The theoretical fruits of deliberate oversimplification through idealization are not to be denied... Reality in all its messy particularity is too complicated to theorize about, taken straight. The issue is, rather (since every idealization is a strategic choice), which idealizations might really shed some light... which will just land us... diverting fairy tales.

Not a single one of the cells that compose you knows who you are, or cares.

In the long run I certainly hope information is the cure for fanaticism, but I am afraid information is more the cause than the cure.

I don't myself need that role for God. My view is that creation itself, the universe itself, is the most wonderful thing deserving awe and respect. And that satisfies me as my substitute for God.

Religion is defined as social systems whose participants avow a supernatural agent or agents whose approval is to be sought.

In all mammalian species that have so far been carefully studied, the rate at which their members engage in the killing of conspecifics is several thousand times greater than the highest homicide rate in any American city.

Most people in the West who say they believe in God actually believe in belief in God.