There are many hypotheses in physics of almost comparable brillance and elegance that have been rejected because they did not survive such a confrontation with experiment. In my view, the human condition would be greatly improved if such confrontations and willingness to reject hypotheses were a regular part of our social, political, economic, religious and cultural lives.

I don't know the answer. Maybe no one knows. Maybe when you grow up, you'll be the first to find out.

If chimpanzees have consciousness, if they are capable of abstractions, do they not have what until now has been described as 'human rights'? How smart does a chimp have to be before killing him constitutes murder?

I believe that the extraordinary should be pursued. But extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

Books are key to understanding the world and participating in a democratic society.

I can find in my undergraduate classes, bright students who do not know that the stars rise and set at night, or even that the Sun is a star.

It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.