Quote

A technical solution may be defined as one that requires a change only in the techniques of the natural sciences, demanding little or nothing in the way of change in human values or ideas of morality.

Garrett Hardin

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Garrett Hardin
Age: 88 †
Born: 1915
Born: April 21
Died: 2003
Died: September 14
Biologist
Demographer
Ecologist
Statistician
University Teacher
Dallas
Texas
Garrett James Hardin
Garrett J. Hardin
Ideas
Requires
Little
Solutions
Demanding
Human
Morality
Techniques
Humans
Values
Sciences
Nothing
Natural
Technical
Way
Change
Solution
Littles
Technique
May
Defined

More quotes by Garrett Hardin

Image
We can't cure a shortage by increasing the supply.
Garrett Hardin
Image
Throughout history, human exploitation of the earth has produced this progression: colonize-destroy-move on.
Garrett Hardin
Image
But it is no good using the tongs of reason to pull the Fundamentalists' chestnuts out of the fire of contradiction. Their real troubles lie elsewhere.
Garrett Hardin
Image
Why are ecologists and environmentalists so feared and hated? This is because in part what they have to say is new to the general public, and the new is always alarming.
Garrett Hardin
Image
Using the commons as a cesspool does not harm the general public under frontier conditions, because there is no public, the same behavior in a metropolis is unbearable.
Garrett Hardin
Image
Education can counteract the natural tendency to do the wrong thing, but the inexorable succession of generations requires that the basis for this knowledge be constantly refreshed.
Garrett Hardin
Image
Value is a relative concept: the value of each action is determined by comparing it with other possible actions.
Garrett Hardin
Image
The greatest folly is to accept expert statements uncritically. At the very least, we should always seek another opinion.
Garrett Hardin
Image
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights describes the family as the natural and fundamental unit of society. It follows that any choice and decision with regard to the size of the family must irrevocably rest with the family itself, and cannot be made by anyone else.
Garrett Hardin
Image
(Technology reliability) x (Human reliability) = (System reliability)
Garrett Hardin
Image
Ecology is the overall science of which economics is a minor speciality.
Garrett Hardin
Image
Religious reasons, which is no reason. I notice Skeptic had a review of Dennett's book, Darwin's Dangerous Idea. Religious reasons amount to what Dennett terms skyhooks. Do you believe in skyhooks? I don't.
Garrett Hardin
Image
Continuity is at the heart of conservatism: ecology serves that heart.
Garrett Hardin
Image
The essence of dramatic tragedy is not unhappiness. It resides in the solemnity of the remorseless working of things.
Garrett Hardin
Image
Indeed, our particular concept of private property, which deters us from exhausting the positive resources of the earth, favors pollution.
Garrett Hardin
Image
You can never do merely one thing. The law applies to any action that changes something in a complex system. The point is that an action taken to alleviate a problem will trigger several effects, some of which may offset or even negate the one intended.
Garrett Hardin
Image
Numeracy: 1. The art of putting numbers to things, that is, assigning amounts to variables in order that practical decisions may be reach. 2. That aspect of education (beyond mere literacy) which takes account of quantitative aspects of reality.
Garrett Hardin
Image
But as population became denser, the natural chemical and biological recycling processes became overloaded, calling for a redefinition of property rights.
Garrett Hardin
Image
Ruin is the destination toward which all men rush, each pursuing his own best interest in a society that believes in the freedom of the commons.
Garrett Hardin
Image
The only kind of coercion I recommend is mutual coercion, mutually agreed upon by the majority of the people affected.
Garrett Hardin