It has long been a matter of
speculation, but there is a great difference between a fact and a
speculation. An eminent historian has recently deprecated the distinction
which is conventionally drawn between science and knowledge, but,
nevertheless, such a distinction is useful, and will continue to be
drawn. A man's head may be filled with various things. His inclination
may lead him, for example, to study archaic myths in the various dialects
which first gave them birth; he may have a fancy for committing to memory
the writings of authors on astrology, or the speculations of ancient
philosophers, from Aristotle and Lucretius downward. Such a one may have
a just claim to be considered a man of learning, and far be it from me to
despise the branches of knowledge toward which his mind has a natural
bent. But in so far as his knowledge is a knowledge of fancies rather
than facts, it has no claim to be called science.
Fancies, however beautiful, cannot form a solid basis for action or
conduct, whereas a scientific fact does. It is all very well to suppose
that such and such things may be, but mere possibilities, or even
probabilities, do not breed a living faith. They often foster schism, and
give rise to disunited or opposed action on the part of those who think
that such and such things may not be.
When, however, a fancy or a speculation becomes a fact which is capable
of demonstration, its universal acceptance is only a matter of time, and
the man who neglects such facts in regulating his actions or conduct is
rightly regarded as insane all the world over.
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