[Hi Rez]

This one strikes a nice balance I believe.
 
“One thing I have learned in a long life: that all our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike -- and yet it is the most precious thing we have.” 
― Albert Einstein

 

[ab initio]

Quote:

These imo are fitting here:
 
“The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool.”
― Richard P. Feynman
 
“... there is no shame in not knowing. The problem arises when irrational thought and attendant behavior fill the vacuum left by ignorance.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
 
“When scientifically investigating the natural world, the only thing worse than a blind believer is a seeing denier.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
 
“Blind belief in authority is the greatest enemy of truth.”
― Albert Einstein
 
“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.”
― Carl Sagan
 
“The wilder and more ridiculous something is, however, the firmer and more solid the evidence will have to be.”
― Isaac Asimov

+1 on a good quote from a famous scientist like Feynman or Sagan. I personally dislike quoting the pop-science "communicators" like Tyson or Michio Kaku because it gives them a lot of apparent influence despite the fact that their "dumb-downed" explanations of scientific principals are often so overly dumbed down that they are factually incorrect and end up leading to greater misunderstanding by the public in the long run.
 
I feel folks who have made famous scientific contributions like Feynman and Sagan are more worthy and deserving of being quoted, rather than sensationalizing discovery channel personalities.
 
 
Quote:

I put the quote there not because Edward De Bono is a favourite but because I was trying to find a suitable quote about science. I haven't found a good one yet, but then I haven't searched hard enough. Maybe we should get a quote from Tyll Hertsens? He is, for all intents and purposes, a scientist.
 
 
 
This is not a good quote. I am trying to move everyone away from the habit of insulting people who don't agree with a strictly "scientific" belief, because, in all honesty, that ain't science. 

 
I think it would be more fun to quote a famous professional scientist. I really like Tyll's website and his contributions of objective measurements. However, until he begins submitting his results in the form of papers to peer review, I think he still qualifies as a hobbiest---a very well respected, and very important contributor to this hobby. If Tyll reads this and is interested in publishing measurements of audio systems, I would be interested in contributing/collaborating!
 
As for the Einstein quote, I thought it was more a self-deprecating sort of a quote made by arguably the most famous scientist of all time. In fact, it is more a philosophical quote with a sciencey theme rather than an actual quote about science---the quote is very similar to the Socratic Paradox. I didn't realize that it could be seen as insulting, or as an invitation to insult those who are less-than-scientific and I agree that we don't want to support an habits of harassment or negativity on the forums.
 
I suppose that means Charles Darwin's quotes are right out?

Spoiler: Warning%3A%20Spoiler!

 
-Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science.
Charles Darwin
 

-False facts are highly injurious to the progress of science, for they often endure long; but false views, if supported by some evidence, do little harm, for every one takes a salutary pleasure in proving their falseness.
Charles Darwin
 
etc...
 
 

 
I like the quote attributed to Isaac Newton
 
Quote:

If I have seen further it is by standing on ye sholders of Giants

 
 
Cheers!

 

[limpidglitch]

By each time I read that quote it makes less and less sense, to the extent that I now find it quite offending. It's just so incredibly narrow-minded.

Could we have it removed/changed, pretty please?

 

[Claritas]

I always assumed that the quote was completely beyond our control. It just comes with the Internet. So thank you for raising the issue.

Besides the problems with the quote's purely pragmatic approach, I don't think of knowledge as ultimately a set of models. Models are what we use when we *don't* know. (To a being with superhuman knowledge, models are unnecessary.)

Regardless, I shouldn't want to see it replaced with the Feynman quote as that doesn't make it clear that doubt should lead to knowledge, not ignorance.

So I'll keep looking.

 

[limpidglitch]

Truth can't be had in a single sound bite, any attempt on it seems to end up infuriatingly empty and pompous. (See what I did there?)
Better to just to leave it be with silence, and let people do their own thinking.

 

[proton007]

That whole quote was what started the 'great model debate thread' in these sections.
 
I personally find that quote incomplete and it completely misses the point. This and the fact that Edward De Bono isn't much of anything. He has a ton of degrees, and has written a lot of books, so I'll probably call him a popular writer who is famous more due to publicity than by doing anything significant.
 
However, in terms of *engineering* and *science*, there's one quote I always remember by Freeman Dyson :
 
A good scientist is a person with original ideas. A good engineer is a person who makes a design that works with as few original ideas as possible. There are no prima donnas in engineering.

 

[Claritas]

That whole quote was what started the 'great model debate thread' in these sections.

Great model debate thread? This one http://www.head-fi.org/t/696265/measurements-are-models?

Or rather, the quote inspired it?

 

[proton007]

Great model debate thread? This one http://www.head-fi.org/t/696265/measurements-are-models?

Or rather, the quote inspired it?

 
Yeah, that one.

 

[Claritas]

Yeah, that one.

Thanks. I'll look when I have time.

I don't like the de Bono quote as I explained, but the others have their own problems. I'll keep trying to find something to suggest.