Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Carl Sagan

Quote by Carl Sagan

“In a way, science might be described as paranoid thinking applied to Nature: we are looking for natural conspiracies, for connections among apparently disparate data. Our objective is to abstract patterns from Nature (right-hemisphere thinking), but many proposed patterns do not in fact correspond to the data. Thus all proposed patterns must be subjected to the sieve of critical analysis (left-hemisphere thinking).”

Quote by Carl Sagan

Book:The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence
Create image

Work

The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence

Browse quotes and source details for this work. more

Author

Carl Sagan
Carl Sagan

Carl Sagan was an American astronomer, cosmologist, author, and science communicator, born on November 9, 1934, in Brooklyn, New York. He is renowned for his profound research into the cosmos and his dedication to popularizing science. Sagan proposed numerous theories about the origin of the universe and life, and he made complex scientific knowledge accessible to the public with his unique perspective and clear, engaging writing style. more

You May Also Like

“Some evidence suggests the left-handers are more likely to have problems with such left-hemisphere functions as reading, writing, speaking and arithmetic; and to be more adept at such right -hemisphere functions as imagination, pattern recognition and general creativity.”

Human EvolutionBrain FunctionBrain Anatomy
Book:The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence
Create image

“The left hemisphere seems to feel quite defensive-in a strange way insecure-about the right hemisphere; and, if this is so, verbal criticism of intuitive thinking becomes suspect on the ground of motive. Unfortunately, there is every reason to think that the right hemisphere has comparable misgivings -expressed nonverbally, of course- about the left.”

Brain FunctionBrain AnatomyHandedness
Book:The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence
Create image

“There is no doubt that right-hemisphere intuitive thinking may perceive patterns and connections too difficult for the left hemisphere; but it may also detect patterns where none exist. Skeptical and critical thinking is not a hallmark of the right hemisphere. And unalloyed right-hemisphere doctrines, particularly when they are invented during new and trying circumstances, may be erroneous or paranoid.”

Human EvolutionBrain FunctionBrain Anatomy
Book:The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence
Create image

“The part of the brain that isn't automatic is an imagining machine, feeling all possibilities of feelings: it keeps pushing its way into this marshy, pleasant terrain. You struggle against that push, and start to feel your stomach protest. It's not so much even a type of seriousness as it is a circumstance, into which you pass by slow degrees. I've never seen this sufficiently examined. It mutates into a less-unreal reality that still seems different, somehow, than being fully present. Self hate is rarely unconditional.”

ImaginationSubconscious MindSelf HateBrain Function
Book:Half a Life
Create image

“Years of practice in mathematics hardwires a person's brain for subconscious solving of mathematical problems - this is how Srinivasa Ramanujan came up with most of his discoveries in mathematics. Years of practice in the study of human behavior hardwires a person's brain for the subconscious solving of the puzzle of human nature - this is how I come up with many of my insights on human cognition and behavior. There is no magic or supernatural intervention involved here. It’s just that, when you foster a forte in a specific activity, your brain keeps working on it, beneath the surface of your conscious awareness, even if you are consciously engaged in other activities or even if you are asleep.”

ConsciousnessGeniusBrainy QuotesUnconsciousSubconsciousNeuroscienceSubconscious MindGenius QuotesBrain FunctionGenius Thinkers
Book:All For Acceptance
Create image

“Yes, the Grand March was coming to an end, but was that any reason for Franz to betray it? Wasn't his own life coming to an end as well? Who was he to jeer at the exhibitionism of the people accompanying the courageous doctors to the border? What could they all do but put on a show? Had they any choice? Franz was right. I can't help thinking about the editor in Prague who organized the petition for the amnesty of political prisoners. He knew perfectly well that his petition would not help the prisoners. His true goal was not to free the prisoners; it was to show that people without fear still exist. That, too, was playacting. But he had no other possibility. His choice was not between playacting and action. His choice was between playacting and no action at all. There are situations in which people are condemned to playact. Their struggle with mute power (the mute power across the river, a police transmogrified into mute microphones in the wall) is the struggle of a theater company that has attacked an army.”

ProtestPlayacting
Book:The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Create image