--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The truly scientific mind is altogether…" description: "\"The truly scientific mind is altogether unafraid of the new, and while having no mercy for ideas which have served their turn or shown their uselessnes..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d8/wilfred-trotter-30944_attention_the-truly-scientific-mind-is-altogether_1886236.jpg" --- # The truly scientific mind is altogether unafraid of the… ![“The truly scientific mind is altogether unafraid of the new, and while having no mercy for ideas which have served their turn or shown their uselessness, it will not grudge to any unfamiliar conception its moment of full and friendly attention, hoping to expand rather than to minimize what small…” quote by Wilfred Trotter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d8/wilfred-trotter-30944_attention_the-truly-scientific-mind-is-altogether_1886236.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d8/wilfred-trotter-30944_attention_the-truly-scientific-mind-is-altogether_1886236.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d8/wilfred-trotter-30944_attention_the-truly-scientific-mind-is-altogether_1886236.jpg) > “The truly scientific mind is altogether unafraid of the new, and while having no mercy for ideas which have served their turn or shown their uselessness, it will not grudge to any unfamiliar conception its moment of full and friendly attention, hoping to expand rather than to minimize what small core of usefulness it may happen to contain.” [Wilfred Trotter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-trotter/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A scientific mind embraces new ideas, discarding outdated ones, and gives fair attention to unfamiliar concepts to uncover any hidden value. **In simple terms:** Scientists welcome new ideas, discard old ones, and seek hidden value. Key Takeaway Give new ideas a fair chance. Themes open‑mindedness innovation critical thinking Mood curious analytical optimistic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - research labs - product development - policy making - education reform - startup brainstorming Key Concepts epistemology paradigm shift intellectual humility Questions to Reflect On - What criteria do you use to evaluate unfamiliar concepts? - How can you balance skepticism with openness? A Different Perspective New ideas may lack evidence and could mislead resources. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention/) [Compassion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compassion/) [Conception](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conception/) [Grudge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grudge/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Mercy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mercy/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Uselessness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/uselessness/) ## Related quotes > [I should add that it is open to debate whether what we call the writing of history these days is truly scientific.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lion-feuchtwanger/i-should-add-that-it-is-open-to-debate-whether-what-we-call-the/) [Lion Feuchtwanger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lion-feuchtwanger/) > [“The books...they helped keep me from losing my mind altogether.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahereh-mafi/the-books-they-helped-keep-me-from-losing-my-mind-altogether/) [Tahereh Mafi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahereh-mafi/) > [“Reasonableness is the byproduct of a scientific mind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-gilbert-murdock/reasonableness-is-the-byproduct-of-a-scientific-mind/) [Catherine Gilbert Murdock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-gilbert-murdock/) > [“While most science moves in a sort of curve, being constantly corrected by new evidence, this science flies off into space in a straight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/while-most-science-moves-in-a-sort-of-curve-being-constantly/) [G.K. 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The scientific mind must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-religion-which-is-to-guide-and-fulfill-the-present-and-coming/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Oh, scientific mind. You get all your data from us, the senses, but without us you would be nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-alan-wolf/oh-scientific-mind-you-get-all-your-data-from-us-the-senses-but/) [Fred Alan Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-alan-wolf/) > [The scientific mind does not so much provide the right answers as ask the right questions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-levi-strauss/the-scientific-mind-does-not-so-much-provide-the-right-answers-as-ask/) [Claude Levi-Strauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-levi-strauss/) > [There are two ways of forming an opinion. One is the scientific method; the other, the scholastic. 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The”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-o-keefe/his-uselessness-ached-the/) [Molly O'Keefe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-o-keefe/) > [“Our only real pleasure is to squander our resources to no purpose, just as if a wound were bleeding away inside us; we always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/our-only-real-pleasure-is-to-squander-our-resources-to-no-purpose/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [“He wishes he were a skilled poet, it would fit his chosen image perfectly; the poor, tragic, tortured artiste. But he has no talent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-ackie/he-wishes-he-were-a-skilled-poet-it-would-fit-his-chosen-image/) Curtis Ackie > [“they were nice in a useless sort of way, which is, after all, the only way to be truly nice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/they-were-nice-in-a-useless-sort-of-way-which-is-after-all-the-only/) [Samuel R. Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-delany/) ## More by Wilfred Trotter > [ The first \[quality\] to be named must always be the power of attention, of giving one's whole mind to the patient without the interposition… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-trotter/the-first-quality-to-be-named-must-always-be-the-power-of-attention/) [Wilfred Trotter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-trotter/) > [If mankind is to profit freely from the small and sporadic crop of the heroically gifted it produces, it will have to cultivate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-trotter/if-mankind-is-to-profit-freely-from-the-small-and-sporadic-crop-of/) [Wilfred Trotter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-trotter/) > [Disease often tells its secrets in a casual parenthesis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-trotter/disease-often-tells-its-secrets-in-a-casual-parenthesis/) [Wilfred Trotter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-trotter/) > [The air of caricature never fails to show itself in the products of reason applied relentlessly and without correction. 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Nothing is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-trotter/it-is-necessary-to-guard-ourselves-from-thinking-that-the-practice-of/) [Wilfred Trotter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-trotter/) > [It is sometimes asserted that a surgical operation is or should be a work of art ... fit to rank with those of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-trotter/it-is-sometimes-asserted-that-a-surgical-operation-is-or-should-be-a/) [Wilfred Trotter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-trotter/) > [It was not noisy prejudice that caused the work of Mendel to lie dead for thirty years, but the sheer inability of contemporary opinion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-trotter/it-was-not-noisy-prejudice-that-caused-the-work-of-mendel-to-lie-dead/) [Wilfred Trotter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-trotter/) > [The second thing to be striven for is intuition. This sounds an impossibility, for who can control that small quiet monitor? But intuition is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-trotter/the-second-thing-to-be-striven-for-is-intuition-this-sounds-an/) [Wilfred Trotter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-trotter/) > [The fundamental activity of medical science is to determine the ultimate causation of disease.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-trotter/the-fundamental-activity-of-medical-science-is-to-determine-the/) [Wilfred Trotter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-trotter/) > [The ordinary patient goes to his doctor because he is in pain or some other discomfort and wants to be comfortable again; he is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-trotter/the-ordinary-patient-goes-to-his-doctor-because-he-is-in-pain-or-some/) [Wilfred Trotter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-trotter/) > [An event experienced is an event perceived, digested, and assimilated into the substance of our being, and the ratio between the number of cases…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-trotter/an-event-experienced-is-an-event-perceived-digested-and-assimilated/) [Wilfred Trotter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-trotter/) [Explore all 17 Wilfred Trotter quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-trotter/) ## More Attention quotes > [It appears to me that one great cause of our difference in opinion on subjects which we often discuss is that you have always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ricardo/it-appears-to-me-that-one-great-cause-of-our-difference-in-opinion-on/) [David Ricardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ricardo/) > [People pay far too much attention to the television and they're quite literal in some ways. 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They are but improved means to an unimproved end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/our-inventions-are-wont-to-be-pretty-toys-which-distract-our/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [What people don't normally know about us is the hustle is very real, and it's sorely driven a lot by how we consider ourselves.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lzzy-hale/what-people-don-t-normally-know-about-us-is-the-hustle-is-very-real/) [Lzzy Hale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lzzy-hale/) > [For me, the term "psychotherapy" is limiting. It implies that we work with mind and emotions, but excludes the body and pays scant attention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-diamond/for-me-the-term-psychotherapy-is-limiting-it-implies-that-we-work/) [Jed Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-diamond/) > [When you approach something to photograph it, first be still with yourself until the object of your attention affirms your presence. Then don't leave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/minor-white/when-you-approach-something-to-photograph-it-first-be-still-with/) [Minor White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/minor-white/) > [I'm writing about real things. Real people. Real characters. You have to believe what I write about is true or you wouldn't pay any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lou-reed/i-m-writing-about-real-things-real-people-real-characters-you-have-to/) [Lou Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lou-reed/) > [ I went to a mosque in Philadelphia with \[my wife\] in December 24, 1999. 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