Neil deGrasse...beware

Partial video of the 2006 Beyond Belief conference presented by the Science Network. Neil deGrasse's entire speech can be found by following the link above, or by simply clicking here. The most recent conference (dubbed enlightenment 2.0), held just a couple of weeks ago, is now online, and after having subjected myself to the numerous and dense hours of lectures I am compelled to suggest you do the same. As a theme for the 2007 conference, it was suggested this quote from Ibn al-Haytham, an 11th century Muslim mathematician, be used...

Truth is sought for itself—Therefore, the seeker after the truth is not one who studies the writings of the ancients and, following his natural disposition, puts his trust in them, but rather the one who suspects his faith in them and questions what he gathers from them, the one who submits to argument and demonstration, and not to the sayings of a human being whose nature is fraught with all kinds of imperfection and deficiency. Thus the duty of the man who investigates the writings of scientists, if learning the truth is his goal, is to make himself an enemy of all that he reads, and, applying his mind to the core and margins of its content, attack it from every side. He should also suspect himself as he performs his critical examination of it, so that he may avoid falling into either prejudice or leniency...

Reese