“They must often change who would remain constant in happiness and wisdom.”

— Confucius

Last update June 12, 2021. History

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Confucius 269

Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher -551–-479 BC

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“Insistence on the postulate of complete logical clarification would make science impossible. We are reminded… of the old wisdom that one who insists on never uttering an error must remain silent.”

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Physics and Philosophy (1958)
Context: The words "position" and "velocity" of an electron... seemed perfectly well defined... and in fact they were clearly defined concepts within the mathematical framework of Newtonian mechanics. But actually they were not well defined, as seen from the relations of uncertainty. One may say that regarding their position in Newtonian mechanics they were well defined, but in their relation to nature, they were not. This shows that we can never know beforehand which limitations will be put on the applicability of certain concepts by the extension of our knowledge into the remote parts of nature, into which we can only penetrate with the most elaborate tools. Therefore, in the process of penetration we are bound sometimes to use our concepts in a way which is not justified and which carries no meaning. Insistence on the postulate of complete logical clarification would make science impossible. We are reminded... of the old wisdom that one who insists on never uttering an error must remain silent.