certainty/un

[Meredith A. Lane]

>If ecology and animal behavior tolerate uncertainty, that is their
>>business,and is hardly a justification for systematics doing so.


Mediocre spirits demand of science the kind of certainty which it cannot
give, a sort of religious satisfaction. Only the real, rare, true
scientific minds can endure doubt, which is attached to all our knowledge.
          -- Sigmund Freud

As an adolescent I ... craved factual certainty ... so I became a
scientist.  This is like becoming an archbishop so you can meet girls.

        -- M. Cartmill




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Meredith A. Lane, Curator        2045 Constant Avenue
KU Natural History Museum      Lawrence KS 66047-3729
  Division of Botany
       and                            mlane at ukans.edu
Associate Professor              913/864-4493 (voice)
Department of Botany      913/864-5298 or -5093 (fax)
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When action grows unprofitable, gather information;
when information grows unprofitable, sleep.
                                  --Ursula K. Le Guin
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