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by niccaluim 3828 days ago
"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments, and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance—that principle is contempt prior to investigation." - William Paley
2 comments

This is the same William Paley (1743–1805) who proposed the watchmaker analogy arguing that complexity in nature was teleological evidence of a creator or intelligent designer.
I have always loved that quote, now I find I have been mis-attributing it for close to 30 years... For quite some time it had been attributed to Herbert Spencer