To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical and chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I confess, absurd in the highest degree...The difficulty of believing that a perfect and complex eye could be formed by natural selection , though insuperable by our imagination, should not be considered subversive of the theory.
Charles DarwinTags: science biology evolution darwinism conjecture darwin natural-selection eye confessions-of-the-darwinists darwinist-confessions human-eye macro-evolution macroevolution neo-darwinism pseudo-science speculation
In practical life we are compelled to follow what is most probable ; in speculative thought we are compelled to follow truth.
Baruch SpinozaTags: science truth probability speculation
… in these new days and in these new pages a philosophical tradition of the spontaneity of speculation kind has been rekindled on the sacred isle of Éire, regardless of its creative custodian never having been taught how to freely speculate, how to profoundly question, and how to playfully define.
Spontaneity of speculation being synonymous with the philosophical-poetic, the philosophical-poetic with the rural philosopher-poet, and by roundelay the rural philosopher-poet thee with the spontaneity of speculation be.
And by the way of the rural what may we say?
A philosopher-poet of illimitable space we say.
Iohannes Scottus Ériugena the metaphor of old salutes you; salutes your lyrical ear and your skilful strumming of the rippling harp.
(Source: Hearing in the Write, Canto 19, Ivy-muffled)
Tags: poetic irish philosophical ireland lyrical metaphor spontaneity harp tradition creative rural speculation custodian eire
In science's pecking order, evolutionary biology lurks somewhere near the bottom, far closer to phrenology than to physics. For evolutionary biology is a historical science, laden with history's inevitable imponderables. We evolutionary biologists cannot generate a Cretaceous Park to observe exactly what killed the dinosaurs; and, unlike "harder" scientists, we usually cannot resolve issues with a simple experiment, such as adding tube A to tube B and noting the color of the mixture.
Jerry A. CoyneTags: science biology evolution darwinism conjecture darwin confessions-of-the-darwinists darwinist-confessions macro-evolution macroevolution neo-darwinism pseudo-science speculation
[...] if truth be told, evolution hasn’t yielded many practical or commercial benefits. Yes, bacteria evolve drug resistance, and yes, we must take countermeasures, but beyond that there is not much to say. Evolution cannot help us predict what new vaccines to manufacture because microbes evolve unpredictably. But hasn’t evolution helped guide animal and plant breeding? Not very much. Most improvement in crop plants and animals occurred long before we knew anything about evolution, and came about by people following the genetic principle of ‘like begets like’. Even now, as its practitioners admit, the field of quantitative genetics has been of little value in helping improve varieties. Future advances will almost certainly come from transgenics, which is not based on evolution at all.
[review of The Evolving World: Evolution in Everyday Life, Nature 442, 983-984 (31 August 2006)]
Tags: science biology evolution darwinism conjecture darwin confessions-of-the-darwinists darwinist-confessions macro-evolution macroevolution neo-darwinism pseudo-science speculation
These mysteries about how we evolved should not distract us from the indisputable fact that we did evolve.
Jerry A. CoyneTags: science biology dogma evolution darwinism conjecture darwin confessions-of-the-darwinists darwinist-confessions macro-evolution macroevolution neo-darwinism pseudo-science speculation conclusion-before-evidence
Most areas of intellectual life have discovered the virtues of speculation, and have embraced them wildly. In academia, speculation is usually dignified as theory.
Michael CrichtonTags: theories theory conjecture speculation guessing scenario scenarios
A wonderful area for speculative academic work is the unknowable. These days religious subjects are in disfavor, but there are still plenty of good topics. The nature of consciousness, the workings of the brain, the origin of aggression, the origin of language, the origin of life on earth, SETI and life on other worlds...this is all great stuff. Wonderful stuff. You can argue it interminably. But it can't be contradicted, because nobody knows the answer to any of these topics.
Michael CrichtonTags: science consciousness theories knowledge religion language ignorance evolution theory brain darwinism conjecture speculation human-behavior seti guessing abiogenesis extraterrestrial-life origin-of-life
When you see people only as personalities, rather than souls with life missions to fulfill, you forever limit the growth and possibilities of what God has in store for another person.
Shannon L. AlderTags: future vision hope judgement personalities growth personality possibilities life-mission judging speculation connections life-purpose links god-s-plan nondisclosure
Speculation is an effort, probably unsuccessful, to turn a little money into a lot. Investment is an effort, which should be successful, to prevent a lot of money from becoming a little.
Fred Schwed Jr.Tags: speculation investing stocks investment fred-schwed where-are-the-customer-s-yachts
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