“The optimist underestimates how difficult it is to achieve real change, believing that anything is possible and it's possible now. Only by confronting head-on the reality that all progress is going to be obstructed by vested interests and corrupted by human venality can we create realistic programmes that actually have a chance of success.” BelieveHumansRealRealityDifficultInterestChanceProgressAchieveRealisticUnderestimateOptimistProgrammesConfrontingAnything Is PossibleReal ChangeVested Interests Author:Julian Baggini
“From time to time, it is worth wandering around the fuzzy border regions of what you do, if only to remind yourself that no human activity is an island.” IfsHumansActivityWanderBordersIslandsRegionsHuman ActivityFuzzyWandering Around Author:Julian Baggini
“Most people believe, more or less, that the value of a human life is the same, irrespective of where on the planet it happens to find itself. But, of course, not every life has the same value for us.” PeopleBelieveHumansHappensLife IsValuesCoursesPlanetsHuman Life Author:Julian Baggini
“Science works because the phenomenon being described can be relied on to remain the same. Even in quantum physics, where phenomena are changed by observation, the way in which observation interferes is regular and falls within a limited range of possibilities. Human culture, however, has the nasty habit of never staying the same for very long.” WayHumansLongFallCulturePossibilityChangedHabitPhysicsObservationRangeStayingPhenomenonQuantumInterfereNastyQuantum Physics Author:Julian Baggini
“Real life is about accepting ups and downs, the good and the bad, the possibility of failure as well as the ambition to succeed. Atheism speaks to the truth about our human nature because it recognizes all this and does not seek to shield us from the truth by myth and superstition” HumansWellsDoeRealLife IsSpeakAcceptingAtheismHuman NaturePossibilitySucceedAmbitionMythReal LifeSuperstitionsShieldsUps & Downs Book:Atheism: A Very Short Introduction Source: Atheism: A Very Short Introduction
“Economics is uncertain because its fundamental subject matter is not money but human action. That's why economics is not the dismal science, it's no science at all.” HumansMatterActionSubjectsEconomicsFundamentalsUncertainSubject MatterHuman Actions Author:Julian Baggini
