--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Nothing is more lethal for certain kinds…" description: "\"“Nothing is more lethal for certain kinds of meme than a tendency to look for evidence.”\" — Richard Dawkins" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f6/richard-dawkins-115_evidence_nothing-is-more-lethal-for-certain-kinds_407972.jpg" --- # Nothing is more lethal for certain kinds of meme than a… ![“Nothing is more lethal for certain kinds of meme than a tendency to look for evidence.” quote by Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f6/richard-dawkins-115_evidence_nothing-is-more-lethal-for-certain-kinds_407972.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f6/richard-dawkins-115_evidence_nothing-is-more-lethal-for-certain-kinds_407972.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f6/richard-dawkins-115_evidence_nothing-is-more-lethal-for-certain-kinds_407972.jpg) > ““Nothing is more lethal for certain kinds of meme than a tendency to look for evidence.”” [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. People often cling to ideas by seeking confirming evidence, ignoring contrary data. **In simple terms:** Confirmation bias fuels belief. Key Takeaway Challenge your own assumptions. Themes belief evidence bias Mood skeptical inquisitive Type philosophical scientific When to use this quote - scientific research - political debate - media consumption - personal convictions Key Concepts confirmation bias epistemic humility Questions to Reflect On - What belief have you defended without evidence? - How can you seek disconfirming data? A Different Perspective Evidence may be scarce or ambiguous. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Evidence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evidence/) [Kinds Meme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kinds-meme-3644031/) [Look Evidence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/look-evidence-2566120/) [Meme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meme/) [Meme Tendency](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meme-tendency-3644030/) ## Related quotes > [Now, look, I - I like to look at evidence. I plead to that. I think evidence is important when you're making decisions that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/now-look-i-i-like-to-look-at-evidence-i-plead-to-that-i-think/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [An Internet meme is a hijacking of the original idea. Instead of mutating by random change and spreading by a form of Darwinian selection,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/an-internet-meme-is-a-hijacking-of-the-original-idea-instead-of/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [God exists, if only in the form of a meme with high survival value, or infective power, in the environment provided by human culture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/god-exists-if-only-in-the-form-of-a-meme-with-high-survival-value-or/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“Examples of memes are tunes, ideas, catch-phrases, clothes fashions, ways of making pots or of building arches. Just as genes propagate themselves in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/examples-of-memes-are-tunes-ideas-catch-phrases-clothes-fashions-ways/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The meme for blind faith secures its own perpetuation by the simple unconscious expedient of discouraging rational inquiry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-meme-for-blind-faith-secures-its-own-perpetuation-by-the-simple/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [I became a little alarmed at the number of my readers who took the meme more positively as a theory of human culture in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/i-became-a-little-alarmed-at-the-number-of-my-readers-who-took-the/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [In the original introduction to the word meme in the last chapter of 'The Selfish Gene,' I did actually use the metaphor of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/in-the-original-introduction-to-the-word-meme-in-the-last-chapter-of/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Time and again, my sociobiological colleagues have upbraided me as a turncoat, because I will not agree with them that the ultimate criterion for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/time-and-again-my-sociobiological-colleagues-have-upbraided-me-as-a/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Kerry asks Americans to look at the evidence. Bush asks people to believe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/kerry-asks-americans-to-look-at-the-evidence-bush-asks-people-to/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [“Refusing to look at the evidence, this is also popular.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/refusing-to-look-at-the-evidence-this-is-also-popular/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [There is not a well-funded campaign among scientists to say, "Look, here's the evidence. You can read it yourself. Here are the facts. We're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-earle/there-is-not-a-well-funded-campaign-among-scientists-to-say-look-here/) [Sylvia Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-earle/) > [“he could look at the evidence planted in the universe and from it derive a new concept, and a greater thing than this no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-michener/he-could-look-at-the-evidence-planted-in-the-universe-and-from-it/) [James A. Michener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-michener/) > [It's kind of ironic that when you look at the evidence of intelligence and so on, a lot of it is anecdotal. A lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-whitehead/it-s-kind-of-ironic-that-when-you-look-at-the-evidence-of/) [Hal Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-whitehead/) > [“Where would you even look for evidence of a reality that by your own argument can’t exist?