Rupert Sheldrake quotes

Rupert Sheldrake is a British biologist and author known for his controversial theories on morphic resonance. His work challenges conventional scientific understanding about memory, inheritance, and consciousness. He has written numerous books and lectures widely on the nature of science and human perception. Here are 20 of his quotes:

Science at its best is an open-minded method of inquiry, not a belief system. (Rupert Sheldrake)
To describe the overwhelming life of a tropical forest just in terms of inert biochemistry and DNA didn't seem to give a very full picture of the world. View quote
Rupert Sheldrake
In both religion and science, some people are dishonest, exploitative, incompetent and exhibit other human failings. View quote
Rupert Sheldrake
The idea is that there is a kind of memory in nature. Each kind of thing has a collective memory. So, take a squirrel living in New York now. That squirrel is being influenced by all past squirrels. View quote
Rupert Sheldrake
The sciences are being held back by assumptions that have hardened into dogmas, maintained by powerful taboos. I believe that the sciences will be regenerated when they are set free. View quote
Rupert Sheldrake
Many dogs, cats and horses are loved and cherished, and are even mourned when they die. But pigs, chickens, calves and other animals grown in factory farms are treated in the most brutal and exploitative way, devoid of all affection. They are units in a production line; their only purpose is to produce the maximum amount of food at the minimum cost. Factory farms epitomize the mechanistic spirit. ... To justify this treatment, the less-favoured animals have to be regarded as inferior, unworthy of any sentimental attachment. A terrible conflict arises if the exploited animals are considered to have any value in themselves. One way to avoid this conflict is to keep the privileged and the exploited animals in separate categories in our minds. ... But if emotions spill over from pets to other animals, there is trouble. People become vegetarians, or even animal rights activists. View quote
Rupert Sheldrake
Most of nature is inherently chaotic. It's not rigidly determined in the old sense. It's not rigidly predictable. View quote
Rupert Sheldrake
Of the seven experiments, the ones that have been most investigated so far have been the pets. The dogs who know when their masters for coming home, and the sense of being stared at. View quote
Rupert Sheldrake
Contemporary science is based on the philosophy of materialism, which claims that all reality is material or physical. View quote
Rupert Sheldrake
Bad religion is arrogant, self-righteous, dogmatic and intolerant. And so is bad science. But unlike religious fundamentalists, scientific fundamentalists do not realize that their opinions are based on faith. They think they know the truth. View quote
Rupert Sheldrake
For more than 200 years, materialists have promised that science will eventually explain everything in terms of physics and chemistry. Believers are sustained by the faith that scientific discoveries will justify their beliefs. (Rupert Sheldrake)
Because a truly skeptical position would be a very uncertain one. View quote
Rupert Sheldrake
I think that the 'laws of nature' are also prone to evolve; I think they are more like habits than laws. View quote
Rupert Sheldrake
I went through the standard scientific atheist phase when I was about 14. I bought into that package deal of science equals atheism. View quote
Rupert Sheldrake
Right now, any opinion anyone has about whether dogs can or cannot really tell when their owner is coming home by some unknown means... nobody knows. The weight of evi dence suggests they can. View quote
Rupert Sheldrake
I have been a scientist for more than 40 years, having studied at Cambridge and Harvard. I researched and taught at Cambridge University, was a research fellow of the Royal Society, and have more than 80 publications in peer-reviewed journals. I am strongly pro-science. View quote
Rupert Sheldrake
The facts of science are real enough, and so are the techniques that scientists use, and so are the technologies based on them. But the belief system that governs conventional scientific thinking is an act of faith. View quote
Rupert Sheldrake
There's a certain kind of scepticism that can't bear uncertainty. View quote
Rupert Sheldrake
I'm talking about science on the leading edge, where it's not clear which way things are going be cause we don't know, and I'm dealing with areas which we don't know about. View quote
Rupert Sheldrake
Machines are designed not to be random. When you call up a word processing program on your computer, you don't want it to be different every time you call it up. You want it to stay the same. View quote
Rupert Sheldrake

Rupert Sheldrake

Rupert Sheldrake - Image
Photo: Zereshk, CC BY 3.0
Occupation: British Scientist
Born: June 28, 1942
Quotes count: 20

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