--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: An institution can call itself by…" description: "\"“An institution can call itself by whatever name it wants, but if it lacks a strong self-correcting mechanism, it is not a scientific institution.”\" — ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/783/yuval-noah-harari-100_institutions_an-institution-can-call-itself-by-whatev_1166369.jpg" --- # An institution can call itself by whatever name it wants… ![“An institution can call itself by whatever name it wants, but if it lacks a strong self-correcting mechanism, it is not a scientific institution.” quote by Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/783/yuval-noah-harari-100_institutions_an-institution-can-call-itself-by-whatev_1166369.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/783/yuval-noah-harari-100_institutions_an-institution-can-call-itself-by-whatev_1166369.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/783/yuval-noah-harari-100_institutions_an-institution-can-call-itself-by-whatev_1166369.jpg) > ““An institution can call itself by whatever name it wants, but if it lacks a strong self-correcting mechanism, it is not a scientific institution.”” [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Institutions lacking self‑correction cannot be truly scientific. **In simple terms:** Need self‑correction for science. Key Takeaway Demand accountability mechanisms. Themes science institution integrity self‑correction truth Mood critical thoughtful Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - research labs - policy making - academic publishing - tech development Key Concepts philosophy epistemology organizational design Questions to Reflect On - How can we enforce self‑correction? - What safeguards protect scientific integrity? A Different Perspective Self‑correction may be resisted by power structures. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Institution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/institution/) [Institution Wants](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/institution-wants-2444448/) [Institutions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/institutions/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Scientific Institution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientific-institution-3361544/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self Correcting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-correcting-855390/) [Strong self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strong-self/) ## Related quotes > [Marriage is a wonderful institution, but who wants to live in an institution?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/groucho-marx/marriage-is-a-wonderful-institution-but-who-wants-to-live-in-an/) [Groucho Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/groucho-marx/) > [Marriage is a plastic flower - marriage is an institution. And who wants to live in an institution?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/marriage-is-a-plastic-flower-marriage-is-an-institution-and-who-wants/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [“The scientific project starts by rejecting the fantasy of infallibility and proceeding to construct an information network that takes error to be inescapable. Sure,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/the-scientific-project-starts-by-rejecting-the-fantasy-of/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [Once you start to look into the guts of climate change you find that just about every scientific institution in the world is conducting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-garrett/once-you-start-to-look-into-the-guts-of-climate-change-you-find-that/) [Peter Garrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-garrett/) > [Science is the only self-correcting human institution, but it also is a process that progresses only by showing itself to be wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-sandage/science-is-the-only-self-correcting-human-institution-but-it-also-is/) [Allan Sandage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-sandage/) > [“The human psyche is a self-correcting mechanism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-nadel/the-human-psyche-is-a-self-correcting-mechanism/) [Laurie Nadel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-nadel/) > [Science is not perfect. It's often misused; it's only a tool, but it's the best tool we have. Self-correcting , ever changing, applicable to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/science-is-not-perfect-it-s-often-misused-it-s-only-a-tool-but-it-s/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“You are alive because your cells are self-correcting chemical factories. Your job is to facilitate that self-correction, not impede it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-wahls/you-are-alive-because-your-cells-are-self-correcting-chemical/) [Terry Wahls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-wahls/) > [“We only refer to sapient creatures as civilized when their society is willingly self-correcting. That means that any problem or imbalance that arises is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-z-colby/we-only-refer-to-sapient-creatures-as-civilized-when-their-society-is/) [J.Z. Colby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-z-colby/) > [I think a lot of things will be self-correcting, even in America. After all, human societies are essentially self-organizing emergent systems. The catch is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-howard-kunstler/i-think-a-lot-of-things-will-be-self-correcting-even-in-america-after/) [James Howard Kunstler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-howard-kunstler/) > [I remain optimistic that ultimately free speech and a free press where individuals have access to the dialogue will have a self-correcting quality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-gore/i-remain-optimistic-that-ultimately-free-speech-and-a-free-press/) [Al Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-gore/) > [The universe is not only self-organizing, it is