Daniel

“In the words of Darwin himself, On the Origin of Species is "one long argument" designed to convince readers that evolutionary changes had occurred on a massive scale and that natural selection was a formidable agent of those changes. Most biologists were quickly convinced, especially with respect to the argument that modern species are modified descendants of extinct ancestral species.

Moreover, the tests of evolutionary theory did not end in 1859. Instantly recognized as one of the most important scientific ideas of all time, the theory has been subjected to at least as much scrutiny as any other major idea in science or the humanities. Had anyone been capable of overthrowing the theory of evolution by natural selection, he or she would have become as famous as Darwin. Although Darwin's theory has not been dismantled, a considerable number of persons have refined the theory in important ways, especially by taking advantage of our improved knowledge of heredity and what this means for evolutionary processes, a subject that was essentially a mystery in the mid-nineteenth century.”
― John Alcock, The Triumph of Sociobiology

“ALL PROPERTY IS THEFT. SO ALL THEFT IS PROPERTY.
THEREFORE THESE PEARLS ARE MINE.

This is clearly rubbish because there is nothing to link the truth of the conclusion to the truth of the supporting claims. What we need is to ensure that the truth of the supporting claims is preserved by the argument. Logic is quite simply the study of truth-preserving arguments.”
― Dan Cryan, Introducing Logic: A Graphic Guide

“Because so many of our beliefs depend upon the culture we share with others, diagnosing patients from other cultures raises many problems. If hearing voices talking to you is a widely shared experience within a culture, then this experience cannot be treated as a sign of schizophrenia. On the other hand, people from within the same culture can easily recognize the kind of experiences that would be considered signs of madness.

In Northwick Park Hospital there were many patients who were adherents of religions with which the staff were not familiar – fundamental Christian sects as well as branches of oriental faiths. We could not be sure if it was reasonable for a man belonging to a Christian sect founded in California in 1962 to believe that by wearing a half-pound cross on a wire round his neck he pleased God, who would then pass him messages by directing his eyes to particular biblical texts. We could not be sure if it was reasonable for a devout Hindu to interpret individuals and animals in the local setting as manifestations of Krishna reborn. Reading accounts of the beliefs of adherents to these sects did not help us, but the relevant spiritual leaders, on the basis of a few moments’ conversation, could state with confidence that these ideas were due to illness. We therefore made a practice of always consulting them. Typically they considered that the patient believed literally in what was intended as a metaphor. The patients’ ideas were much too concrete.”
― Christopher D. Frith, Schizophrenia: A Very Short Introduction

“Virtually all of the discussions on the consequences of global change for human well-being focus on the material and physical aspects of such change – provision of food and water, security of infrastructure, impacts on the economy, and so on. Virtually no analyses consider the psychological impacts or consequences of global change on individual humans and on their societies. Many in the scientific community may consider these aspects to be irrational and inconsequential. Yet, in the final analysis, it will be the human perceptions of global change and the risks associated with it that will determine societal responses. At the heart of these perceptions is the fundamental place of humanity in the natural world.”
― Will Steffen, Global Change and the Earth System: A Planet Under Pressure: Executive Summary