“The upshot is that most philosophers of biology now hold that biological properties supervene on physical properties (where supervenience is taken to include some kind of "in virtue of" relation), and that fitness and other biological properties are not identical with physical properties.” KindVirtueTakenRelationPropertyPhilosopherBiologyIdentical Author:Elliott Sober
“"Tiger is a natural kind" and "Tiger is a historical particular" are incompatible with each other, and evolutionary biology provides a reason for favoring the latter over the former.” KindReasonNaturalParticularHistoricalFormerLatterBiologyTigersEvolutionary Biology Author:Elliott Sober
“Everything we do understand about the universe - the periodic table of elements, Einstein's laws, Newton's laws, all of chemistry, all of biology - that's 4 percent of the universe. We got to the moon on the 4 percent we do understand. We landed on Mars on the 4 percent we do understand. So the day we crack the nut of the rest of that 95 percent... Oh my gosh.” LawUniverseMoonElementsPercentTablesBiologyCracksChemistryNutsMarsNewtonOh My GoshPeriodic TableNewton's Laws Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson
“When you have really solid biology and medical science at the core of an issue, it makes it much easier to identify what potential solutions may be.” MayIssuesEasierSolutionsMedicalCoreBiologyMedical Science Author:James Redford
“It's also important that I, or [Producer] Karen Pritzker, also say that this film [ "Resilience: The Biology of Stress & the Science of Hope"] is not going to singlehandedly solve crime and poverty, or make big changes.” ImportantBigsFilmPovertyCrimeStressSolveResilienceProducersBiologyBig Changes Author:James Redford
“God, there's teaching biology and teaching sexuality, and it's two separate things. They mix it and make it more of a morality thing where it's like, "A man and woman have a baby."” MenTwoTeachingBabyMoralityMen And WomenSexualityBiology Author:Jen Kirkman
“It's roughly the case that if systems become too complex to study in sufficient depth, physics hands them over to chemistry, then to biology, then experimental psychology, and finally on to history. Roughly. These are tendencies, and they tend to distinguish roughly between hard and soft sciences.” IfsHardHandsCasesStudyPsychologyComplexesDepthPhysicsTendenciesSufficientBiologyChemistryExperimental Psychology Author:Noam Chomsky
“Of course language arose in a Darwinian biological world, because that's all there is, but that world relates only superficially to the pop-biology that circulates informally.” WorldCoursesLanguagePopsRelateBiology Author:Noam Chomsky
“My thinking is very flexible, and I hope that it will remain flexible and creative as long as biology permits me to think and that I will remain a rebel all my life.” ThinkingLongCreativeBiologyPermitRebelFlexible Author:Murray Bookchin
“Pulling a gun's trigger can be an appalling act. But if it is suicidal drawing fire to save someone, it has an utterly different meaning. Placing your hand on someone's arm can be an act of deep compassion or the first step of betrayal. The punch line? It's all about context, and the biology of context is vastly more complicated than the biology of the behavior itself.” IfsFirstsDifferentHandsLinesCompassionStepsFireArmsBehaviorGunComplicatedBetrayalDrawingBiologyFirst StepsPullingSuicidalTriggersOf ContextDifferent Meanings Author:Robert M. Sapolsky
“I do sense, as compared with let's say the early '50s, there's somewhat more of a careerism. I don't think it's anything special to economics; it's equally true with physics or biology. A graduate education has become a more career-oriented thing, and part of that is because of the need for funding. In fact, that's a much worse problem in the natural sciences than it is in economics. So you can't even do your work in the natural sciences, particularly, and even to some extent in economics, without funding.” ThinkingNeedsFactsProblemNaturalCareersSpecialEconomicsPhysicsBiologyGraduatesFundingNatural Science Author:Kenneth Arrow
“In entirely unrelated news, there's a new proposal to mandate coverage for gay infertility. The problem is that gay infertility is just biology. Two men and two women are not infertile. They're just not capable of impregnating each other. This isn't a medical problem. It's a mental problem.” MenTwoProblemGayNewsCapableMedicalBiologyProposalCoverageMandatesInfertilityMedical Problems Author:David Horowitz
“Evolutionary biology is crazy because sometimes it seems anybody can draw any conclusion they want.” WantSometimesSeemsCrazyDrawsConclusionBiologyEvolutionary Biology Author:Naomi Wolf
“When the brain activity is kindled in the right spot, people hear voices. If a physician prescribes an anti-epileptic medication, the seizures go away and the voices disappear. Our reality depends on what our biology is up to.” PeopleIfsRealityVoiceBrainDependsActivityDisappearSpotsBiologyGoing AwayPhysiciansMedicationSeizuresEpileptics Author:David Eagleman
