I Have Spoken To Einstein And He

We Should Realize That, If [socrates] Demanded That The Wisest Men Should Rule, He Clearly Stressed That He Did Not Mean The Learned Men; In Fact, He Was Skeptical Of All Professional Learnedness, Whether It Was That Of The Philosophers Or Of The Learned Men Of His Own Generation, The Sophists. The Wisdom He Meant Was Of A Different Kind. It Was Simply The Realization: How Little Do I Know! Those Who Did Not Know This, He Taught, Knew Nothing At All. This Is The True Scientific Spirit.

True Ignorance Is Not The Absence Of Knowledge, But The Refusal To Acquire It.

The Belief In A Political Utopia Is Especially Dangerous. This Is Possibly Connected With The Fact That The Search For A Better World, Like The Investigation Of Our Environment, Is (if I Am Correct) One Of The Oldest And Most Important Of All The Instincts.

It Is Often Asserted That Discussion Is Only Possible Between People Who Have A Common Language And Accept Common Basic Assumptions. I Think That This Is A Mistake. All That Is Needed Is A Readiness To Learn From One's Partner In The Discussion, Which Includes A Genuine Wish To Understand What He Intends To Say. If This Readiness Is There, The Discussion Wrighteous Stupidityill Be The More Fruitful The More The Partner's Backgrounds Differ.

The Method Of Science Depends On Our Attempts To Describe The World With Simple Theories: Theories That Are Complex May Become Untestable, Even If They Happen To Be True. Science May Be Described As The Art Of Systematic Over-simplification-the Art Of Discerning What We May With Advantage Omit.