“What we publishers think is that our function is to bring everything out into the open, on the theory that we have an adult population that knows values, or can learn them, and let them decide.” ThinkingKnowsValuesTheoryAdultsFunctionPopulationPublishingPublishers Author:Maxwell Perkins
“When scientists need to explain difficult points of theory, illustration by hypothetical example - rather than by total abstraction - works well (perhaps indispensably) as a rhetorical device. Such cases do not function as speculations in the pejorative sense - as silly stories that provide insight into complex mechanisms - but rather as idealized illustrations to exemplify a difficult point of theory. (Other fields, like philosophy and the law, use such conjectural cases as a standard device.” NeedsWellsPhilosophyStoriesUseLawDifficultCasesExampleFieldsTheoryStandardsScientistFunctionComplexesInsightSillyDevicesMechanismAbstractionSpeculationIllustrationRhetoricalHypothetical Book:Leonardo's Mountain of Clams and the Diet of Worms Source: Leonardo's Mountain of Clams and the Diet of Worms
“For centuries it was never discovered that education was a function of the State, and the State never attempted to educate. But when modern absolutism arose, it laid claim to everything on behalf of the sovereign power....When the revolutionary theory of government began to prevail, and Church and State found that they were educating for opposite ends and in a contradictory spirit, it became necessary to remove children entirely from the influence of religion.” ChildrenEndsStatesGovernmentSpiritFoundChurchInfluenceModernCenturyTheoryOppositesFunctionClaimsRevolutionaryRemoveEducateSovereignBehalfContradictoryChurch And StateAbsolutism Author:Lord Acton
“It's a flaw in our argument, for sure. By any reading of evolutionary theory, creationists ought to have died out ages ago. They serve no function in the planet's ecosystem, and no other species has survived so long while in such fundamental disagreement with observable reality. If I wasn't such an ardent believer in secular materialism, I'd wager this is really troubling Darwin in the afterlife.” IfsLongRealityAgeReadingPlanetsTheoryOughtArgumentFunctionDiedFundamentalsSpeciesBelieverMaterialismFlawsAfterlifeSecularSurvivedDisagreementEcosystemsArdentWagers Author:Richard Dawkins
“I don't think theory adds to criticism. (Methodology does, for better or worse.) Theory's function is to make criticism self-conscious, maybe even a little sheepish, about its ex cathedra pronouncements.” ThinkingLittlesDoeSelfTheoryConsciousCriticismFunctionAddExesSelf ConsciousMethodology Author:Paul Fry
“Well, the actual function of the brain, not so sure yet. There's a lot of different theories about it, but when you talk about psychologically in your brain, a lot of people with insomnia, though not all, report that they can't turn their minds off.” PeopleMindWellsDifferentTurnsBrainTheoryFunctionReportsInsomnia Author:Shelby Harris
“My work was fairly theoretical. It was in recursive function theory. And in particular, hierarchies of functions in terms of computational complexity. I got involved in real computers and programming mainly by being - well, I was interested even as I came to graduate school.” WellsRealSchoolTermParticularTheoryInvolvedComputerFunctionComplexityProgrammingGraduatesHierarchyTheoreticalGraduate School Author:Dennis Ritchie