"The progress of human knowledge depends on maintaining that touch of scepticism even about the most "unquestionable" truths. A century ago, Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection was regarded as scientifically unshakeable; today, most biologists have their reservations about it. Fifty years ago, Freud's sexual theory of neurosis was accepted by most psychiatrists; today, it is widely recognized that his methods were highly questionable. At the turn of this century, a scientist who questioned Newton's theory of gravity would have been regarded as insane; twenty years later, it had been supplanted by Einstein's theory, although, significantly, few people actually understood it. It seems perfectly conceivable that our descendants of the twenty-second century will wonder how any of us could have been stupid enough to have been taken in by Darwin, Freud or Einstein."
React to this quote
More by Colin Wilson
See allResonant Thoughts
"The question...of membership resolves itself...into the most basic of all possible questions which can be addressed to the people of any nation: can they, and will they, so merge themselves with other…"
Explore Further
Related Quotes
"There is an aphorism about a farmer who before sunrise on a cold and misty morning, saw a huge beast on a d…"
— Louis Nizer"Clearly the present organization of the scientific community, cutting across the lines of nation states, bu…"
— Gordon Tullock"In our science and philosophy, even, there is commonly no true and absolute account of things. The spirit o…"
— Henry David Thoreau"I held my breath, for to me there is nothing more awe-inspiring than when a man discovers to you the nakedn…"
— W. Somerset Maugham"You need the willingness to fail all the time. You have to generate many ideas and then you have to work ve…"
— John Backus"If historians and linguists sometimes display great ingenuity in explaining away facts inconvenient to thei…"
— Koenraad Elst