"Science has proof without any certainty. Creationists have certainty without any proof"
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Montagu’s line is a scalpel disguised as a quip: it flips the usual accusation that science is arrogant and faith is humble. Science, he argues, is the one worldview disciplined enough to live without emotional closure. It offers proof - meaning testable, revisable evidence - while refusing the comfort of finality. That second clause matters because it frames uncertainty not as weakness but as an ethical stance: a willingness to be wrong in public, to let reality veto your preferences.
The barb lands harder on the other side. “Creationists have certainty without any proof” isn’t only a jab at religious literalism; it’s a critique of any belief system that treats conviction as a substitute for method. Montagu is highlighting a psychological asymmetry: certainty is seductive precisely because it asks so little. Proof is labor, full of caveats and footnotes; certainty is a mood.
The context is mid-to-late 20th-century culture wars, when “creation science” attempted to borrow science’s prestige while rejecting its rules. As an anthropologist who challenged racial essentialism and popularized evolutionary thinking, Montagu had seen how “common sense” can be weaponized as truth. His subtext: science’s authority doesn’t come from claiming infallibility; it comes from institutionalized doubt. The irony is that the side often accused of relativism is, in practice, the one most committed to reality’s constraints.
The barb lands harder on the other side. “Creationists have certainty without any proof” isn’t only a jab at religious literalism; it’s a critique of any belief system that treats conviction as a substitute for method. Montagu is highlighting a psychological asymmetry: certainty is seductive precisely because it asks so little. Proof is labor, full of caveats and footnotes; certainty is a mood.
The context is mid-to-late 20th-century culture wars, when “creation science” attempted to borrow science’s prestige while rejecting its rules. As an anthropologist who challenged racial essentialism and popularized evolutionary thinking, Montagu had seen how “common sense” can be weaponized as truth. His subtext: science’s authority doesn’t come from claiming infallibility; it comes from institutionalized doubt. The irony is that the side often accused of relativism is, in practice, the one most committed to reality’s constraints.
Quote Details
| Topic | Reason & Logic |
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