I hate dogmatism...in other people

Opposing self-righteousness is easier said than done. How do you denounce dogmatism in others without succumbing to it yourself? No one embodied thispitfall more than the philosopher Karl Popper, who railed against certaintyin science, philosophy, religion and politics and yet was notoriously dogmatic. I once asked Popper, who called his stance critical rationalism, about charges that he would not brook criticism of his ideas in his classroom. He replied indignantly that he welcomed students' criticism; only if they persisted after he pointed out their errors would he banish them from class.

- John Horgan, in an op-ed editorial in the New York Times, 12-12-2004