--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I assume the same problem exists in…" description: "\"I assume the same problem exists in Australia as in America of back-biting and jealousy and parochialism among disciplines - there are the scientists, ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17c/richard-lewontin-20755_america_i-assume-the-same-problem-exists-in-aust_105920.png" --- # I assume the same problem exists in Australia as in… ![“I assume the same problem exists in Australia as in America of back-biting and jealousy and parochialism among disciplines - there are the scientists, and there are the humanities people, and there are chemists and the physicists and everybody snipes at everybody else and inter-disciplinary…” quote by Richard Lewontin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17c/richard-lewontin-20755_america_i-assume-the-same-problem-exists-in-aust_105920.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17c/richard-lewontin-20755_america_i-assume-the-same-problem-exists-in-aust_105920.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17c/richard-lewontin-20755_america_i-assume-the-same-problem-exists-in-aust_105920.png) > “I assume the same problem exists in Australia as in America of back-biting and jealousy and parochialism among disciplines - there are the scientists, and there are the humanities people, and there are chemists and the physicists and everybody snipes at everybody else and inter-disciplinary communication is rare. But it's very precious and necessary.” [Richard Lewontin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lewontin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A critique of disciplinary silos and rivalry, noting that while competition exists, interdisciplinary collaboration is essential and valuable. **In simple terms:** Fields compete, yet need each other. Key Takeaway Cross‑disciplinary work is crucial for progress. Themes interdisciplinary academic culture collaboration competition Mood critical optimistic Type academic commentary observation When to use this quote - research grant proposals - university curriculum design - policy advisory panels Key Concepts social dynamics of science knowledge integration Practical Applications - Create joint seminars - Encourage co‑authorship across departments Questions to Reflect On - What structural changes could reduce back‑biting among disciplines? - How can we measure the impact of interdisciplinary projects? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) [Australia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/australia/) [Communication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) [Discipline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discipline/) [Humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanity/) [Parochialism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parochialism/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Problem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problem/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Scientist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientist/) ## Related quotes > [Honest communication is a rare thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-sheridan/honest-communication-is-a-rare-thing/) [Taylor Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-sheridan/) > [We are in the middle of a tough, ideological conflict that is being waged across the entire continent. On the one side are those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-schulz/we-are-in-the-middle-of-a-tough-ideological-conflict-that-is-being/) [Martin Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-schulz/) > [Scientists tend to resist interdisciplinary inquiries into their own territory. In many instances, such parochialism is founded on the fear that intrusion from other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannes-alfven/scientists-tend-to-resist-interdisciplinary-inquiries-into-their-own/) [Hannes Alfven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannes-alfven/) > [Sunshine takes its intelligent and honourable place in the history of grownup science fiction on the screen and on the page: a genre that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-bradshaw/sunshine-takes-its-intelligent-and-honourable-place-in-the-history-of/) [Peter Bradshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-bradshaw/) > [I don't want to die and leave a few sad songs and a hump in the ground as my only monument. I want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-jackson/i-don-t-want-to-die-and-leave-a-few-sad-songs-and-a-hump-in-the/) [George Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-jackson/) > [Once you get past the grand normative claims made in the West for literature, especially the novel, in the post-Christian era - that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/once-you-get-past-the-grand-normative-claims-made-in-the-west-for/) [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) > [I have always been spurred on by my not finding expressed anywhere the kinds of perspectives that I thought these issues most perspicuously needed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/i-have-always-been-spurred-on-by-my-not-finding-expressed-anywhere/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [The world's religions, for all their parochialism, did supply a kind of consolation for this great ache... This shattering recognition of our mortality is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-kubrick/the-world-s-religions-for-all-their-parochialism-did-supply-a-kind-of/) [Stanley Kubrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-kubrick/) > [The day of parochialism in sports is over. The world is too small for what people like to call 'the good old days.' Fans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-andretti/the-day-of-parochialism-in-sports-is-over-the-world-is-too-small-for/) [Mario Andretti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-andretti/) > [“Parochialism remains the Danes’ defining characteristic, but their radically recalibrated sense of identity and national pride has created a curious duality best described as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-booth/parochialism-remains-the-danes-defining-characteristic-but-their/) Michael Booth > [“Parochialism and provincialism are direct opposites. A provincial is always trying to live by other people's loves, but a parochial is self-sufficient.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-kavanagh/parochialism-and-provincialism-are-direct-opposites-a-provincial-is/) [Patrick Kavanagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-kavanagh/) > [“... Mr Jellyband was indeed a typical rural John Bull of those days --- the days when our prejudiced insularity was at its height,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baroness-orczy/mr-jellyband-was-indeed-a-typical-rural-john-bull-of-those-days-the/) [Baroness Orczy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baroness-orczy/) > [“But there is no doubt that to attempt a novel of ideas is to give oneself a handicap: the parochialism of our culture is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/but-there-is-no-doubt-that-to-attempt-a-novel-of-ideas-is-to-give/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [I think that parochialism is built into many kinds of nationalism and educational institutions in which children are brought up to treat their own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-l-garfield/i-think-that-parochialism-is-built-into-many-kinds-of-nationalism-and/) [Jay L. