‘Deutsch Explains’ misquotes David Deutsch (3)

In-house rules Feb 24, 2024 · By Dennis Hackethal

Misquote: 4 issues found

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Suggested fix

The quote with each unmarked change either marked or undone. It passes the check.

[...] [S]cientific theories are not ‘derived’ from anything. We do not read them in nature, nor does nature write them into us. They are guesses – bold conjectures. Human minds create them by rearranging, combining, altering and adding to existing ideas with the intention of improving upon them. We do not begin with ‘white paper’ at birth, but with inborn expectations and intentions and an innate ability to improve upon them using thought and experience.

Original text

But, in reality, scientific theories are not ‘derived’ from anything. We do not read them in nature, nor does nature write them into us. They are guesses – bold conjectures. Human minds create them by rearranging, combining, altering and adding to existing ideas with the intention of improving upon them. We do not begin with ‘white paper’ at birth, but with inborn expectations and intentions and an innate ability to improve upon them using thought and experience.

Quote text

Scientific theories are not ‘derived’ from anything. We do not read them in nature, nor does nature write them into us. They are guesses – bold conjectures. Human minds create them by rearranging, combining, altering, and adding to existing ideas with the intention of improving upon them. We do not begin with ‘white paper’ at birth but with inborn expectations and intentions and an innate ability to improve upon them using thought and experience.

No use of ellipsis indicated, falling back to default ‘[...]’ if necessary.

Diff

But,‧in‧reality,‧sScientific‧theories‧are‧not‧‘derived’‧from‧anything.‧We‧do‧not‧read‧them‧in‧nature,‧nor‧does‧nature‧write‧them‧into‧us.‧They‧are‧guesses‧–‧bold‧conjectures.‧Human‧minds‧create‧them‧by‧rearranging,‧combining,‧altering,‧and‧adding‧to‧existing‧ideas‧with‧the‧intention‧of‧improving‧upon‧them.‧We‧do‧not‧begin‧with‧‘white‧paper’‧at‧birth,‧but‧with‧inborn‧expectations‧and‧intentions‧and‧an‧innate‧ability‧to‧improve‧upon‧them‧using‧thought‧and‧experience.

added in the quote ~~removed~~ from the original wavy not marked as a change ‧ space

Part-by-part explanation

#	Part	Valid?	Explanation
1	~~But,‧in‧reality,‧s~~	× no	Deletions must be indicated, eg by ‘[...]’ or [replacement].
2	S	× no	Insertions must be surrounded by [brackets].
3	cientific‧theories‧are‧not‧‘derived’‧from‧anything.‧We‧do‧not‧read‧them‧in‧nature,‧nor‧does‧nature‧write‧them‧into‧us.‧They‧are‧guesses‧–‧bold‧conjectures.‧Human‧minds‧create‧them‧by‧rearranging,‧combining,‧altering
4	,	× no	Insertions must be surrounded by [brackets].
5	‧and‧adding‧to‧existing‧ideas‧with‧the‧intention‧of‧improving‧upon‧them.‧We‧do‧not‧begin‧with‧‘white‧paper’‧at‧birth
6	,	× no	Deletions must be indicated, eg by ‘[...]’ or [replacement].
7	‧but‧with‧inborn‧expectations‧and‧intentions‧and‧an‧innate‧ability‧to‧improve‧upon‧them‧using‧thought‧and‧experience.

Notes

They’ve made the mistake of omitting something at the beginning of the sentence without indication before, twice. It’s the kind of mistake Deutsch himself would make (eg here and here). So I’m starting to wonder whether Deutsch runs that Twitter account and misquotes himself. The account has his photo and links to his homepage so maybe? But the activity doesn’t match the British timezone...

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