Michael Crichton
Readers probably haven't heard much about it yet, but they will. Quantum technology turns ordinary reality upside down.Collection: Technology
I'd rather see artificial intelligence than no intelligence.Collection: Intelligence
Instead of writing thrillers to pay for my train bills, I was actually now going to medical school in order to have something to write about.Collection: Medical
I am certain there is too much certainty in the world.Collection: Funny
I am now very interested in computer technology as it is used currently to make games. I think this technology is very powerful and could be used in new ways.Collection: Technology
Historically, the claim of consensus has been the first refuge of scoundrels; it is a way to avoid debate by claiming that the matter is already settled.
Human beings never think for themselves; they find it too uncomfortable. For the most part, members of our species simply repeat what they are told - and become upset if they are exposed to any different view.
We are stubborn, self-destructive conformists. Any other view of our species is just a self-congratulatory delusion.
They are focused on whether they can do something. They never think whether they should do something.
The American media produce a product of very poor quality. Its information is not reliable, it has too much chrome and glitz, its doors rattle, it breaks down almost immediately, and it's sold without warranty. It's flashy, but it's basically junk.
Whenever you hear the consensus of scientists agrees on something or other, reach for your wallet, because you're being had.
When I have political discussions with my friends, I piss them off because my personal position is that there's no difference between the parties. It's the Red Sox and the Mets.
The characteristic human trait is not awareness but conformity, and the characteristic result is religious warfare. Other animals fight for territory or food; but, uniquely in the animal kingdom, human beings fight for their 'beliefs.'
We all live every day in virtual environments, defined by our ideas.
In the information society, nobody thinks. We expect to banish paper, but we actually banish thought.
In the postwar period, Americans turned away from quality as the principal goal of manufacturing and made cost the principal goal. Japanese, restructuring their companies, made exactly the opposite decision.
Unfortunately, our postwar policy has been to ask Japan to change so that our economic policies will dovetail. I think that is completely wrong. The solution is for America to change.
There is an idea of, you know, informing people about some emerging things. And part of that is just a reflection of my own interest, following different areas and saying, you know, look what they're doing now.
It's not easy to cut through a human head with a hacksaw.
It's not unreasonable to imagine that, at least as we're in a transition to a world economy, it's still necessary now to pay attention to how our country is doing economically in comparison with other countries.
I tended to faint when I saw accident victims in the emergency ward, during surgery, or while drawing blood.
The belief that there are other life forms in the universe is a matter of faith. There is not a single shred of evidence for any other life forms, and in forty years of searching, none has been discovered. There is absolutely no evidentiary reason to maintain this belief.
One of the things that Americans, as a multiracial society, feel is a tremendous sensitivity to racial comments of all kinds.
Books aren't written - they're rewritten. Including your own. It is one of the hardest things to accept, especially after the seventh rewrite hasn't quite done it.
I want a news service that tells me what no one knows but is true nonetheless.
Historically, the claim of consensus has been the first refuge of scoundrels; it is a way to avoid debate by claiming that the matter is already settled. Whenever you hear the consensus of scientists agrees on something or other, reach for your wallet, because you're being had. The greatest scientists in history are great precisely because they broke with the consensus.Collection: Matter
The greatest scientists in history are great precisely because they broke with the consensus. There is no such thing as consensus science. If it's consensus, it isn't science. If it's science, it isn't consensus. Period.Collection: Scientist
The greatest challenge facing mankind is the challenge of distinguishing reality from fantasy, truth from propaganda. Perceiving the truth has always been a challenge to mankind, but in the information age (or as I think of it, the disinformation age) it takes on a special urgency and importance.Collection: Reality
If you don't know history, then you don't know anything. You are a leaf that doesn't know it is part of a tree.Collection: Life
Nobody believes a weather prediction twelve hours ahead. Now we're being asked to believe a prediction that goes out 100 years into the future? And make financial investments based on that prediction? Has everybody lost their minds?Collection: Believe
Social control is best managed through fear.Collection: Fear
Human beings never think for themselves. For the most part, members of our species simply repeat what they are told - and become upset if they are exposed to any different view. The characteristic human trait is not awareness but conformity. We are stubborn, self-destructive conformists. Any other view of our species is just a self-congratulatory delusion.Collection: Fear
You think you can destroy the planet? What intoxicating vanity. . . . . We've been residents here for the blink of an eye. If we're gone tomorrow, the earth will not miss us.Collection: Eye
I operate under the assumption that the mass media will never be accurate. ... It operates with the objective to simplify and exaggerate, which is exactly what Walt Disney told his cartoonists.Collection: Media
Do you know what we call opinion in the absence of evidence? We call it prejudice.Collection: Science
Science is as corruptible a human activity as any other.Collection: Integrity
We think we know what we are doing. We have always thought so. We never seem to acknowledge that we have been wrong in the past, and so might be wrong in the future. Instead, each generation writes off earlier errors as the result of bad thinking by less able minds - and then confidently embarks on fresh errors of its own.Collection: Writing
They didn't understand what they were doing. I'm afraid that will be on the tombstone of the human race.Collection: Tombstone
Finally, I would remind you to notice where the claim of consensus is invoked. Consensus is invoked only in situations where the science is not solid enough. Nobody says the consensus of scientists agrees that E=mc2. Nobody says the consensus is that the sun is 93 million miles away. It would never occur to anyone to speak that way.Collection: Way
Life is wonderful. It's a gift to be alive, to see the sun and breathe the air. And there isn't really anything else.Collection: Inspirational
Working inspires inspiration. Keep working. If you succeed, keep working. If you fail, keep working. If you are interested, keep working. If you are bored, keep working.Collection: Inspiration
Auschwitz exists because of politicized science.Collection: Political
It's better to die laughing than to live each moment in fear.Collection: Inspirational
The greatest challenge facing mankind is the challenge of distinguishing reality from fantasy, truth from propaganda.Collection: Reality
The purpose of life is to stay alive. Watch any animal in nature--all it tries to do is stay alive. It doesn't care about beliefs or philosophy. Whenever any animal's behavior puts it out of touch with the realities of its existence, it becomes exinct.Collection: Philosophy
Keep working. Don't wait for inspiration. Work inspires inspiration. Keep working.Collection: Inspiration
In my view, our approach to global warming exemplifies everything that is wrong with our approach to the environment. We are basing our decisions on speculation, not evidence. Proponents are pressing their views with more PR than scientific data. Indeed, we have allowed the whole issue to be politicized-red vs blue, Republican vs Democrat. This is in my view absurd. Data aren't political. Data are data. Politics leads you in the direction of a belief. Data, if you follow them, lead you to truth.Collection: Issues
I was certain that some people, whether by accident of birth or some pecularity of training, could tune in to another source of information and could know things about people we didn't think were possible to know.Collection: Thinking
They don't have intelligence. They have what I call 'thintelligence.' They see the immediate situation. They think narrowly and they call it 'being focused.' They don't see the surround. They don't see the consequences.Collection: Thinking