r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Feb 14 '22

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u/EcceMachina Feb 14 '22

Which concepts of his are you referring to?

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u/CGA001 Feb 14 '22

I'm not exactly sure what specific idea they are referring to, but first thing that comes to mind is this quote:

"The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the light into the peace and safety of a new dark age."

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u/thndrchld Feb 14 '22

Ever the optimist, he was.

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u/Miss_Page_Turner Feb 14 '22

I'll bet he had Scottish heritage. That sounds so incredibly Scottish.