Where misunderstanding dwells, misuse will not be far behind. No theory in the history of science has been more misused and abused by cranks and charlatans–and misunderstood by people struggling in good faith with difficult ideas–than quantum mechanics.

Sean Carroll
About This Quote

What Gottfried Leibniz meant by saying, “Where misunderstanding dwells, misuse will not be far behind.” is that if a theory is misused and abused by cranks and charlatans then it is sure to get misunderstood by people struggling in good faith with difficult ideas. This is an important point because of the importance of understanding the ideas we put forward. While some people may come to understand things on their own through practice, others may not get it at all. In fact, some might get it completely wrong.

Source: The Big Picture: On The Origins Of Life, Meaning, And The Universe Itself

Some Similar Quotes
  1. The problem, often not discovered until late in life, is that when you look for things in life like love, meaning, motivation, it implies they are sitting behind a tree or under a rock. The most successful people in life recognize, that in life they... - Neil Degrasse Tyson

  2. And sometimes I believe your relentless analysis of June leaves something out, which is your feeling for her beyond knowledge, or in spite of knowledge. I often see how you sob over what you destroy, how you want to stop and just worship; and you... - Unknown

  3. The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom. - Isaac Asimov

  4. I'm sure the universe is full of intelligent life. It's just been too intelligent to come here. - Arthur C. Clarke

  5. A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life. - Charles Darwin

More Quotes By Sean Carroll
  1. The world keeps happening, in accordance with its rules; it's up to us to make sense of it and give it value.

  2. Where misunderstanding dwells, misuse will not be far behind. No theory in the history of science has been more misused and abused by cranks and charlatans–and misunderstood by people struggling in good faith with difficult ideas–than quantum mechanics.

  3. Human beings are not nearly as coolly rational as we like to think we are. Having set up comfortable planets of belief, we become resistant to altering them, and develop cognitive biases that prevent us from seeing the world with perfect clarity. We aspire to...

  4. Historically, nature has been very good at surprising us.

  5. Science and religion both make claims about the fundamental workings of the universe. Although these claims are not a priori incompatible (we could imagine being brought to religious belief through scientific investigation), I will argue that in practice they diverge. If we believe that the...

Related Topics