“You are part of a complex social network that changes your biology with every interaction, and which your actions can change.” ActionSocialComplexesBiologyInteractionSocial Network Book:Incognito: The Secret Lives of The Brain Source: Incognito: The Secret Lives of The Brain
“We didn't stay in the caves. We haven't stayed on the planet. With biotechnology, gene sequencing, we are not going to even stay within the limitations of biology.” HavensPlanetsLimitationBiologyGenesCavesBiotechnologySequencing Author:Jason Silva
“I think people who have all kinds of debilitating mobility issues will benefit from robotic augmentation. That is even before we get into organ replacement and organ printing and synthetic biology and so on and so forth.” PeopleThinkingKindIssuesBenefitsAll KindsBiologyOrgansPrintingRoboticsReplacementsMobilitySynthetic Author:Jason Silva
“I think one of the both liberating and terrifying prospects from synthetic biology for example is that you are going to have all of these do it yourself biosynthetic labs where people are going to be playing with the software of life. We are going to have a new generation of artists that are going to be playing with genomes the way that Blake and Byron used to play with poetry. And when genomes are the new canvas for the artist, we might be able to radically upgrade the human species and the software of the biology of the human species.” PeopleThinkingWayHumansPlayMightAbleUsedArtistGenerationsExampleSpeciesBiologySoftwareCanvasLiberatingNew GenerationLabsProspectsHuman SpeciesDo It YourselfBlakeSyntheticGenomeByron Author:Jason Silva
“I think there is a kind of laconic Australian leg-pulling sense of humor that is certainly in some of my stories, or is an element in some of my books, and that's probably a direct result of where I've grown up. But other than that I don't draw particularly on the Australian landscape or the Australian biology and so on. So I don't think there's anything you could point to and say is particularly Australian.” ThinkingKindBookStoriesResultsElementsDrawsDirectLegsLandscapeBiologySense Of HumorPullingAustralianLaconic Author:Garth Nix
“I'm a biologist, so... Which I think should be mandatory. Biology should be mandatory. Mathematics? They say we don't know enough about math and science. Well we don't know enough about science and particularly biology, which is such a huge field.” ThinkingKnowsShouldWellsEnoughFieldsHugeMathematicsMathBiologyBiologistMath And Science Author:Greg Graffin
“I think women assess time passage much better than men - because of their biological clocks - and they are much more realistic about measuring out time, whereas men tend to hang onto things. Women acknowledge the biology of their time, and dance through the beat of that drum...whereas men just drum.” ThinkingMenBeatsClockAcknowledgeBiologyRealisticPassagesMeasuringTime PassesBiological Clock Author:Danny Boyle
“Researchers have found that identical twins who have been separated for long periods of time actually invest in a similar manner. Biology really does affect how we spend money.” LongDoeHas BeensFoundPeriodsBiologyTwinsIdenticalResearchersLong Periods Of TimeIdentical Twin Author:Kabir Sehgal
“Many quantum physics are realizing or hypothesizing that consciousness is not a byproduct of evolution as has been suggested. Or for that matter, an expression of our brains, although it expresses itself through our brains. But consciousness is the common ground of existence that ultimately differentiates into space, time, energy, information and matter. And the same consciousness is responsible for our thoughts, for our emotions and feelings, for our behaviors, for our personal relationships, for our social interactions, for the environments that we find ourselves in, and for our biology.” FeelingsEnergyRealizingCommonEmotionExistenceBrainConsciousnessEnvironmentEvolutionBehaviorResponsiblePhysicsBiologyQuantum PhysicsSocial Interaction Author:Deepak Chopra
“Your body, which is very physical, is under the influence of your thoughts, your feelings, your emotions, your dreams, your fantasies, your desires, your instincts, your drives, your imagination. All these things orchestrate themselves - all these internal activities that are in the invisible domain that we call consciousness actually have very precise physical effects both in our biology, but they also influence our perception of the world.” WorldFeelingsDreamDesireImaginationEmotionConsciousnessFantasyInfluencePerceptionInstinctInvisibleBiology Author:Deepak Chopra
“In the next century, we will be inventing radical new technologies - machine intelligence, perhaps nanotech, great advances in synthetic biology and other things we haven't even thought of yet. And those new powers will unlock wonderful opportunities, but they might also bring with them certain risks. And we have no track record of surviving those risks. So if there are big existential risks, I think they are going to come from our own activities and mostly from our own inventiveness and creativity.” ThinkingOpportunityCreativityTechnologyWonderfulRiskTrackRadicalBiologyExistentialSurvivingNew TechnologyInventiveness Author:Nick Bostrom
