John Horgan, The Popper Paradox (August 4, 2023)
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[T]he paradox lurking at the heart of Karl Popper's career... Everyone says this opponent of dogmatism is almost pathologically dogmatic. ...Popper scoffs at scientists’ hope that they can achieve a final theory of nature. "...I think we have gone very far, but we are much further away." He... returns with his book Conjectures and Refutations... [and] reads his own words with reverence: "In our infinite ignorance we are all equal." ...Can a skeptic avoid self-contradiction... the Popper paradox? And if he doesn’t, if he preaches but fails to practice intellectual doubt and humility, does that negate his work? Not at all. Such paradoxes corroborate the skeptic’s point... the quest for truth is endless, twisty and riddled with pitfalls, into which even sharp-eyed seekers tumble. In our infinite ignorance we are all equal.

— John Horgan on Karl Popper

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "[T]he paradox lurking at the heart of Karl Popper's career... Everyone says this opponent of dogmatism is almost pathologically dogmatic. ...Popper scoffs at scientists’ hope that they can achieve a final theory of nature. "...I think we have gone very far, but we are much further away." He... returns with his book Conjectures and Refutations... [and] reads his own words with reverence: "In our infinite ignorance we are all equal." ...Can a skeptic avoid self-contradiction... the Popper paradox? And if he doesn’t, if he preaches but fails to practice intellectual doubt and humility, does that negate his work? Not at all. Such paradoxes corroborate the skeptic’s point... the quest for truth is endless, twisty and riddled with pitfalls, into which even sharp-eyed seekers tumble. In our infinite ignorance we are all equal." in the context of "John Horgan, The Popper Paradox (August 4, 2023)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Karl Popper" (Quotes about Popper) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
John Horgan

About John Horgan

John Joseph Horgan (August 7, 1959 – November 12, 2024) was a Canadian politician serving as the 36th and Premier of British Columbia from July 2017 to November 2022. He was leader of the British Columbia New Democratic Party from 2014 to 2022, and MLA for the constituency of Langford-Juan de Fuca and its predecessors from 2005 to 2023.