also self-correcting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/the-universe-is-not-only-self-organizing-it-is-also-self-correcting/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [Every institution goes through three stages - utility, privilege, and abuse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-ois-ren-de-chateaubriand/every-institution-goes-through-three-stages-utility-privilege-and/) [François-René de Chateaubriand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-ois-ren-de-chateaubriand/) > [I don't believe that someone who sets up an institution should be able to take out the money from the institution or pay dividends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pallam-raju/i-don-t-believe-that-someone-who-sets-up-an-institution-should-be/) [Pallam Raju](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pallam-raju/) > [The institution of marriage, if you look at it over many centuries, has come and gone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-zeldin/the-institution-of-marriage-if-you-look-at-it-over-many-centuries-has/) [Theodore Zeldin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-zeldin/) ## More by Yuval Noah Harari > [“For similar reasons, archaic humans did not initiate any revolutions. As far as we can tell, changes in social patterns, the invention of new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/for-similar-reasons-archaic-humans-did-not-initiate-any-revolutions/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Today the main source of wealth is knowledge. And whereas you can conquer oil fields through war, you cannot acquire knowledge that way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/today-the-main-source-of-wealth-is-knowledge-and-whereas-you-can/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“How do you cause people to believe in an imagined order such as Christianity, democracy or capitalism? First, you never admit that the order…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/how-do-you-cause-people-to-believe-in-an-imagined-order-such-as/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [I think the basic thing that happened is we have lost our story. Humans think in stories, and we try to make sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/i-think-the-basic-thing-that-happened-is-we-have-lost-our-story/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Whereas chimpanzees spend five hours a day chewing raw food, a single hour suffices for people eating cooked food. The advent of cooking enabled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/whereas-chimpanzees-spend-five-hours-a-day-chewing-raw-food-a-single/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“the Chinese air-purification market is booming.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/the-chinese-air-purification-market-is-booming/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Whereas liberalism merged with the milder versions of nationalism to protect the unique experiences of each human community, evolutionary humanists such as Hitler identified…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/whereas-liberalism-merged-with-the-milder-versions-of-nationalism-to/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Corporations, money and nations exist only in our imagination. We invented them to serve us; why do we find ourselves sacrificing our lives in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/corporations-money-and-nations-exist-only-in-our-imagination-we/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Small children in affluent societies often dislike showering, and it takes them years of education and parental discipline to adopt this supposedly attractive custom.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/small-children-in-affluent-societies-often-dislike-showering-and-it/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Ever more scholars see cultures as a kind of mental infection or parasite, with humans as its unwitting host. Organic parasites, such as viruses,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/ever-more-scholars-see-cultures-as-a-kind-of-mental-infection-or/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Soviet Communism was a fanatical and missionary religion. A devout Communist could not be a Christian or a Buddhist, and was expected to spread…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/soviet-communism-was-a-fanatical-and-missionary-religion-a-devout/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Whereas religion asks us to believe in something, money asks us to believe that other people believe in something”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/whereas-religion-asks-us-to-believe-in-something-money-asks-us-to/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Terrorists are like a fly that tries to destroy a china shop. The fly is so weak that it cannot budge even a single…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/terrorists-are-like-a-fly-that-tries-to-destroy-a-china-shop-the-fly/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Yet what happens if the greedy shoemaker increases his profits by paying employees less and increasing their work hours? The standard answer is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/yet-what-happens-if-the-greedy-shoemaker-increases-his-profits-by/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“A natural order is a stable order. There is no chance that gravity will cease to function tomorrow, even if people stop believing in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/a-natural-order-is-a-stable-order-there-is-no-chance-that-gravity/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) [Explore all 1,200 Yuval Noah Harari quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) ## More Institution quotes > [It's more than a game. It's an institution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hughes/it-s-more-than-a-game-it-s-an-institution/) [Thomas Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hughes/) > [The institution of marriage, if you look at it over many centuries, has come and gone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-zeldin/the-institution-of-marriage-if-you-look-at-it-over-many-centuries-has/) [Theodore Zeldin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-zeldin/) > [I don't believe that someone who sets up an institution should be able to take out the money from the institution or pay dividends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pallam-raju/i-don-t-believe-that-someone-who-sets-up-an-institution-should-be/) [Pallam Raju](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pallam-raju/) > [The military is the most esteemed American institution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brianna-keilar/the-military-is-the-most-esteemed-american-institution/) [Brianna Keilar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brianna-keilar/) > [“If two is an institution and three is a person, what are four and five?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oyokids-publications/if-two-is-an-institution-and-three-is-a-person-what-are-four-and-five/) [OyoKids Publications](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oyokids-publications/) > [The British monarchy has the political and constitutional task of subtracting from the government and governors of Britain the papal and kingly airs that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-helprin/the-british-monarchy-has-the-political-and-constitutional-task-of/) [Mark Helprin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-helprin/) > [“Church historians often ask, ‘Is the church a movement or an institution?' . . . I think it is both. . . . I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-l-shelley/church-historians-often-ask-is-the-church-a-movement-or-an/) [Bruce L. Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-l-shelley/) > [“I left that church with rich and royal hatred of the priest as a person, and a loathing for the church as an institution,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-v-debs/i-left-that-church-with-rich-and-royal-hatred-of-the-priest-as-a/) [Eugene V. Debs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-v-debs/) > [“Modern society, the political body, the legal and judiciary system, the state of governance, capitalism and the very fabric of the society itself, including…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/modern-society-the-political-body-the-legal-and-judiciary-system-the/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [While I believe in marriage as an institution, I am also petrified of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shahid-kapoor/while-i-believe-in-marriage-as-an-institution-i-am-also-petrified-of/) [Shahid Kapoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shahid-kapoor/) > [I've gotten e-mails asking, 'Are you taking students?' Well, come visit and I'll be happy to talk to you. But I'm not a degree-granting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antony-garrett-lisi/i-ve-gotten-e-mails-asking-are-you-taking-students-well-come-visit/) [Antony Garrett Lisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antony-garrett-lisi/) > [One of my goals here in Congress, being the youngest member of the California delegation, is to really try and get the institution to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-swalwell/one-of-my-goals-here-in-congress-being-the-youngest-member-of-the/) [Eric Swalwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-swalwell/) > [I think it'd be useful for parents to know kind of what is the culture of an institution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-spellings/i-think-it-d-be-useful-for-parents-to-know-kind-of-what-is-the/) [Margaret Spellings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-spellings/) > [Say what you will about the leadership of 'SNL,' they have crafted an institution as opposed to just running a show. I don't think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-lamarr/say-what-you-will-about-the-leadership-of-snl-they-have-crafted-an/) [Phil LaMarr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-lamarr/) > [Every institution goes through three stages - utility, privilege, and abuse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-ois-ren-de-chateaubriand/every-institution-goes-through-three-stages-utility-privilege-and/) [François-René de Chateaubriand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-ois-ren-de-chateaubriand/) [Browse all 253 Institution quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/institution/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“An institution can call itself by whatever name it wants, but if it lacks a strong self-correcting mechanism, it is not a scientific institution.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Yuval Noah Harari" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/an-institution-can-call-itself-by-whatever-name-it-wants-but-if-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Institution" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/an-institution-can-call-itself-by-whatever-name-it-wants-but-if-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/783/yuval-noah-harari-100_institutions_an-institution-can-call-itself-by-whatev_1166369.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/783/yuval-noah-harari-100_institutions_an-institution-can-call-itself-by-whatev_1166369.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/783/yuval-noah-harari-100_institutions_an-institution-can-call-itself-by-whatev_1166369.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“An institution can call itself by whatever name it wants, but if it lacks a strong self-correcting…” — Yuval Noah Harari", "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": "Yuval Noah Harari", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“An institution can call itself by...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/an-institution-can-call-itself-by-whatever-name-it-wants-but-if-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/an-institution-can-call-itself-by-whatever-name-it-wants-but-if-it/#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 } } ] } ```