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I think it's important for scientists to be a bit less arrogant, a bit more humble, recognising we are capable of making mistakes and being fallacious - which is increasingly serious in a society where our work may have unpredictable consequences.

Robert Winston

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Robert Winston
Age: 84
Born: 1940
Born: July 15
Academic
Physician
Politician
Professor
Scientist
Surgeon
Television Presenter
Inner and Outer London
Robert Maurice Lipson Winston
The Lord Winston
Lord Winston
Baron Winston
Professor Robert Maurice Lipson Winston
Baron Winston
May
Consequence
Unpredictable
Important
Capable
Increasingly
Work
Serious
Arrogant
Think
Bits
Scientists
Thinking
Mistake
Consequences
Society
Humble
Less
Scientist
Recognising
Making
Mistakes
Fallacious

More quotes by Robert Winston

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I'm a traditional Jew with an orthodox background, and it informs much of my approach to science. Of course I think it's very important that if you have those sorts of backgrounds you don't impose them on other people as a clinician, of course.
Robert Winston
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Robots may cut down on infection and mean a consultant can see more patients, but wouldn't you rather meet the doctor than a machine?
Robert Winston
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Man is a competitive creature, and the seeds of conflict are built deep into our genes. We fought each other on the savannah and only survived against great odds by organising ourselves into groups which would have had a common purpose, giving morale and fortitude.
Robert Winston
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Medicine, which I wouldn't be without, has also been a force for... less good. For example, if you look at our mishandling of the immune system, using antibiotics in children and avoiding infection, we've certainly increased the risk of asthma.
Robert Winston
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I don't believe the fertilised egg can be equated with the sort of human life that you and I represent, or our children represent.
Robert Winston
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I don't know whether it is important to study science at a young age, though current thinking emphasises the need.
Robert Winston
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I used to work for the World Health Organisation in poor countries all over the world - Bangladesh, Korea, the Philippines and India. You learn a whole range of things about how other people are living and try to connect with them to gain an understanding of where they're coming from.
Robert Winston
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By discovering how our minds work, we can improve our learning power and unlock our true potential.
Robert Winston
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Our aggression is a deep instinct which survives in all kinds of manifestations in modern man.
Robert Winston
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I did not study science at school until I was 13, when I was totally turned on by a seemingly dreary old teacher who suddenly, unannounced, manufactured a huge explosion in the middle of a totally boring monologue. From then on, all of his class wanted to make explosions.
Robert Winston
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Scientists need to be prepared to engage, and the best people to engage with are students, ideally from primary school because there's no question that their capacity to work out complex things is extremely good.
Robert Winston
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Childhood is not dead. Children were worse off when we were hunter-gatherers they were threatened in medieval times and exploited during the Industrial Revolution. Was it any better in the time of Charles Kingsley or Charles Dickens?
Robert Winston
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I love the French detective series 'Spiral.' It's quite brutal to watch, but I'm already hooked.
Robert Winston
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Parents should talk to their children, even when they are babies and can't talk back.
Robert Winston
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That Britain today is a liberal society is largely because of the philosophy and outlook of the Anglican Church, which did so much to shape our core values in the past few centuries.
Robert Winston
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Both in Britain and America, huge publicity has been given to stem cells, particularly embryonic stem cells, and the potential they offer. Of course, the study of stem cells is one of the most exciting areas in biology, but I think it is unlikely that embryonic stem cells are likely to be useful in healthcare for a long time.
Robert Winston
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There were never any doctors in my family. But my grandparents and my mother had a strong social conscience that was formative.
Robert Winston
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Ethics is not routinely taught to science students except in medicine, and I think it should be.
Robert Winston
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While nobody has identified any gene for religion, there are certainly some candidate genes that may influence human personality and confer a tendency to religious feelings. Some of the genes likely to be involved are those which control levels of different chemicals called neurotransmitters in the brain.
Robert Winston
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However pragmatic you are, it is very demanding being a new parent.
Robert Winston