Bertrand Russell Quotes About Choices

• While economics is about how people make choice, sociology is about how they don't have any choice to make.

  Bertrand Russell

  People, Choices, Economics

• The first man who said "fire burns" was employing scientific method, at any rate if he had allowed himself to be burnt several times. This man had already passed through the two stages of observation and generalization. He had not, however, what scientific technique demands - a careful choice of significant facts on the one hand, and, on the other hand, various means of arriving at laws otherwise than my mere generalization.

  Bertrand Russell

  Mean, Science, Men

  "The Scientific Outlook".

• Science, by itself, cannot supply us with an ethic. It can show us how to achieve a given end, and it may show us that some ends cannot be achieved. But among ends that can be achieved our choice must be decided by other than purely scientific considerations. If a man were to say, "I hate the human race, and I think it would be a good thing if it were exterminated," we could say, "Well, my dear sir, let us begin the process with you." But this is hardly argument, and no amount of science could prove such a man mistaken.

  Bertrand Russell

  Hate, Mistake, Science

• To choose one sock from each of infinitely many pairs of socks requires the Axiom of Choice, but for shoes the Axiom is not needed.

  Bertrand Russell

  Shoes, Choices, Pairs

  "Weighing the Odds: A Course in Probability and Statistics". Book by David Williams, p. 498, 2001.

• The Axiom of Choice is necessary to select a set from an infinite number of socks, but not an infinite number of shoes.

  Bertrand Russell

  Shoes, Numbers, Choices

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