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What We Believe but Cannot Prove
Great minds can sometimes guess the truth before they have either the evidence or arguments for it. Diderot called this having the 'esprit de divination'.A number of top-scientists were asked to state what they believe, but cannot prove. We reproduce on this page a few of these fascinating beliefs.
The citations are taken from: John Broekman (ed): What We Believe but Cannot Prove. Today's leading thinkers on science in the age of certainty. New York, Harper Collins, 2006.
Carlo Rovelli, physicist, professor of history and philosophy of
science:
Finally, I also believe but cannot prove that we humans have the
collaborative instinct. This instinct will eventually prevail over the
shortsighted, egoistic, and aggressive instinct that produces
exploitation and war. Collaboration has already given us long periods of
peace and prosperity. Ultimately it will lead to a planet without
countries, without wars, without patriotism, without religions, without
poverty - and we will be able to share the world. Actually, I'm not sure
I believe that I believe this, but I do want to believe that I do.
Daniel Coleman, professor of philosophy:
Today's children - in the developed, and increasingly in the developing,
world - spend more time that ever in human history alone, staring at a
video monitor. These circumstances amount to a natural experiment in
child rearing on an unprecedented scale. While such children may grow up
to be more at ease with computers, they are undoubtedly failing to
acquire those skills that will enable them to relate to other human
beings.
Donald D. Hoffman, professor of cognitive science, philosophy and
information and computer sciences:
The world of our daily experience - the world of tables, chairs, stars,
and people, with their attendant shapes, smells, feels, and sounds - is
a species-specific user interface between ourselves and a realm far more
complex, whose essential character is complex.
Robert Trivers, professor of anthropology and biological sciences:
I believe that deceit and self-deception play a disproportionate role in
human-generated disasters: wars; misguided social, political, and
economic policies; miscarriages of justice; the collapse of
civilizations.
I believe that processes of self-deception are important in limiting the
achievement of individuals.
Daniel Bennett, professor of philosophy:
I believe that acquiring a human language is a necessary precondition
for consciousness - in the strong sense of there being a subject, an I,
a 'something it is like something to be'.
