Stephen Jay Gould Quote

I would say usually, theories act as straitjackets to channel observations toward their support, and to forestall data that might refute them. Such theories cannot be rejected from within, for we will not conceptualize the disapproving observations.


Dinosaur in a Haystack: Reflections in Natural History, Part Three, Chapter 12 (p. 151), Random House, Inc. 1995


I would say usually, theories act as straitjackets to channel observations toward their support, and to forestall data that might refute them. Such...

I would say usually, theories act as straitjackets to channel observations toward their support, and to forestall data that might refute them. Such...

I would say usually, theories act as straitjackets to channel observations toward their support, and to forestall data that might refute them. Such...

I would say usually, theories act as straitjackets to channel observations toward their support, and to forestall data that might refute them. Such...