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Steven Novella Quotes

born 1964 United States

United States
Physicians

Random Steven Novella quote

14 quotes

I think science is best taught as a puzzle to be solved.

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

Isn't the future necessarily going to be dominated by machine life?

There's a host of scams that are evolving all the time.

It's similar to … somebody who is stoned thinking that they are really profound.

I will never be convinced by any anecdotal report, ever, especially if something extremely unlikely or unusual. Memory is not a reliable piece of data.

In fact, there are many altered brain states where people may have a very vivid experience, or at least a vivid memory of their experience, precisely because they have impaired brain function.

I think the Internet is the biggest classroom we have.

What defines a cult is not what they believe, at all. It's how they behave. The belief system is almost incidental.

Even though I think they're probably usually wrong, minority opinions in science are very useful. It keeps the whole process honest ...

We will make virtual brains. … We will be able to create consciousness without really ever understanding it.

You need systems. You need checklists. You need … things in place to keep people from making mistakes. Left to their own devices, people will screw up on a regular basis.

… most scientists are really quite happy to talk about their work. It's often hard to get them to shut up, actually.

… you don't realize whether or not you completely understand a topic until you are tasked to explain it to someone else. … That really challenges your understanding of a topic.

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Steven Novella (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.