Richard Dawkins - Not to grow up properly is to retain our 'caterpillar'...

Not to grow up properly is to retain our 'caterpillar' quality from childhood (where it is a virtue) into adulthood (where it becomes a vice). In childhood our credulity serves us well. It helps us to pack, with extraordinary rapidity, our skulls full of the wisdom of our parents and our ancestors. But if we don't grow out of it in the fullness of time, our caterpillar nature makes us a sitting target for astrologers, mediums, gurus, evangelists and quacks. The genius of the human child, mental caterpillar extraordinary, is for soaking up information and ideas, not for criticizing them. If critical faculties later grow it will be in spite of, not because of, the inclinations of childhood. The blotting paper of the child's brain is the unpromising seedbed, the base upon which later the sceptical attitude, like a struggling mustard plant, may possibly grow. We need to replace the automatic credulity of childhood with the constructive scepticism of adult science.

Richard Dawkins

They Said So®

Richard Dawkins Quotes

;

Not to grow up properly is to retain our 'caterpillar' quality from childhood (where it is a virtue) into adulthood (where it becomes a vice). In childhood our credulity serves us well. It helps us to pack, with extraordinary rapidity, our skulls full of the wisdom of our parents and our ancestors. But if we don't grow out of it in the fullness of time, our caterpillar nature makes us a sitting target for astrologers, mediums, gurus, evangelists and quacks. The genius of the human child, mental caterpillar extraordinary, is for soaking up information and ideas, not for criticizing them. If critical faculties later grow it will be in spite of, not because of, the inclinations of childhood. The blotting paper of the child's brain is the unpromising seedbed, the base upon which later the sceptical attitude, like a struggling mustard plant, may possibly grow. We need to replace the automatic credulity of childhood with the constructive scepticism of adult science. Richard Dawkins

They Said So®

Keywords

grow properly retain 'caterpillar' quality childhood virtue adulthood vice credulity serves helps pack extraordinary rapidity skulls full wisdom parents ancestors fullness time caterpillar nature makes sitting target astrologers mediums gurus evangelists quacks genius human child mental soaking information ideas criticizing critical faculties spite inclinations blotting paper child' brain unpromising seedbed base sceptical attitude struggling mustard plant possibly replace automatic constructive scepticism adult science

Explore other Authors

Izaak Walton

Anthony Trollope

Louisa May Alcott

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Dee Dee Myers

Norman Mailer

Zhang Yimou

Natalie Merchant

Al Franken

Peter Singer

Bruce Beresford

Randy Pausch

If you are using this quote in any webpage , printmedia or any other places please use the following methods to cite this quotation.

MLA Style Citation

"A quote by Richard Dawkins" theysaidso.com, 2024. Apr 26, 2024. https://theysaidso.com/quote/richard-dawkins-not-to-grow-up-properly-is-to-retain-our-caterpillar-quality-fro

APA Style Citation

"A quote by Richard Dawkins" (n.d.). theysaidso.com. Retrieved Apr 26, 2024, from theysaidso.com web site : https://theysaidso.com/quote/richard-dawkins-not-to-grow-up-properly-is-to-retain-our-caterpillar-quality-fro

Chicago Style Citation

"A quote by Richard Dawkins". theysaidso.com, 2024. https://theysaidso.com/quote/richard-dawkins-not-to-grow-up-properly-is-to-retain-our-caterpillar-quality-fro , accessed Apr 26, 2024.

Comments

Authentication required

You must log in to post a comment.

There are no comments yet.