I'd like to find the author and source of a quote. I recall it as:
People that cannot distinguish rocks from coconuts exhibit a pitiable but praiseworthy tendency to die before reproducing their kind.
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I'm thinking Quine, but I don't know the source nor exact quote.– davidgJul 11 at 17:55
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I face a similar hurdle on more occasions than I feel is appropriate to mention. Since I'm not getting paid to do philosophy, it's a no-brainer why I'm stuck. What's your excuse, mon ami?– Agent SmithJul 12 at 11:28
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2The closest I can find to this is Quine's "Creatures inveterately wrong in their inductions have a pathetic but praiseworthy tendency to die before reproducing their kind." From the paper "Natural Kinds" in his collection Ontological Relativity and Other Essays.– BumbleJul 13 at 0:50
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My undergraduate lecturer said something similar about people who don't believe in IBE and induction (that they would always be late to class anyway). Everyone uses these ways of thinking; some people pretend otherwise, perhaps to excuse their poor reasoning.– user67155Aug 12 at 23:38
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1 Answer
On DuckDuckGo, the search term "exhibit praiseworthy tendency reproducing kind" pulled up a number of references to Quine.
answered Jul 11 at 18:58
