“Historical science is not worse, more restricted, or less capable of achieving firm conclusions because experiment, prediction, and subsumption under invariant laws of nature do not represent its usual working methods. The sciences of history use a different mode of explanation, rooted in the comparative and observational richness in our data. We cannot see a past event directly, but science is usually based on inference, not unvarnished observation (you don't see electrons, gravity, or black holes either).” DifferentUsePastLawBlackAchieveEventsCapableMethodExperimentsHolesConclusionObservationDataFirmExplanationUsualGravityRootedPredictionsLaws Of NatureRichnessBlack HoleElectronsInferencePast Events Author:Stephen Jay Gould
“I think Santa Claus is, by and large, quite beneficial, for when the child is finally allowed -- or forced -- to recognize the nonexistence of Santa Claus, then the child is able to go through the vital intellectual process of reconstructing reality in light of new evidence, complete with back-forming new stories to account for past events. This prepares the child for many other disillusionments and gives her vital and well-supported experience in maintaining her grip on reality independent of the stories told to her at any given time.” ThinkingGivingWellsChildrenStoriesRealityLightAblePastGivenProcessEventsIntellectualEvidenceAccountsIndependentMaintainingBeneficialSantaSanta ClausDisillusionmentPast EventsReconstructing Author:Orson Scott Card
“The difference between writing a story and simply relating past events is that a story, in order to be acceptable, must have shape and meaning. It is the old idea that art is the bringing of order out of chaos.” WritingArtIdeasStoriesPastOrderDifferencesEventsShapesArt IsChaosAcceptableOld IdeasPast Events Author:Katherine Paterson
“That's the great danger of sectarian opinions, they always accept the formulas of past events as useful for the measurement of future events and they never are, if you have high standards of accuracy.” IfsPastAcceptingOpinionEventsDangerStandardsIdeologyFormulasMeasurementAccuracyHigh StandardsPast EventsFuture Events Author:John Dos Passos