--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's been suggested that if the…" description: "\"“It's been suggested that if the super-naturalists really had the powers they claim, they'd win the lottery every week. I prefer to point out that they..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d35/richard-dawkins-115_atheism_it-s-been-suggested-that-if-the-super-na_1493786.jpg" --- # It's been suggested that if the super-naturalists really… ![“It's been suggested that if the super-naturalists really had the powers they claim, they'd win the lottery every week. I prefer to point out that they could also win a Nobel Prize for discovering fundamental physical forces hitherto unknown to science. Either way, why are they wasting their…” quote by Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d35/richard-dawkins-115_atheism_it-s-been-suggested-that-if-the-super-na_1493786.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d35/richard-dawkins-115_atheism_it-s-been-suggested-that-if-the-super-na_1493786.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d35/richard-dawkins-115_atheism_it-s-been-suggested-that-if-the-super-na_1493786.jpg) > ““It's been suggested that if the super-naturalists really had the powers they claim, they'd win the lottery every week. I prefer to point out that they could also win a Nobel Prize for discovering fundamental physical forces hitherto unknown to science. Either way, why are they wasting their talents doing party turns on television? By all means let's be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out.”” [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. Supernatural claims are often used to explain phenomena that could be scientifically discovered, but they waste talent on trivial media appearances. **In simple terms:** Supernaturalists claim powers but should focus on real science. Key Takeaway Prioritize genuine scientific inquiry over sensationalism. Themes science skepticism media talent truth Mood critical skeptical concerned Type analytical inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - research funding - science education - media interviews - public policy - science communication Key Concepts philosophy of science public understanding of science critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - How can we encourage talented individuals to pursue rigorous science? - What role should media play in promoting scientific literacy? A Different Perspective Supernaturalists may genuinely believe they have powers, making persuasion difficult. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/) [Good advice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-advice/) [Naturalists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/naturalists/) [Nobel prize](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nobel-prize/) [Open minded](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/open-minded/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Television](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/television/) ## Related quotes > [“Often known science will revolt against unknown science”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tirumala/often-known-science-will-revolt-against-unknown-science/) Tirumala > [There's this thing called being so open-minded your brains drop out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/there-s-this-thing-called-being-so-open-minded-your-brains-drop-out/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [By all means let's be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/by-all-means-let-s-be-open-minded-but-not-so-open-minded-that-our/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [By all means let's be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out. -this quote is actually found in Carl Sagan's book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/by-all-means-let-s-be-open-minded-but-not-so-open-minded-that-our-2/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Do not be too open minded...your brains might fall off.!!! . .from m.facebook.com/Jamstaquotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamsta-e-ngugz/do-not-be-too-open-minded-your-brains-might-fall-off-from-m-facebook/) [Jamsta E Ngugz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamsta-e-ngugz/) > [Two girls called me closed minded. I tell them that they are so open-minded their brains leaked out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tucker-max/two-girls-called-me-closed-minded-i-tell-them-that-they-are-so-open/) [Tucker Max](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tucker-max/) > [“We want to be open-minded enough to accept radical new ideas when they occasionally come along, but we don't want to be so open-minded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/we-want-to-be-open-minded-enough-to-accept-radical-new-ideas-when/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [Do not be so open-minded that your brains fall out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/do-not-be-so-open-minded-that-your-brains-fall-out/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You mustn’t be so open-minded that your brains fall out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-cheever/you-mustn-t-be-so-open-minded-that-your-brains-fall-out/) [Susan Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-cheever/) > [You don't want to be so open minded that your brains fall out!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/you-don-t-want-to-be-so-open-minded-that-your-brains-fall-out/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [“he cannot afford to be so open-minded that his brains fall out.