“When in doubt, ignore and be horribly unimpressed”

Letter to A.W.M. Baillie (10 September 1864)
Letters, etc

The Big Questions: Tackling the Problems of Philosophy with Ideas from Mathematics, Economics and Physics

Bulletin of New York Academy of Medicine, Vol. IV (1928)

Source: A Gift From Earth (1968), Ch. 1 : The Ramrobot

Source: The Brass Bottle (1900), Chapter 3, “An Unexpected Opening”

The Value of Science (1955)
Context: The scientist has a lot of experience with ignorance and doubt and uncertainty, and this experience is of very great importance, I think. When a scientist doesn’t know the answer to a problem, he is ignorant. When he has a hunch as to what the result is, he is uncertain. And when he is pretty darn sure of what the result is going to be, he is still in some doubt. We have found it of paramount importance that in order to progress we must recognize our ignorance and leave room for doubt. Scientific knowledge is a body of statements of varying degrees of certainty — some most unsure, some nearly sure, but none absolutely certain. Now, we scientists are used to this, and we take it for granted that it is perfectly consistent to be unsure, that it is possible to live and not know. But I don’t know whether everyone realizes this is true. Our freedom to doubt was born out of a struggle against authority in the early days of science. It was a very deep and strong struggle: permit us to question — to doubt — to not be sure. I think that it is important that we do not forget this struggle and thus perhaps lose what we have gained.

Source: The Courage to Create (1975), Ch. 1 : The Courage to Create, p. 21
Context: The relationship between commitment and doubt is by no means an antagonistic one. Commitment is healthiest when it is not without doubt but in spite of doubt.

Source: The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution