Science Quote by Marvin Harris

Harris is doing two things at once: defending science against dogma and defending scientists against the temptation to sound like priests. The line strips “scientific concept” of its aura. Call it a concept, and people hear permanence; call it a theory, and they hear scaffolding. Harris insists on the scaffolding.

The intent is corrective. In public discourse, “theory” gets weaponized as a synonym for “mere guess,” while “science” gets treated as a stamp of final truth. Harris flips that script by reminding us that the strength of science is not certainty but replaceability. A good theory is not the one that feels most authoritative; it’s the one that explains more, predicts better, and survives hostile questioning longer than its rivals.

The subtext is a warning about intellectual complacency, especially inside disciplines that borrow the prestige of science. Harris, an anthropologist associated with cultural materialism, spent a career arguing that explanations of culture should compete on evidence and explanatory power, not on moral comfort or ideological fit. So “open to being challenged” isn’t polite openness; it’s the job description. “Proven incorrect” is the hard edge: scientific knowledge advances by organized embarrassment, by building systems designed to catch their own errors.

Context matters here: mid-to-late 20th century battles over evolution, behavior, and culture were also battles over authority. Harris positions science as a method, not a monument. If your “concept” can’t be wrong, it’s not science; it’s branding.