Clay Farris Naff
Sep 7, 2018 · 1 min read

Intellectual cynicism: after sampling a few, holding models of all kinds in contempt.

Intellectual humility: acknowledging that no matter how much we are able to refine our models, they will never be perfect.

Let me offer two excellent readings on scientific humility, one short and the other book length:

Polymath author Isaac Asimov explains why though science is always wrong, in the sense of incompletely modeling nature, the degree of error steadily decreases:

https://chem.tufts.edu/answersinscience/relativityofwrong.htm

Astronomer Marcelo Gleiser explains why the larger our island of knowedge grows, the longer the shoreline of our ignorance becomes:

https://www.amazon.com/Island-Knowledge-Limits-Science-Meaning/dp/0465049648

    Clay Farris Naff

    Written by

    Science & Religion Correspondent, The Humanist magazine. Opinions expressed do not represent the views of any organization.