David Mamet Quotes

I don't question things that go against what I believe very much. But boy, the stuff that I really want to believe, I really question a lot.

We hew and saw and plane facts to make them dovetail with our prejudices, so that they become mere ornaments with which to parade our objectivity.

Different people, in good faith, can look at the same fact and interpret it differently. But that's where an interesting conversation begins.

Reason, observation, and experience; the holy trinity of science.

It will sometimes strike a scientific man that the philosophers have been less intent on finding out what the facts are, than on inquiring what belief is most in harmony with their system.

If you have high IQ, you're really good at finding post-hoc arguments to support your feelings of truthiness.

When the intensity of emotional conviction subsides, a man who is in the habit of reasoning will search for logical grounds in favour of the belief which he finds in himself.

Our society has lost confidence in the power of reason, except perhaps scientific reason.

As one may bring himself to believe almost anything he is inclined to believe, it makes all the difference whether we begin or end with the inquiry, 'What is truth?'

The good thing about science is that it is true whether or not you believe in it.

No Discourse whatsoever, can End in absolute Knowledge of Fact.

In intelligence you can justify almost anything you want to if you go about it with enough zeal and effort which is what happened.

Values are faithfully applied to the facts before us, while ideology overrides whatever facts call theory into question.

Who wants to hear that he is wrong when he can be told that he is right? …. We are losing the ability to change our mind because of our media.

… people reject the validity of a scientific source because its conclusion contradicted their deeply held views.

Facts matter, especially when they conflict with dogma and preconceived notions. Pretending otherwise has consequences.

What we can do is provide the tools, through our educational system, for people to be able to tell sense from nonsense. These tools include the scientific method, skeptical questioning, empirical evidence, verifying sources, etc.

There are a lot of scientists or other people who can be very skeptical or rational within their field, but they may well not do that in other aspects of their lives, when it comes to things like religion, or what have you. People have this amazing gift for being selective with their curiosity and skepticism.

We're awash in toxic memes right now. One of the most toxic, I think because it enables so many others, is the idea that truth doesn't matter, that truth is just relative, that there's no such thing as establishing the truth of anything. Your truth, my truth, we're all entitled to our own truths. That's pernicious, it's attractive to many people, and it is used to exploit people in all sorts of nefarious ways. The truth really does matter.

When did ignorance become a point of view?

To avoid being drawn into error, keep a firm grip on the truth.

Nothing limits intelligence more than ignorance; nothing fosters ignorance more than one's own opinions; nothing strengthens opinions more than refusing to look at reality.

There are many people out there who don't even think of themselves as being averse to facts, but the truth is, they are not getting it.

But what a weak barrier is truth when it stands in the way of an hypothesis!

Many persons of high intelligence have notoriously poor judgement.