at his disposal, his laws, his experimental results, his mathematical techniques, his epistemological prejudices, his attitude towards the absurd consequences of the theories which he accepts, is indeterminate in many ways, ambiguous, and never fully separated from the historical background . This material is always contaminated by principles which he does not know and which, if known, would be extremely hard to test.” [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Scientific knowledge is shaped by many hidden, historical, and personal factors that make it ambiguous and inseparable from its context. **In simple terms:** Science is influenced by hidden biases and history. Key Takeaway Recognize and question hidden assumptions. Themes science philosophy history epistemology bias Mood reflective critical inquisitive Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - research design - policy making - education reform - public communication Key Concepts underdetermination paradigm contamination contextuality Questions to Reflect On - How do personal biases affect your research conclusions? - What steps can you take to uncover hidden influences? A Different Perspective Even with awareness, biases can be deeply entrenched and hard to eliminate. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absurd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurd/) [Accepting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accepting/) [Accepts Indeterminate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accepts-indeterminate-4184248/) [Ambiguous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambiguous/) [Attitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attitude/) [Backgrounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/backgrounds/) [Consequence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consequence/) [Contaminated Principles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contaminated-principles-4184249/) [Doe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doe/) [Epistemological Prejudices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/epistemological-prejudices-4184247/) [Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard/) [Historical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/historical/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Indeterminate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indeterminate-647881/) [Indeterminate Ways](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indeterminate-ways-4184246/) [Integrity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/integrity/) [Known](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/known/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Materials](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/materials/) [Mathematical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematical/) [Prejudice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prejudice/) [Principles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/) [Results](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/results/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Scientist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientist/) [Technique](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technique/) [Tests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tests/) [Theory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theory/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Would be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/would-be/) ## Related quotes > [Like music my drawings transport us to the ambiguous world of the indeterminate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/odilon-redon/like-music-my-drawings-transport-us-to-the-ambiguous-world-of-the/) [Odilon Redon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/odilon-redon/) > [But the indeterminate future is somehow one in which probability and statistics are the dominant modality for making sense of the world. 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For the time period…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akira-toriyama/the-setting-of-dragon-ball-has-a-sort-of-chinese-feel-to-it-but-it-s/) [Akira Toriyama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akira-toriyama/) > [Beauty presents an indeterminate concept of Understanding, the sublime an indeterminate concept of Reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/beauty-presents-an-indeterminate-concept-of-understanding-the-sublime/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [I want each poem to be ambiguous enough that its meaning can shift, depending on the reader's own frame of reference, and depending on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-arthur/i-want-each-poem-to-be-ambiguous-enough-that-its-meaning-can-shift/) [James Arthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-arthur/) > [“In general we are reminded that the word heimlich is not unambiguous, but belongs to two sets of ideas, which, without being contradictory, are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/in-general-we-are-reminded-that-the-word-heimlich-is-not-unambiguous/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [Redundancy is ambiguous because it seems like a waste if nothing unusual happens. Except that something unusual happens-usually .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/redundancy-is-ambiguous-because-it-seems-like-a-waste-if-nothing/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Somehow, in the novel format, I don't really like to do upfront, ideological discussion. In my heart, literature remains a poetic and ambiguous medium.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/xiaolu-guo/somehow-in-the-novel-format-i-don-t-really-like-to-do-upfront/) [Xiaolu Guo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/xiaolu-guo/) > [Happiness can be bought with a bottle of wine and has become ambiguous through overuse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/happiness-can-be-bought-with-a-bottle-of-wine-and-has-become/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Virtually every major technological advance in the history of the human species- back to the invention of stone tools and the domestication of fire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-dennett/virtually-every-major-technological-advance-in-the-history-of-the/) [Daniel Dennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-dennett/) ## More by Paul Feyerabend > [Every profession has an ideology and a drive for power that goes far beyond its achievements and it is the task of democracy to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feyerabend/every-profession-has-an-ideology-and-a-drive-for-power-that-goes-far/) [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) > [Science is an essentially anarchic enterprise...