“The greatest existential risks over the coming decades or century arise from certain, anticipated technological breakthroughs that we might make in particular, machine super intelligence, nanotechnology and synthetic biology. Each of these has an enormous potential for improving the human condition by helping cure disease, poverty, etc. But one could imagine them being misused, used to create powerful weapon systems, or even some kind of accidental destructive scenario, where we suddenly are in possession of some technology that's far more powerful than we are able to control or use wisely.” KindHelpingPowerfulPovertyTechnologyImagineRiskPossessionBiologyHuman ConditionExistentialTechnologicalBreakthroughMisused Author:Nick Bostrom
“I suppose the marine biology was a post-teen thing. I was kind of on my way but I was one of those teenage boys who got to 13, 14 and had no idea what I was going to do. I liked natural history. I liked the outdoors. And I found the sea quite interesting.” KindNaturalInterestingBoysMy WayBiologyTeenageMarine Author:Giles Deacon
“When you tell filthy jokes as if they were all really serious, and happening all in the life of one family, it becomes a farcical situation. Imagine if you had a script that was imposed on your life - we all do in a certain way, from society, or family, the need to make money, biology, death. But you will have a certain latitude, or freedom, to read the script in your own way.” SituationImagineSeriousJokesMaking MoneyBiologyFilthy Author:Momus
“The question is: exactly how did life get here? Was it by natural selection and random mutation or was it by something else? Everybody - even Richard Dawkins - sees design in biology. You see this design when you see co-ordinated parts coming together to perform a function - like in a hand. And so it's the appearance of design that everybody's trying to explain. So that if Darwin's theory doesn't explain it we're left with no other explanation than maybe it really was designed. That's essentially the design argument.” TryingTogetherNaturalDesignArgumentAppearanceExplanationBiologyNatural Selection Author:Michael Behe
“If the students don't want to learn about evolution, they shouldn't be in the course. A biology course that teaches creationism is not a science course, it's a religion course. So the students demanding that creationism be given credence in that course are out of line and are denying the academic freedom of the professor. They are calling into question the scientific basis of the material that's being presented. And students are not in a position to do that.” TeachStudentsEvolutionBiologyAcademic Author:Joan Wallach Scott
“I was 12 or 13 years old. So I started to write poetry and fiction, even though I was really into biology because my dad was a science teacher. I kept writing all those years.” WritingTeacherDadMy DadBiology Author:Darren Aronofsky
“I don't think in biology it's very controversial at all. Whether certain behavior is culture or is not culture is argued. I think virtually all biologists would agree that some animal behavior is culture. Bird song is a good example.” ThinkingSongCultureAnimalBehaviorBirdAgreeBiologyControversialBiologist Author:Hal Whitehead
“The school systems at my childhood had enough money or enough parent involvement that they felt like learning music and songs, and exploring the whole pop or classical canon, were just as important as algebra or biology. Music is such a visceral and tactile experience for a kid, and to just replace that with video games or something that doesn't have the same sort of physical impact would definitely be a poor choice, and have a negative impact.” ImportantEnoughKidsSchoolSongChoicesParentPoorChildhoodMusic IsNegativeBiologyExploringInvolvementAlgebra Author:Carrie Brownstein
“I do think that our bodies are capable of many magical and inexplicable things that have nothing to do with reproduction. I have read that some birds may sing just for pleasure and not for any other Darwinian imperative. Birds singing because it feels good - that's the kind of biology that helps me understand this diverse world.” ThinkingWorldKindHelpingPleasureCapableSingingBirdFeel GoodHelp MeBiologyDiverse Author:Jenny Johnson
“The second half of the 20th century was a golden age of molecular biology, and it was one of the golden ages of the history of science. Molecular biology was so successful and made such a powerful alliance with the medical scientists that the two together just flourished. And they continue to flourish.” AgeTogetherPowerfulSuccessfulScientistMedicalBiology20th Century Author:E. O. Wilson
