Causes Quote by Thomas Sprat
“...they have never affirm'd any thing, concerning the Cause, till the Trial was past: whereas, to do it before, is a most venomous thing in the making of Sciences; for whoever has fix'd on his Cause, before he experimented; can hardly avoid fitting his Experiment to his Observations, to his own Cause, which he had before imagin'd; rather than the Cause to the Truth of the Experiment itself. Referring to experiments of the Aristotelian mode, whereby a preconceived truth would be illustrated merely to convince people of the validity of the original thought.”
About This Quote
Source Treatise: The History of the Royal Society, 1667
Preconceived theories bias experiments, leading to fitting data to ideas rather than discovering truth.
In simple terms: Bias from prior beliefs skews experiments.
Key Takeaway
Question assumptions before testing.
Themes
science
methodology
bias
philosophy
Mood
critical
analytical
Type
philosophical
inspirational
When to use this quote
- lab research
- theoretical work
- peer review
- policy making
- education
Key Concepts
confirmation bias
experiment design
epistemology
Questions to Reflect On
- How can we guard against bias?
- What practices ensure objective observation?
A Different Perspective
May overlook unexpected results, limiting discovery.
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