On the Method of Zadig: Essay #1 from "Science and Hebrew Tradition" — Page 14
At the present day, it would probably be impossible to find any sane advocate of this opinion; and the fact is rather surprising, that among the people from whom the circle-squarers, perpetual-motioners, flat-earthed men and the like, are recruited, to say nothing of table-turners and spirit-rappers, somebody has not perceived the easy avenue to nonsensical notoriety open to any one who will take up the good old doctrine, that fossils are all _lusus naturae._
Heutzutage wäre es wahrscheinlich unmöglich, irgendeinen vernünftigen Verfechter dieser Meinung zu finden; und es ist eigentlich überraschend, dass unter den Leuten, aus denen sich die Kreisquadrierer, Erfinder des Perpetuum mobile, Flacherdler und dergleichen rekrutieren, ganz zu schweigen von Tischrückern und Geisterklopfern, niemand den leichten Weg zu sinnloser Berühmtheit wahrgenommen hat, der jedem offensteht, der die gute alte Lehre aufgreifen will, dass Fossilien allesamt _lusus naturae_ sind.
The position would be impregnable, inasmuch as it is quite impossible to prove the contrary.
Diese Position wäre uneinnehmbar, da es völlig unmöglich ist, das Gegenteil zu beweisen.
If a man choose to maintain that a fossil oyster shell, in spite of its correspondence, down to every minutest particular, with that of an oyster fresh taken out of the sea, was never tenanted by a living oyster, but is a mineral concretion, there is no demonstrating his error.
Wenn jemand behaupten will, dass eine fossile Austernschale, trotz ihrer Übereinstimmung in jedem noch so kleinsten Detail mit der einer frisch aus dem Meer entnommenen Auster, niemals von einer lebenden Auster bewohnt wurde, sondern eine mineralische Konkretion ist, so lässt sich sein Irrtum nicht beweisen.
All that can be done is to show him that, by a parity of reasoning, he is bound to admit that a heap of oyster shells outside a fishmonger's door may also be "sports of nature," and that a mutton bone in a dust-bin may have had the like origin.
Alles, was man tun kann, ist ihm zu zeigen, dass er nach derselben Logik zugeben müsste, dass ein Haufen Austernschalen vor der Tür eines Fischhändlers ebenfalls „Launen der Natur" sein könnten und dass ein Hammelknochen in einem Mülleimer denselben Ursprung haben könnte.
And when you cannot prove that people are wrong, but only that they are absurd, the best course is to let them alone.
Und wenn man nicht beweisen kann, dass Menschen falsch liegen, sondern nur, dass sie absurd sind, ist es am besten, sie in Ruhe zu lassen.
Vocabulary
- Heutzutage
- Nowadays, at the present time.
- wäre
- Would be; conditional form of sein.
- es
- It; third person singular pronoun.
- wahrscheinlich
- Probably, likely; adjective or adverb.
- unmöglich
- Impossible; not able to be done.
- irgendeinen
- Any; some unspecified person or thing.
- vernünftigen
- Reasonable, sensible; rational minded.
- Verfechter
- Advocate, supporter; one who champions.
- dieser
- This, that; demonstrative pronoun or adjective.
- Meinung
- Opinion, view; what one believes.
- zu
- To; preposition or infinitive marker.
- finden
- To find, discover; locate something.
- und
- And; conjunction connecting words.
- ist
- Is; third person singular of sein.
- eigentlich
- Actually, really; in fact or truth.
- überraschend
- Surprising, astonishing; causing surprise.
- dass
- That; subordinating conjunction.
- unter
- Among, between; preposition.
- den
- The; definite article accusative plural.
- Leuten
- People, folks; plural of person.
- aus
- From, out of; preposition.
- denen
- Those; relative pronoun dative plural.
- sich
- Themselves, oneself; reflexive pronoun.
- die
- The; definite article feminine/plural.
- Erfinder
- Inventor; one who creates something new.
- des
- Of the; definite article genitive.
- dergleichen
- Such things, the like; similar items.
- rekrutieren
- To recruit, enlist; gather supporters.
- ganz
- Quite, entirely, completely; wholly.
- schweigen
- To be silent, say nothing.
- von
- From, of; preposition.
- niemand
- Nobody, no one; negative pronoun.
- leichten
- Easy, light; simple or uncomplicated.
- Weg
- Way, path, road; route.
- sinnloser
- Meaningless, senseless, futile; without purpose.
- Berühmtheit
- Fame, celebrity; state of being famous.
- wahrgenommen
- Perceived, noticed; past participle of wahrnehmen.
- hat
- Has; third person singular of haben.
- der
- The, who; definite article masculine.
- jedem
- Everyone, each; dative of jeder.
- offensteht
- Is available, open; accessible to.
- gute
- Good; positive in quality.
- alte
- Old; aged, ancient.
- Lehre
- Doctrine, teaching, apprenticeship; instruction.
- aufgreifen
- To take up, adopt; seize idea.
- will
- Wants, desires; third person singular.
- Fossilien
- Fossils; remains of ancient organisms.
- allesamt
- All together, all without exception.
- sind
- Are; plural of sein.
- Diese
- This, these; demonstrative pronoun.
- Position
- Position, stance; opinion or viewpoint.
- uneinnehmbar
- Indefensible, untenable; not able defended.
- da
- Since, because; as preposition.
- völlig
- Completely, entirely, totally; absolute.
- das
- The, that; neuter definite article.
- Gegenteil
- Opposite, contrary; the reverse.
- beweisen
- To prove, demonstrate; show evidence.
- Wenn
- If, when; conditional conjunction.
- jemand
- Someone, anybody; indefinite pronoun.
- behaupten
- To claim, assert; maintain position.
- eine
- A, an; indefinite article feminine.
- fossile
- Fossil; relating to ancient remains.
- trotz
- Despite, in spite of; preposition.
- ihrer
- Their, her; possessive pronoun genitive.
- Übereinstimmung
- Agreement, correspondence; match or accord.
- in
- In, into; preposition.
- noch
- Still, yet; even, again.
- so
- So, thus, like this; manner.
- kleinsten
- Smallest, tiniest; superlative of klein.
- Detail
- Detail; particular or small part.
- mit
- With; preposition showing accompaniment.
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