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-l-garfield/) > [To conclude this discussion, assessment of justice demands engagement with the 'eyes of mankind',first, because we may variously identify with the others elsewhere and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/to-conclude-this-discussion-assessment-of-justice-demands-engagement/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) ## More by Richard Lewontin > [The vulgarization of Darwinism that sees the "struggle for existence" as nothing but the competition for some environmental resource in short supply ignores the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lewontin/the-vulgarization-of-darwinism-that-sees-the-struggle-for-existence/) [Richard Lewontin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lewontin/) > [We take the side of science in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs, in spite of its failure to fulfill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lewontin/we-take-the-side-of-science-in-spite-of-the-patent-absurdity-of-some/) [Richard Lewontin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lewontin/) > [In my mind the job of a natural scientist is to bend over backwards to say something which can be demonstrated to be true…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lewontin/in-my-mind-the-job-of-a-natural-scientist-is-to-bend-over-backwards/) [Richard Lewontin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lewontin/) > [If I ask you who is the most famous scientist who ever lived, or the greatest scientist who ever lived you'll say either Einstein…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lewontin/if-i-ask-you-who-is-the-most-famous-scientist-who-ever-lived-or-the/) [Richard Lewontin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lewontin/) > [People who have various kinds of politics for whom it is congenial for their apriority politics to say yes, things are getting much worse.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lewontin/people-who-have-various-kinds-of-politics-for-whom-it-is-congenial/) [Richard Lewontin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lewontin/) > [To appeal to an omnipotent deity is to allow that at any moment the regularities of nature may be ruptured, that miracles may happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lewontin/to-appeal-to-an-omnipotent-deity-is-to-allow-that-at-any-moment-the/) [Richard Lewontin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lewontin/) > [There are a whole other range of sciences that must deal with the narrative reconstruction of the inordinately complex events of history that can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lewontin/there-are-a-whole-other-range-of-sciences-that-must-deal-with-the/) [Richard Lewontin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lewontin/) > [As an American I must say I haven't been very encouraged by the way in which the people who run the government in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lewontin/as-an-american-i-must-say-i-haven-t-been-very-encouraged-by-the-way/) [Richard Lewontin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lewontin/) > [Evolutionists ... have a prior commitment, a commitment to naturalism. It is not that the methods and institutions of science somehow compel us to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lewontin/evolutionists-have-a-prior-commitment-a-commitment-to-naturalism-it/) [Richard Lewontin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lewontin/) > [Quantification, experimentation, rigor, repetition, prediction - all of these are part of the experimental sciences. There's an iconography also namely man, and I do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lewontin/quantification-experimentation-rigor-repetition-prediction-all-of/) [Richard Lewontin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lewontin/) > [An experimental science is supposed to perform experiments that find generalities. It's not just supposed to tally up a long list of individual cases…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lewontin/an-experimental-science-is-supposed-to-perform-experiments-that-find/) [Richard Lewontin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lewontin/) > [My general impression about people like Steve Gould and Carl Sagan and so on is that when they disappear as individuals and are no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lewontin/my-general-impression-about-people-like-steve-gould-and-carl-sagan/) [Richard Lewontin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lewontin/) > [If you can't write well then your ambition to become famous in this way will be frustrated. Either that or you have to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lewontin/if-you-can-t-write-well-then-your-ambition-to-become-famous-in-this/) [Richard Lewontin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lewontin/) > [If I put myself on the side of those who see the world as warming up in a bad way, who see the general…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lewontin/if-i-put-myself-on-the-side-of-those-who-see-the-world-as-warming-up/) [Richard Lewontin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lewontin/) > [Like all biologists I simply acknowledge the gravity of the current situation. There are scenarios under which things work out well and to that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lewontin/like-all-biologists-i-simply-acknowledge-the-gravity-of-the-current/) [Richard Lewontin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lewontin/) [Explore all 29 Richard Lewontin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lewontin/) ## More America quotes > [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [Well, The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a story... I don't if anybody knows what it is but it was about... in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-guest/well-the-day-the-earth-caught-fire-was-a-story-i-don-t-if-anybody/) [Val Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-guest/) > [So here's what I want you to know, and here's what I want all our men and women in uniform to know: Because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/so-here-s-what-i-want-you-to-know-and-here-s-what-i-want-all-our-men/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Today, the world looks to America for leadership. And America looks to its Corps of Marines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/today-the-world-looks-to-america-for-leadership-and-america-looks-to/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [The image of blacks usually is one of people who are suffering from hunger, unemployment, and poverty. The idea of them as agents and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/the-image-of-blacks-usually-is-one-of-people-who-are-suffering-from/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [ I'll smoke, I'll cough, I'll get the tumors, I'll die, deal? Thank you America. \[salutes\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/i-ll-smoke-i-ll-cough-i-ll-get-the-tumors-i-ll-die-deal-thank-you/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [America is a democracy and has no Hitler, but I am afraid for her future; there are hard times ahead for the American people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/america-is-a-democracy-and-has-no-hitler-but-i-am-afraid-for-her/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [I'm gonna bring America together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/i-m-gonna-bring-america-together/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [We need a system that serves our needs, not the needs of others. Remember, under a Trump administration it's called America first. Remember that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/we-need-a-system-that-serves-our-needs-not-the-needs-of-others/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [America, you're sending girls a mixed message. On one hand, you're saying to have positive body image and love who we are; on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adora-svitak/america-you-re-sending-girls-a-mixed-message-on-one-hand-you-re/) [Adora Svitak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adora-svitak/) > [You live overseas, you see these exotic places and you want to know about them. But, weirdly, it also made me homesick for all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-jennings/you-live-overseas-you-see-these-exotic-places-and-you-want-to-know/) [Ken Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-jennings/) > [Freedom in every sense but primarily political sense, a rise in repression that stems from a repression of sexuality. 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