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirsten-beyer/where-would-you-even-look-for-evidence-of-a-reality-that-by-your-own/) [Kirsten Beyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirsten-beyer/) > [“As all this suggests our relationship with evidence is seldom purely a cognitive one. Vilifying menstruating women bolstering anti-Muslim stereotypes murdering innocent citizens of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-schulz/as-all-this-suggests-our-relationship-with-evidence-is-seldom-purely/) [Kathryn Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-schulz/) ## 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 Evidence quotes > [The truth is, of course, that the curtness of the Ten Commandments is an evidence, not of the gloom and narrowness of a religion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-truth-is-of-course-that-the-curtness-of-the-ten-commandments-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Never underestimate the power of the human mind to believe what it wants to believe, no matter the conflicting evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-herbert/never-underestimate-the-power-of-the-human-mind-to-believe-what-it/) [Brian Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-herbert/) > [We only enter into the full life if our faith gives thanks. Because how else do we accept His free gift of salvation if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-voskamp/we-only-enter-into-the-full-life-if-our-faith-gives-thanks-because/) [Ann Voskamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-voskamp/) > [Be neither too early in the fashion, nor too long out of it, nor too precisely in it; what custom hath civilized is become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-quarles/be-neither-too-early-in-the-fashion-nor-too-long-out-of-it-nor-too/) [Francis Quarles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-quarles/) > [“What you owe your critics are your RESULTS not explanations not defence just RESULTS.Evidence terminates Arguments.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fela-durotoye/what-you-owe-your-critics-are-your-results-not-explanations-not/) [Fela Durotoye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fela-durotoye/) > [“Dogmatism compensates for evidence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-wallace/dogmatism-compensates-for-evidence/) [Dana Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-wallace/) > [“Cops aren't really your friends, they are trying to be your friends but they are not… - They are searching evidence to PIN YOU.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deyth-banger/cops-aren-t-really-your-friends-they-are-trying-to-be-your-friends/) [Deyth Banger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deyth-banger/) > [There's overwhelming evidence... circumstantial and otherwise, to suggest a connection between Iraq and al Qaeda.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-pence/there-s-overwhelming-evidence-circumstantial-and-otherwise-to-suggest/) [Mike Pence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-pence/) > [Miracles are like candles lit up until the sun rises, and then blown out. Therefore, I am amused when I hear sects and churches…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/miracles-are-like-candles-lit-up-until-the-sun-rises-and-then-blown/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [“Human unhappiness is evidence of our immortality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/human-unhappiness-is-evidence-of-our-immortality/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) > [The state is in danger of falling into disrepute due to the evidence of its inadequate resources.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jurgen-habermas/the-state-is-in-danger-of-falling-into-disrepute-due-to-the-evidence/) [Jurgen Habermas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jurgen-habermas/) > [You are innocent until proven guilty. And if folks have come forward, whether it is judge Roy Moore or whether it is anyone else,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-rosendale/you-are-innocent-until-proven-guilty-and-if-folks-have-come-forward/) [Matt Rosendale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-rosendale/) > [There is still zero empirical evidence that anthropogenic production of CO2 is making any measurable contribution to the world's present warming trend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-cockburn/there-is-still-zero-empirical-evidence-that-anthropogenic-production/) [Alexander Cockburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-cockburn/) > [“‎If you regard evidence as a constraint and seek to free yourself, you sell yourself into the chains of your whims. For you cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliezer-yudkowsky/if-you-regard-evidence-as-a-constraint-and-seek-to-free-yourself-you/) [Eliezer Yudkowsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliezer-yudkowsky/) > [ We have reached a situation where a theory has been accepted as fact by some, and possible contrary evidence is shunted aside. \[This is\]… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-shapiro/we-have-reached-a-situation-where-a-theory-has-been-accepted-as-fact/) [Robert Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-shapiro/) [Browse all 3,643 Evidence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evidence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Nothing is more lethal for certain kinds of meme than a tendency to look for evidence.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Richard Dawkins" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/nothing-is-more-lethal-for-certain-kinds-of-meme-than-a-tendency-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Evidence" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/nothing-is-more-lethal-for-certain-kinds-of-meme-than-a-tendency-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f6/richard-dawkins-115_evidence_nothing-is-more-lethal-for-certain-kinds_407972.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f6/richard-dawkins-115_evidence_nothing-is-more-lethal-for-certain-kinds_407972.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f6/richard-dawkins-115_evidence_nothing-is-more-lethal-for-certain-kinds_407972.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Nothing is more lethal for certain kinds of meme than a tendency to look for evidence.” — Richard Dawkins", "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": "Richard Dawkins", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Nothing is more lethal for certain...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/nothing-is-more-lethal-for-certain-kinds-of-meme-than-a-tendency-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/nothing-is-more-lethal-for-certain-kinds-of-meme-than-a-tendency-to/#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 } } ] } ```