--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you don't understand how something…" description: "\"If you don't understand how something works, never mind: just give up and say God did it. You don't know how the nerve impulse works? Good! You don't u..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd3/richard-dawkins-115_appeals_if-you-don-t-understand-how-something-wo_2853810.jpg" --- # If you don't understand how something works, never mind… ![“If you don't understand how something works, never mind: just give up and say God did it. You don't know how the nerve impulse works? Good! You don't understand how memories are laid down in the brain? Excellent! Is photosynthesis a bafflingly complex process? Wonderful! Please don't go to work on…” quote by Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd3/richard-dawkins-115_appeals_if-you-don-t-understand-how-something-wo_2853810.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd3/richard-dawkins-115_appeals_if-you-don-t-understand-how-something-wo_2853810.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd3/richard-dawkins-115_appeals_if-you-don-t-understand-how-something-wo_2853810.jpg) > “If you don't understand how something works, never mind: just give up and say God did it. You don't know how the nerve impulse works? Good! You don't understand how memories are laid down in the brain? Excellent! Is photosynthesis a bafflingly complex process? Wonderful! Please don't go to work on the problem, just give up, and appeal to God.” [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Rejecting scientific inquiry in favor of divine explanation hinders understanding and progress. **In simple terms:** Science over superstition. Key Takeaway Seek evidence, not faith. Themes science skepticism critical thinking Mood skeptical analytical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - education - research - policy making - public discourse Key Concepts faith vs reason intellectual honesty Questions to Reflect On - Why do people cling to unproven beliefs? - How can you discuss science respectfully? A Different Perspective Some find comfort in faith despite lack of evidence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Brain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brain/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Giving up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving-up/) [Memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Nerves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nerves/) [Photosynthesis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photosynthesis/) [Problem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problem/) [Process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/process/) [Wonderful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wonderful/) ## Related quotes > [“If you don't understand how something works, never mind: just give up and say God did it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/if-you-don-t-understand-how-something-works-never-mind-just-give-up/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [What I have done is to show that it is possible for the way the universe began to be determined by the laws of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-i-have-done-is-to-show-that-it-is-possible-for-the-way-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [To appeal to God is to appeal to the action of universal love. Love never fails to come when we call to it, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/to-appeal-to-god-is-to-appeal-to-the-action-of-universal-love-love/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [Only so you can appeal to your God and pray Him to support and bless your courage, your work, your perseverance, your strength, your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/only-so-you-can-appeal-to-your-god-and-pray-him-to-support-and-bless/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [One does not have to appeal to God to set the initial conditions for the creation of the universe, but if one does He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hawking/one-does-not-have-to-appeal-to-god-to-set-the-initial-conditions-for/) [Stephen Hawking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hawking/) > [I understand that each one of us works at a different speed, and has a slightly different process. I understand that these writers are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/i-understand-that-each-one-of-us-works-at-a-different-speed-and-has-a/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“You wouldn't understand my works. You wouldn't have the faintest idea of what they were about. You wouldn't appreciate the points of reference. You're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-pinter/you-wouldn-t-understand-my-works-you-wouldn-t-have-the-faintest-idea/) [Harold Pinter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-pinter/) > [You need to understand what works best for your own body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunil-chhetri/you-need-to-understand-what-works-best-for-your-own-body/) [Sunil Chhetri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunil-chhetri/) > [We want to understand what works here rather than what worked at any other organization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laszlo-bock/we-want-to-understand-what-works-here-rather-than-what-worked-at-any/) [Laszlo Bock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laszlo-bock/) > [Teach for America has helped us understand what works and what doesn't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/priscilla-chan/teach-for-america-has-helped-us-understand-what-works-and-what-doesn-t/) [Priscilla Chan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/priscilla-chan/) > [“When you do not understand how something works it is perhaps natural to question and to doubt.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/when-you-do-not-understand-how-something-works-it-is-perhaps-natural/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [When something exceeds your ability to understand how it works, it sort of becomes magical.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-ive/when-something-exceeds-your-ability-to-understand-how-it-works-it/) [Jonathan Ive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-ive/) > [I think in order to understand what works dramatically, you have to have a sense of humor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayo-edebiri/i-think-in-order-to-understand-what-works-dramatically-you-have-to/) [Ayo Edebiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayo-edebiri/) > [It's a good idea to pay attention to the world and try to understand how it works rather than how you would like it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-crawford/it-s-a-good-idea-to-pay-attention-to-the-world-and-try-to-understand/) Matthew Crawford > [Know the business you're in for whatever you do, know it and understand how it works so you can be successful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ledisi/know-the-business-you-re-in-for-whatever-you-do-know-it-and/) [Ledisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ledisi/) ## More by Richard Dawkins > [At the deepest level, all living things that have ever been looked at have the same DNA code. And many of the same genes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/at-the-deepest-level-all-living-things-that-have-ever-been-looked-at/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The word 'mundane' has come to mean 'boring' and 'dull', and it really shouldn't - it should mean the opposite. Because it comes from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-word-mundane-has-come-to-mean-boring-and-dull-and-it-really/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [We animals are the most complicated things in the known universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-animals-are-the-most-complicated-things-in-the-known-universe/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“The fundamentalist Kurt Wise proclaims that all the evidence in the universe would not change his mind. The true scientist, however passionately he may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-fundamentalist-kurt-wise-proclaims-that-all-the-evidence-in-the/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“I have found it an amusing strategy, when asked whether I am an atheist, to point out that the questioner is also an atheist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/i-have-found-it-an-amusing-strategy-when-asked-whether-i-am-an/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Religions do make claims about the universe--the same kinds of claims that scientists make, except they're usually false.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/religions-do-make-claims-about-the-universe-the-same-kinds-of-claims/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“much of the Bible is not systematically evil but just plain weird, as you would expect of a chaotically cobbled-together anthology of disjointed documents,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/much-of-the-bible-is-not-systematically-evil-but-just-plain-weird-as/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The recurrent laryngeal nerve - which runs from the head to the voice box - goes all the way down into the chest, loops…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-recurrent-laryngeal-nerve-which-runs-from-the-head-to-the-voice/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The Roman Catholic Church is an institution for whose gains the phrase "ill-gotten" might have been specially invented. And of all its money-making rip-offs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-roman-catholic-church-is-an-institution-for-whose-gains-the/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Let us understand what our own selfish genes are up to because we may then at least have the chance to upset their designs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/let-us-understand-what-our-own-selfish-genes-are-up-to-because-we-may/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [What's going to happen when I die? I may be buried, or I may be cremated, I may give my body to science. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/what-s-going-to-happen-when-i-die-i-may-be-buried-or-i-may-be/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Or why it is acceptable to train fast runners and high jumpers but not to breed them. 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If in the future that requires violence”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-will-not-go-quietly-away-if-in-the-future-that-requires-violence/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [It's a truly disgusting idea that the creator of the universe - capable of inventing the laws of physics and designing the evolutionary process…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/it-s-a-truly-disgusting-idea-that-the-creator-of-the-universe-capable/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) [Explore all 1,239 Richard Dawkins quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) ## More Appeals quotes > [Quotations can be valuable, like raisins in the rice pudding, for adding iron as well as eye appeal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peg-bracken/quotations-can-be-valuable-like-raisins-in-the-rice-pudding-for/) [Peg Bracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peg-bracken/) > [If Robert Heinlein is more to your taste than George Lucas: “If you are part of a society that votes, then do so. 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