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81 " We must categorize and simplify in order to comprehend. But the reduction of complexity entails a great danger, since the line between enlightening epitome and vulgarized distortion is so fine. "
― Stephen Jay Gould
82 " I will rejoice in the multifariousness of nature and leave the chimera of certainty to politicians and preachers. "
83 " A foltos hiénáról írt legújabb tanulmányok szerzői úgy találták, a hímek és nőstények annyira hasonlítanak, hogy nemüket biztonsággal csak a herezacskó megtapintásával lehet megállapítani. "
― Stephen Jay Gould , The Panda's Thumb: More Reflections in Natural History
84 " Common sense is a very poor guide to scientific insight for it represents cultural prejudice more often than it reflects the native honesty of a small boy before the naked emperor. "
85 " The originator of an idea cannot be held responsible for egregious misuse of his theory. "
86 " If Ediacara survivors had been able to evolve internal complexity later on, then the pathways from this radically different starting point would have produced a world worthy of science fiction at its best. "
87 " As arrogant as I may be in general, I am not sufficiently doltish or vainglorious to imagine that I can meaningfully address the deep philosophical questions embedded within this general inquiry of our intellectual ages—that is, fruitful modes of analysis for the history of human thought. I shall therefore take refuge in an escape route that has traditionally been granted to scientists: the liberty to act as a practical philistine. Instead of suggesting a principled and general solution, I shall ask whether I can specify an operational way to define “Darwinism” (and other intellectual entities) in a manner specific enough to win shared agreement and understanding among readers, but broad enough to avoid the doctrinal quarrels about membership and allegiance that always seem to arise when we define intellectual commitments as pledges of fealty to lists of dogmata (not to mention initiation rites, secret handshakes and membership cards—in short, the intellectual paraphernalia that led Karl Marx to make his famous comment to a French journalist: “je ne suis pas marxiste”). "
― Stephen Jay Gould , The Structure of Evolutionary Theory
88 " We are, whatever our glories and accomplishments, a momentary cosmic accident that would never arise again if the tree of life could be replanted from seed and regrown under similar conditions. "
89 " As Freud observed, our relationship with science must be paradoxical because we are forced to pay an almost intolerable price for each major gain in knowledge and power—the psychological cost of progressive dethronement from the center of things, and increasing marginality in an uncaring universe. "
90 " Thus, physics and astronomy relegated our world to a corner of the cosmos, and biology shifted our status from a simulacrum of God to a naked, upright ape. "
― Stephen Jay Gould , Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History
91 " The adult being is an emergent entity who must be understood at his own level and in his own totality. The truly salient issues are malleability and flexibility, not fallacious parsing by percentages. A trait may be 90 percent heritable, yet entirely malleable. A twenty-dollar pair of eyeglasses from the local pharmacy may fully correct a defect of vision that is 100 percent heritable. A “60 percent” biodeterminist is not a subtle interactionist, but a determinist on the “little bit pregnant” model. "
― Stephen Jay Gould , The Mismeasure of Man
92 " ¿Por qué el origen de la vida pluricelular se dio en forma de un corto pulso a través de tres faunas radicalmente diferentes , y no como un aumento lento y continuo de complejidad? La historia de la vida es infinitamente fascinante, infinitamente curiosa, pero ciertamente no es la sustancia de nuestros pensamientos y esperanzas usuales. "
93 " Wonder and knowledge are both to be cherished. "
― Stephen Jay Gould , Ever Since Darwin: Reflections in Natural History
94 " Shall we appreciate any less the beauty of nature because its harmony is unplanned? And shall the potential of mind cease to inspire our awe and fear because several billion neurons reside in our skulls? "
95 " Matter is the ground of all existence; mind, spirit, and God as well, are just words that express the wondrous results of neuronal complexity. "
96 " Yes, the world has been different ever since Darwin. But no less exciting, instructing, or uplifting; for if we cannot find purpose in nature, we will have to define it for ourselves. "
97 " Our genetic makeup permits a wide range of behaviors - from Ebenezer Scrooge before to Ebenezer Scrooge after. I do not believe that the miser hoards through opportunist genes or that the philanthropist gives because nature endowed him with more than the normal complement of altruist genes. Upbringing, culture, class, status, and all the intangibles that we call "free will," determine how we restrict our behaviors from the wide spectrum - extreme altruism to extreme selfishness - that our genes permit. "
98 " Environments without oxygen are excellent for the preservation of soft parts: no oxidation, no decay by aerobic bacteria. Such conditions are common on earth, particularly in stagnant basins. But the very conditions that promote preservation also decree that few organisms, if any, make their natural home in such places. "
99 " Algunas transformaciones son manifiestas y heroicas; otras son tranquilas y sin acontecimientos notables en su devenir, pero no menos importantes en su resultado. "
100 " La nueva interpretación de la fauna de Burguess Shale es una de las transformaciones más invisibles por dos razones básicas, pero su capacidad para modificar nuestra concepción de la vida no puede ser igualada por ningún otro descubrimiento paleontológico. "