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Evidence Quotes

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Evidence Quotes

“If we choose a weak and foolish speculation as a primary textbook illustration (falsely assuming that the tale possesses a weight of history and a sanction of evidence), then we are in for trouble - as critics properly nail the particular weakness, and then assume that the whole theory must be in danger if supporters choose such a fatuous case as a primary illustration.”

Source: Leonardo's Mountain of Clams and the Diet of Worms: Essays on Natural History

“Bertrand Russell used to employ the method of "evidence against interest"; in other words of deciding that a critique of capital punishment, say, carried more weight if it came from a prison governor. (My friend John O'Sullivan puts it like this: If the pope says he believes in God, he's only doing his job; if he says he doesn't believe in God, he may be on to something.)”

Ifs Believe May Jobs Used Interest Evidence My Friends Argument Weight Method Prison Punishment Believe In God Governors Pope Critique Capital Punishment Interest In Others

Author:Christopher Hitchens

“Fear has a far greater grasp on human action than the impressive weight of historical evidence.”

Humans Action Greater Evidence Weight Historical Investing Impressive Human Actions

Book:Stocks for the Long Run: The Definitive Guide to Financial Market Returns and Long-term Investment Strategies

Source: Stocks for the Long Run: The Definitive Guide to Financial Market Returns and Long-term Investment Strategies

“The pursuit of happiness is enshrined in the Declaration of Independence as a right of all Americans, as well as on the self-improvement shelves of every American bookstore. Yet the scientific evidence makes it seem unlikely that you can change your level of happiness in any sustainable way. It suggests that we each have a fixed range for happiness just as we do for weight. And just as dieters almost always regain the weight they lose, sad people don't become lastingly happy, and happy people don't become lastingly sad.”

Source: Authentic Happiness

“...the idea of a spiritual part of our nature that survives death, the notion of an afterlife, ought to be easy for religions and nations to sell. This is not an issue of which we might anticipate widespread skepticism. People will want to believe it, even if the evidence is meager to nil... compelling testimony ... provides that our personality, character, memory ... resides in the matter of the brain, it is easy not to focus on it, to find ways to evade the weight of the evidence.”

“The usual justification for eating extra meals is that it keeps the metabolism "revved up" so that weight loss is easier. There is, however, very little hard evidence that supports this idea, and a fair amount that disputes it.”

Littles Ideas Hard Loss Support Amount Easier Eating Evidence Fairs Weight Meals Extras Usual Justification Disputes Weight Loss Metabolism

Author:Andrew Weil

“Man is a masterpiece of creation if for no other reason than that, all the weight of evidence for determinism notwithstanding, he believes he has free will.”

Ifs Men Believe Reason Creation Evidence Weight Free Will Masterpiece Determinism

Author:Georg C. Lichtenberg

“Well-established theories collapse under the weight of new facts and observations which cannot be explained, and then accumulate to the point where the once useful theory is clearly obsolete.”

Wells Facts Science Theory Evidence Weight Observation Collapse Obsolete

Author:Al Gore

“Any one whose disposition leads him to attach more weight to unexplained difficulties than to the explanation of facts will certainly reject my theory.”

Facts Science Theory Evidence Weight Difficulty Explanation Rejection Rejects Disposition Unexplained

Book:On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection: Or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life

Source: On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection: Or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life