"Man has to awaken to wonder - and so perhaps do peoples. Science is a way of sending him to sleep again"
- Ludwig Wittgenstein
About this Quote
This quote by Ludwig Wittgenstein recommends that human beings tend to end up being complacent and lose their sense of marvel. Science is a way of supplying a description for the world around us, but it can likewise be a way of numbing us to the charm and secret of deep space. By relying on scientific explanations, we can end up being desensitized to the breathtaking elements of the world. Wittgenstein is recommending that we must strive to stay available to the marvels of the world, and not let science remove our sense of wonder. He is encouraging us to stay curious and to never stop checking out the mysteries of the universe. By doing so, we can remain linked to the charm and mystery of the world, and never lose our sense of marvel.
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"I think philosophers can do things akin to theoretical scientists, in that, having read about empirical data, they too can think of what hypotheses and theories might account for that data. So there's a continuity between philosophy and science in that way"