"He writes about various kinds of cranks with the conscious superiority of the scientist, and in most cases one can share his sense of the victory of reason. But after half a dozen chapters this non-stop superiority begins to irritate; you begin to wonder about the standards that make him so certain he is always right. He asserts that the scientist, unlike the crank, does his best to remain open-minded. So how can he be so sure that no sane person has ever seen a flying saucer, or used a dowsing rod to locate water? And that all the people he disagrees with are unbalanced fanatics? A colleague of the positivist philosopher A. J. Ayer once remarked wryly "I wish I was as certain of anything as he seems to be about everything". Martin Gardner produces the same feeling."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Academics from the United StatesMathematicians from the United StatesNon-fiction authorsDeistsMagicians from the United States
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Colin Wilson, in The Quest For Wilhelm Reich (1981), p. 2
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Martin_Gardner
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Martin Gardner
Martin Gardner (October 21, 1914 – May 22, 2010) was an American recreational mathematician, magician, skeptic, and author of the long-running "Mathematical Games" column in Scientific American from 1956 to 1981.
34 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Martin Gardner →
Related Quotes
"The King James Bible is a literary masterpiece best left unaltered. It is a classic to put on a shelf alongside the g…"
"My attack on Freud brought a raft of angry letters from dedicated Freudians. One reader assured me that Freudianism i…"
"We know from polls how ignorant the general public is about science. Almost half of all adults in the United States n…"
"Let the Bible be the Bible! It’s not about science. It’s not accurate history. It is a grab bag of religious fantasie…"
"For reasons that reflect popular ignorance of science, combined with a love of miracles, the notion that fresh eggs b…"
"Public infatuation with alternative medicines of all varieties shows no sign of abating. Acupuncture, homeopathy, aro…"
"Debunking bad science should be constant obligation of the science community, even if it takes time away from serious…"
"Bad science contributes to the steady dumbing down of our nation. Crude beliefs get transmitted to political leaders …"
"Suppose, however, there is not enough time for measures to be taken to prevent a collision, and earth is shattered by…"
"This confusion of the certainty of mathematics within a formal system and the uncertainty of its applications to the …"