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-johns/he-cannot-afford-to-be-so-open-minded-that-his-brains-fall-out/) [Dan Johns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-johns/) > [If you're too open-minded; your brains will fall out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-ferlinghetti/if-you-re-too-open-minded-your-brains-will-fall-out/) [Lawrence Ferlinghetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-ferlinghetti/) > [Be open minded, but not so open minded that your brains fall out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/groucho-marx/be-open-minded-but-not-so-open-minded-that-your-brains-fall-out/) [Groucho Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/groucho-marx/) > [In short, it is not that evolutionary naturalists have been less brazen than the scientific creationists in holding science hostage, but rather that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-e-johnson/in-short-it-is-not-that-evolutionary-naturalists-have-been-less/) [Phillip E. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-e-johnson/) > [“They turn nature into an achievement course, a series of ordeals and obstacles they can conquer. They go into nature to behave unnaturally. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brooks/they-turn-nature-into-an-achievement-course-a-series-of-ordeals-and/) [David Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brooks/) ## 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. I can think of some answers, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/or-why-it-is-acceptable-to-train-fast-runners-and-high-jumpers-but/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [We have seen that living things are too improbable and too beautifully 'designed' to have come into existence by chance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-have-seen-that-living-things-are-too-improbable-and-too/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“We will not go quietly away. 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 Atheism quotes > [From Augustine down, theologians have tried to compel people to accept their special interpretation of the Scripture, and the tortures of the inquisition, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matilda-joslyn-gage/from-augustine-down-theologians-have-tried-to-compel-people-to-accept/) [Matilda Joslyn Gage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matilda-joslyn-gage/) > [“What I have a problem with is not so much religion or god, but faith. When you say you believe something in your heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/what-i-have-a-problem-with-is-not-so-much-religion-or-god-but-faith/) [Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/) > [Philosopher is a dictator who modifies accepted standards with his thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/philosopher-is-a-dictator-who-modifies-accepted-standards-with-his/) [Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/) > [No philosophy, no religion, has ever brought so glad a message to the world as this good news of Atheism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-besant/no-philosophy-no-religion-has-ever-brought-so-glad-a-message-to-the/) [Annie Besant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-besant/) > [Let me tell you that atheism has never painted a masterpiece. Atheism has never dispelled fear. Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/) [John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The inner defenses are unconscious. They consist of a kind of magic aura which the mind builds around cherished belief. Arguments which penetrate into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-inner-defenses-are-unconscious-they-consist-of-a-kind-of-magic/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [God speaks through me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/god-speaks-through-me/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty - it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/a-knowledge-of-the-existence-of-something-we-cannot-penetrate-of-the/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [You cannot ... transmute some incoherent mixture of words into sense merely by introducing the three-letter word "God" to be its grammatical subject.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antony-flew/you-cannot-transmute-some-incoherent-mixture-of-words-into-sense/) [Antony Flew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antony-flew/) > [Many humanists have argued that happiness involves a combination of hedonism and creative moral development; that an exuberant life fuses excellence and enjoyment, meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kurtz/many-humanists-have-argued-that-happiness-involves-a-combination-of/) [Paul Kurtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kurtz/) > [If, with all the time at my disposal, with all the wealth of the resources of this vast universe, to do with as I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/if-with-all-the-time-at-my-disposal-with-all-the-wealth-of-the/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [Do you think that was kind? Do you think it was godlike? What would you think of a physician, if a woman came to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-h-gardener/do-you-think-that-was-kind-do-you-think-it-was-godlike-what-would-you/) [Helen H. Gardener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-h-gardener/) > [Science can destroy religion by ignoring it as well as by disproving its tenets. No one ever demonstrated, so far as I am aware,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-clarke/science-can-destroy-religion-by-ignoring-it-as-well-as-by-disproving/) [Arthur C. Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/) > [Honest investigation is utterly impossible within the pale of any church, for the reason, that if you think the church is right you will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/honest-investigation-is-utterly-impossible-within-the-pale-of-any/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) [Browse all 4,769 Atheism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It's been suggested that if the super-naturalists really had the powers they claim, they'd win the lottery every week. I prefer to point out that they could also win a Nobel Prize for discovering fundamental physical forces hitherto unknown to science. Either way, why are they wasting their talents doing party turns on television? 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