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feyerabend/science-is-an-essentially-anarchic-enterprise/) [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) > [One might get the impression that I recommend a new methodology which replaces induction by counterinduction and uses a multiplicity of theories, metaphysical views,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feyerabend/one-might-get-the-impression-that-i-recommend-a-new-methodology-which/) [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) > [A Universal Good should reflect the reality of the individual benefits that are collected under its name, not the other way around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feyerabend/a-universal-good-should-reflect-the-reality-of-the-individual/) [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) > [The sciences of today are business enterprises run on business principles. Research in large institutes is not guided by Truth and Reason but by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feyerabend/the-sciences-of-today-are-business-enterprises-run-on-business/) [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) > [Experience arises together with theoretical assumptions not before them, and an experience without theory is just as incomprehensible as is (allegedly) a theory without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feyerabend/experience-arises-together-with-theoretical-assumptions-not-before/) [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) > [Ultimate Reality, if such an entity can be postulated, is ineffable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feyerabend/ultimate-reality-if-such-an-entity-can-be-postulated-is-ineffable/) [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) > [Today science prevails not because of its comparative merits, but because the show has been rigged in its favour... It reigns supreme because some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feyerabend/today-science-prevails-not-because-of-its-comparative-merits-but/) [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) > [The only absolute truth is that there are no absolute truths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feyerabend/the-only-absolute-truth-is-that-there-are-no-absolute-truths/) [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) > [Humane science must be adapted to the requirements of a balanced and rewarding life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feyerabend/humane-science-must-be-adapted-to-the-requirements-of-a-balanced-and/) [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) > [Unanimity of opinion may be fitting for a church, for the frightened or greedy victims of some (ancient, or modern) myth, or for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feyerabend/unanimity-of-opinion-may-be-fitting-for-a-church-for-the-frightened/) [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) > [Facts are constituted by older ideologies, and a clash between facts and theories may be proof of progress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feyerabend/facts-are-constituted-by-older-ideologies-and-a-clash-between-facts/) [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) > [No theory ever agrees with all the facts in its domain, yet it is not always the theory that is to blame. Facts are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feyerabend/no-theory-ever-agrees-with-all-the-facts-in-its-domain-yet-it-is-not/) [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) > [In a war a totalitarian state has a free hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feyerabend/in-a-war-a-totalitarian-state-has-a-free-hand/) [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) > [A free society is a society in which all traditions have equal rights and equal access to the centers of power. A tradition receives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feyerabend/a-free-society-is-a-society-in-which-all-traditions-have-equal-rights/) [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) [Explore all 65 Paul Feyerabend quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) ## More Absurd quotes > [“It seem absurd to me that they don't know, haven't felt any change or tremor, even as my life has been completely turned upside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/it-seem-absurd-to-me-that-they-don-t-know-haven-t-felt-any-change-or/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [When a person’s tongue is extensively wrong, it is absurd, no less than unscriptural, to say that their heart is right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/when-a-person-s-tongue-is-extensively-wrong-it-is-absurd-no-less-than/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror." "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/every-sensible-man-every-honorable-man-must-hold-the-christian-sect/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [It is human nature to think wisely and to act in an absurd fashion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/it-is-human-nature-to-think-wisely-and-to-act-in-an-absurd-fashion/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [It is a dangerous and fateful presumption, besides the absurd temerity that it implies, to disdain what we do not comprehend. For after you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-a-dangerous-and-fateful-presumption-besides-the-absurd-temerity/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I thought to myself: if it’s true that every person has a star in the sky, mine must be distant, dim, and absurd. Perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadegh-hedayat/i-thought-to-myself-if-it-s-true-that-every-person-has-a-star-in-the/) [Sadegh Hedayat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadegh-hedayat/) > [If, indeed, a firearm were more dangerous to its possessors than to potential aggressors, would it not make sense for the government to arm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/if-indeed-a-firearm-were-more-dangerous-to-its-possessors-than-to/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [“You were torturing a cat," she says. "With a freaking prod." "A prod I built myself in metal shop," he says. "But of course…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/you-were-torturing-a-cat-she-says-with-a-freaking-prod-a-prod-i-built/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [I have never heard enough classical music to be able to enjoy it; & the simple truth is, I detest it. Not mildly, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-have-never-heard-enough-classical-music-to-be-able-to-enjoy-it-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [To deprecate human reason by saying that none of us is or can be omniscient is absurd, for it takes an impossible standard as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-rothbard/to-deprecate-human-reason-by-saying-that-none-of-us-is-or-can-be/) [Murray Rothbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-rothbard/) > [“Rachel got up and did this happy little shuffle, like she was some cheerful farmer chick who'd just stepped outside to find the hick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/rachel-got-up-and-did-this-happy-little-shuffle-like-she-was-some/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [The absurd duty, too often inculcated, of obeying a parent only on account of his being a parent, shackles the mind, and prepares it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/the-absurd-duty-too-often-inculcated-of-obeying-a-parent-only-on/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [The workman of today works every day in his life at the same tasks, and this fate is no less absurd. But it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-workman-of-today-works-every-day-in-his-life-at-the-same-tasks/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [I was once part of a Christmas cabaret. I sang 'I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.' I tap-danced. I had a ten-gallon hat. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-dinklage/i-was-once-part-of-a-christmas-cabaret-i-sang-i-saw-mommy-kissing/) [Peter Dinklage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-dinklage/) > [Solitude produces originality, bold and astonishing beauty, poetry. But solitude also produces perverseness, the disproportianate, the absurd and the forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/solitude-produces-originality-bold-and-astonishing-beauty-poetry-but/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) [Browse all 1,644 Absurd quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurd/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The material which a scientist actually has at his disposal, his laws, his experimental results, his mathematical techniques, his epistemological prejudices, his attitude towards the absurd consequences of the theories which he accepts, is indeterminate in many ways, ambiguous, and never fully separated from the historical background . 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