Steven Novella Quotes & Sayings

History is strewn with ideas that were intuitive and made sense at the time, but were also hopelessly wrong. — Steven Novella

There is no skepticism without science and the scientific method. It's about how we know what we know. — Steven Novella

Ignorance is a low-energy state. It takes constant vigilance and work to climb out of it. — Steven Novella

Science is about the process; it's not about the conclusion. — Steven Novella

Questioning our own motives, and our own process, is critical to a skeptical and scientific outlook. We must realize that the default mode of human psychology is to grab onto comforting beliefs for purely emotional reasons, and then justify those beliefs to ourselves with post-hoc rationalizations. - Steven Novella — Steven Novella

Like any pseudo scientific thinking, denialism begins with a desired conclusion. Rather than supporting a controversial or rejected claim, like many pseudo sciences, denialists maintain that a generally accepted scientific or historical claim is not true, usually for ideological reasons. Denialists then engage in what is called motivated reasoning, rationalizing why the undesired claim is not true or at least not proven. They therefore are working backwards from their desired conclusion, filling in justifications for what they believe, rather than following logic and evidence wherever it leads. — Steven Novella

Some claims deserve ridicule, and anything less falsely elevates them. — Steven Novella

What do you think science is? There's nothing magical about science. It is simply a systematic way for carefully and thoroughly observing nature and using consistent logic to evaluate results. Which part of that exactly do you disagree with? Do you disagree with being thorough? Using careful observation? Being systematic? Or using consistent logic? — Steven Novella

Anecdotes generate questions, not answers. — Steven Novella

The work of a science blogger is largely comprised of correcting and criticizing bad science news reporting. — Steven Novella