Quote by Bertrand Russell
Science seems to be at war with itself.... Naive realism leads to physics, and physics, if true, shows naive realism to be false. Therefore naive realism, if true, is false; therefore it is false.
Summary
This quote reflects the inherent paradox in the relationship between science and perception. Naive realism, the belief that our senses accurately represent reality, aligns with common intuition but is challenged by the findings of physics. Physics reveals that there is often more to the nature of reality than what meets the eye. The quote emphasizes the conflict between these two perspectives – the awareness that our perception may be flawed, leading to the conclusion that naive realism, if taken as truth, is ultimately false. Hence, science appears to contradict itself as it unravels the complexity of the world beyond our immediate perception.