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Quote by Ursula Goodenough

“Early humans, bursting with questions about Nature but with limited understanding of its dynamics, explained things in terms of supernatural persons and person-animals who delivered the droughts and floods and plagues. . . .”

Quote by Ursula Goodenough

Work

The Sacred Depths of Nature

This book delves into the intricate relationship between the natural world and the human experience of the sacred, offering insights into the spiritual significance of the environment. more

Author

Ursula Goodenough
Ursula Goodenough

Ursula Goodenough is a renowned American biologist born on March 16, 1943. She has made significant contributions to the fields of molecular biology and developmental biology, particularly in the area of plant gene expression regulation. more

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“The 'law of wills and causes,' formulated by Comte, . . . is that when men do not know the natural causes of things, they simply attribute them to wills like their own; thus they obtain a theory which provisionally takes the place of science, and this theory forms a basis for theology.”

“It is no defense of superstition and pseudoscience to say that it brings solace and comfort to people. . . . If solace and comfort are how we judge the worth of something, then consider that tobacco brings solace and comfort to smokers; alcohol brings it to drinkers; drugs of all kinds bring it to addicts; the fall of cards and the run of horses bring it to gamblers; cruelty and violence bring it to sociopaths. Judge by solace and comfort only and there is no behavior we ought to interfere with.”

“As for those who protest that I am robbing people of the great comfort and consolation they gain from Christianity, I can only say that Christianity includes hell, eternal torture for the vast majority of humanity, for most of your relatives and friends. . . . If I could feel that I had robbed anybody of his faith in hell, I should not be ashamed or regretful.”