Science in the Soul: Selected Writings of a Passionate Rationalist

by Richard Dawkins

The profession is founded on a belief that there is such a thing as objective truth which transcends cultural variety, and that if two scientists ask the same question they should converge upon the same truth regardless of their prior beliefs or cultural background or even, within limits, ability.

Carl Sagan died a month ago. I met him once only but I have loved his books and I shall miss him as a ‘candle in the dark’.*7 I dedicate this lecture to his memory, and shall use quotations from his writings. The remark about predicting eclipses is from the last book he published before he died, The Demon-Haunted World, and he goes on: You can go to the witch doctor to lift the spell that causes your pernicious anaemia, or you can take vitamin B12. If you want to save your child from polio, you can pray or you can inoculate. If you’re interested in the sex of your unborn child, you can consult plumb-bob danglers all you want…but they’ll be right, on average, only one time in two. If you want real accuracy…try amniocentesis and sonograms. Try science.

I suppose I am saying that scientists have a scale of values according to which there is something almost sacred about nature’s truth. This may be why some of us get so heated about astrologers, spoonbenders and similar charlatans, whom others indulgently tolerate as harmless entertainers. The law of libel penalizes those who knowingly tell lies about individuals. But you get off scot-free if you make money lying about nature – who can’t sue.

Carl Sagan remarks that he is often asked whether he believes there is intelligent life out there. He leans towards a cautious yes, but says it with humility and uncertainty. Often, I’m asked next, ‘What do you really think?’ I say, ‘I just told you what I really think.’ ‘Yes, but what’s your gut feeling?’ But I try not to think with my gut. If I’m serious about understanding the world, thinking with anything besides my brain, as tempting as that might be, is likely to get me into trouble. Really, it’s okay to reserve judgement until the evidence is in. Mistrust of inner, private revelation is, it seems to me, another of the values fostered by the experience of doing science.