Two Heritages of Western Civilization

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Sep 8, 2018 · 1 min read

Western civilization, it seems to me, stands by two great heritages. One is the scientific spirit of adventure — the adventure into the unknown , an unknown which must be recognized as being unknown in order to be explored; the demand that the unanswered mysterious of the universe remain unanswered; the attitude that all is uncertain; to summarize it — the humility of intellect. The other great heritage is Christian ethics — the basis of action on love, the brotherhood of all men, the value of the individual — the humility of the spirit.


Science* is the belief in the ignorance of experts.

Science* alone of all the subjects contains within itself the lesson of the danger of belief in the infallibility of the greatest teachers in the preceding generation.


What I cannot create, I do not understand.

Since then I never pay attention to anything by “experts.” I calculate everything myself.

Our imagination is stretched to the utmost, not, as in fiction, to imagine things which are not really there, but just to comprehend those which are there.

(By Richard Feynman)

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