“The students of biodiversity, the ones we most need in science today, have an enormous task ahead of molecular biology and the medical scientists. Studying model species is a great idea, but we need to combine that with biodiversity studies and have those properly supported because of the contribution they can make to conservation biology, to agrobiology, to the attainment of a sustainable world.” WorldTodayStudyStudentsScientistMedicalBiologyConservationGreat IdeaBiodiversity Author:E. O. Wilson
“A paradigm shift is the best a scientist can hope for. Whenever I smell an opportunity like that, I go after it. You have a new discovery that something's working in a different way than you thought. And this is particularly true in molecular and cell biology, which is structural biology and has the least potential for controversy and partisanship among the biological scientists. You're dealing with a concrete object that's either there or not there.” DifferentOpportunityScientistBiologyConcreteControversyParadigmParadigm Shift Author:E. O. Wilson
“Biology has finally opened up to achieve a unifying embrace of all its disciplines. We're seeing the renaissance of what could be called scientific natural history, which makes available the groundwork - the foundation work - of what is actually on the Earth.” EarthNaturalAchieveDisciplineEmbraceBiology Author:E. O. Wilson
“We have to create a sustainable environment, worldwide, and we're not doing it. The best thing we can do with the rest of this century is aggressively acquire - and put aside - the richest natural reserves that we can, and then do our best to manage the needs and desires of the 11 billion people we expect to have by the end of the century. This is where biology is headed. For that reason, the sooner we get on with mapping biodiversity on Earth, the better off biology will be - not to mention the whole subject of saving it before we carelessly throw it away.” PeopleReasonEarthDesireNaturalEnvironmentManageBiologyBiodiversity Author:E. O. Wilson
“When you free women so they can choose to have or not to have, or to conceive - that's something that, for millennia, women couldn't do. Biology was, in many ways, destiny. We wouldn't be talking about gender if women could not control their pregnancies.” DestinyGenderBiologyPregnancy Author:Lynne Tillman
“Art has this ability to allow you to connect back through history in the same way that biology does. I'm always looking for source material.” WayDoeArtAbilityMaterialsSourceBiology Author:Jeff Koons
“Half a million women die each year around the world in pregnancy. It's not biology that kills them so much as neglect.” WorldYearsDiesLiteratureHalfMillionsAround The WorldBiologyNeglectPregnancy Author:Nicholas D. Kristof
“If the relationship of father to son could really be reduced to biology, the whole earth would blaze with the glory of fathers and sons.” IfsWholeEarthFatherSonGloryBiologyFathers DayFather SonFather And SonBeing A FatherHappy First Fathers DayFunny Fathers DayHappy Fathers Day GodFunny FatherFunny Happy Fathers DayHappy Fathers Day GreetingsHappy Fathers Day ImagesFather Son RelationshipSons Love Author:James A. Baldwin
“I'm enjoying my life, post-menopause, so much. It's just so great to grow into yourself, and not be bothered with all that tyranny of biology.” GrowsEnjoyTyrannyPostsBiologyBotheredMenopauseEnjoying My Life Author:Roseanne Barr
“I really wanted to be a doctor, until my freshman year of college when I realized that while I was good at chemistry and biology, I really wasn't feeling challenged by it.” YearsFeelingsWantedCollegeDoctorsI RealizedBiologyChemistryFreshmanFreshman Year Author:Marissa Mayer
“Many differences are rooted in biology and reinforced through culture, so it's important to acknowledge that. Because if you say men and women are the same and if male behaviour is the norm, and women are always expected to act like men, we will never be as good at being men as men are.” IfsMenImportantCultureDifferencesMen And WomenMalesExpectedAcknowledgeBiologyRootedBehaviourNorm Author:Dee Dee Myers
“After an extensive interview he arranged for my weaknesses in foreign languages to be over-looked and so I started a Biology degree at Birmingham in 1967.” LanguageDegreesWeaknessInterviewsBiologyForeign LanguageBirmingham Author:Paul Nurse
“In Darwin's time all of biology was a black box: not only the cell, or the eye, or digestion, or immunity, but every biological structure and function because, ultimately, no one could explain how biological processes occurred.” EyeProcessBlackFunctionStructureBoxesCellsBiologyDigestionImmunityBlack BoxesStructure And Function Author:Michael Behe
“Equity feminism is a moral doctrine about equal treatment that makes no commitments regarding open empirical issues in psychology or biology.” MoralIssuesPsychologyFeminismEqualCommitmentDoctrineTreatmentBiologyEquityNo CommitmentEqual Treatment Book:The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature Source: The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature