“I wish to propose a doctrine which may, I fear, appear wildly paradoxical and subversive. The doctrine in question is this: that it is undesirable to believe a proposition when there is no ground whatever for supposing it true. I must, of course, admit that if such an opinion became common it would completely transform our social life and our political system; since both are at present faultless, this must weigh against it.”

Source: Contact (1985), Chapter 2 (p. 15, quoting Bertrand Russell)

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Carl Sagan365

American astrophysicist, cosmologist, author and science ed… 1934–1996

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