“We are, in the early days of the 21st century, talking about the death of the living world as an environmental externality. That alone should be an alarm-bell that our framework doesn't serve our time.”
— Kate Raworth
Creator of the Doughnut Economics framework for sustainable development

The quote archive

Science

A growing archive of 3,000+ moments, drawn from every interview.

Neuroscience shows us that habit formation is based on how rewarding something is, not willpower. Willpower isn't even in the equation. We like to think of willpower is something, but it's more myth than muscle.

— Judson Brewer

Neuroscientist & Expert on Habit Change and Mindfulness-Based Treatments

You can think of habits as a 'set and forget,' we set the habit, we set the behaviour, and we forget about the details. That frees up our brain to learn new things throughout the day.

— Judson Brewer

Neuroscientist & Expert on Habit Change and Mindfulness-Based Treatments

Our brains are not so well equipped, we just tend to assume patterns that look connected are causally connected. So a conspiracy theory is just another causal theory – why did these things happen?

— Michael Shermer

Founder of The Skeptics Society & Science Communicator

The microbiome is taking up space, so it is not letting the viruses and the bad bacteria come, adhere to the tissue and then grow. To conclude these are the two mechanisms. It's very simple.

— Dr. Kourosh Maddahi

I don't think you can find any other organ in the body that has correlation with so many other organs than the mouth. Research has been widespread, and over the past 30 years, gum disease has been linked to heart disease, to colorectal cancer, to diabetes, to all sorts of issues within the body.

— Dr. Kourosh Maddahi

How did we survive for thousands of years without modern medicine? What was it that we inherently had that was protecting us? And as I went deeper and deeper in that area and in that research and in that study, what I came up with was microbiome.

— Dr. Kourosh Maddahi

The fact that you and I are alive is against stupendous odds. One day we will die, and that's sad, but there are people who will never die because they were never born. We're the lucky ones, we get to die.

— Neil deGrasse Tyson

Renowned Astrophysicist & Director of Hayden Planetarium

It has been said that we went to the moon to explore the moon, but while we were there, we looked over our shoulder and discovered Earth. Seeing the Earth in that perspective upgraded the firmware of all our brains, of everyone's subconscious.

— Neil deGrasse Tyson

Renowned Astrophysicist & Director of Hayden Planetarium

We've had wars, poverty, and homelessness long before anyone went into space. It's not accurate to say, 'we're doing space exploration, and that's why we have poverty' – if we stopped space exploration, those problems wouldn't be solved, they haven't been solved in thousands of years.

— Neil deGrasse Tyson

Renowned Astrophysicist & Director of Hayden Planetarium

I'm advocating for a right to cognitive liberty, a new international human right that would be the right to self-determination of our brains and mental experiences.

— Nita Farahany

Neuroethicist & Duke Law professor specializing in neurorights and genetics policy

There will be no cure for cancer until real doctors with real patients in real hospitals can attempt an innovation.

— Maurice Saatchi

Co-Founder of Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising Agency

The central premise of my book, the concept of the brain being 'rewired', essentially posits that any change in our behavior results in a change in our brain. This isn't mere conjecture; it's a neurobiological fact. Small behavioral changes trigger small changes in the brain, whereas significant behavioral shifts lead to substantial neural alterations.

— Carl D. Marci

The discovery of new cosmic truths doesn't negate our prior understanding. For instance, despite Einstein's theory of relativity extending beyond the scope of Newton's laws, the latter will remain as valid a million years from now as they are today.

— Lawrence Krauss

Theoretical Physicist & Public Advocate for Science and Atheism

Indeed, these concepts transcend our natural intuition, but I firmly believe they aren't beyond our grasp. As Einstein marveled, the universe seems to be comprehensible.

— Lawrence Krauss

Theoretical Physicist & Public Advocate for Science and Atheism

What truly captured my imagination was his audacious courage to accept the universe as it truly was, despite the daunting consequences that loomed over him. This portrayal imbued in me a sense of science as a form of heroism.

— Lawrence Krauss

Theoretical Physicist & Public Advocate for Science and Atheism

It's quite remarkable that we, creatures who evolved dodging predators on the African savannah, have been able to develop quantum mechanics. I find this to be a splendid evolutionary offshoot.

— Lawrence Krauss

Theoretical Physicist & Public Advocate for Science and Atheism