# Facts and Reason Can Be Hard to Defend by Andrian Kreye > “Literalism can become an exhausting effort to defend the principles of fact and reason in a polarized world. The complex and often boring nature of factual reality makes it an unglamorous voice amid a choir of sparkling witticisms and provocations.” > **— Andrian Kreye**, *2004 Edge Annual Question, response passage* ## Sources and Context - **Direct publication and locator:** [Kreye's Law of Literalism — Andrian Kreye](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/10109) — 2004 Annual Question response, contiguous sentence(s) within the representative extract. - **Exact original excerpt:** “Literalism can become an exhausting effort to defend the principles of fact and reason in a polarized world. The complex and often boring nature of factual reality makes it an unglamorous voice amid a choir of sparkling witticisms and provocations. Devoid of the ecstasies and spiritual cushioning of religion it denies age old longings. It can be decried as heresy or simultaneously accused of treason by all sides. It must sustain the insecurities brought on by the absence of ultimate truth. Having been the gravitational center of enlightenment, it must be defended as the last resort of reason.” - **Context and editing:** Kreye is discussing the defense of factual reason amid ideology and selective use of scientific language. The two contiguous sentences are his evaluation of that effort. No editorial words were inserted. - **Local Edge archive:** [[research/Edge 2004 Full Quotation Curation|Edge 2004 Full Quotation Curation]], response EDGE2004-154. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Edge|Edge]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]] - **Article:** [[articles/Information Persistence in Complex Systems|Information Persistence in Complex Systems]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Greatest Transformation in Human History|The Greatest Transformation in Human History]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Science Ecosystem|Science Ecosystem]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Science Ecosystem|Science Ecosystem]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “Literalism can become an exhausting effort to defend the principles of fact and reason in a polarized world. The complex and often boring nature of factual reality makes it an unglamorous voice amid a choir of sparkling witticisms and provocations.” — Andrian Kreye, 2004 Edge Annual Question, response passage https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-andrian-kreye-facts-reason-be-hard-defend ```