# Human Intelligence May Reach Its Scientific Limits by Martin Rees > “There’s a widely held presumption that our insight will deepen indefinitely—that all scientific problems will eventually yield to attack. But I think we may need to abandon this optimism. The human intellect may hit the buffers—even though in most fields of science there’s surely a long way to go before this happens.” > **— Martin Rees**, *2014: What Scientific Idea Is Ready for Retirement?, Edge, 2014* ## Sources and Context - **Direct publication and full context:** [2014: What Scientific Idea Is Ready for Retirement?](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/25519) — The linked publication contains the quoted passage and its surrounding argument. - **Master research record:** [[research/Martin Rees on Machine Succession, Post-Human Intelligence, and the Cosmic Future|Martin Rees on Machine Succession, Post-Human Intelligence, and the Cosmic Future]] — preserves this object inside the open Martin Rees source dossier. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Article:** [[articles/We Were Never Going to Make It|We Were Never Going to Make It]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Ramanujan Mathematical Universe|The Ramanujan Mathematical Universe]] - **Article:** [[articles/Project Hail Mary and Other Intelligences|Project Hail Mary and Other Intelligences]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Cosmology|Cosmology]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Epistemic Limits|Epistemic Limits]] - [[wiki/Scientific Inference|Scientific Inference]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “There’s a widely held presumption that our insight will deepen indefinitely—that all scientific problems will eventually yield to attack. But I think we may need to abandon this optimism. The human intellect may hit the buffers—even though in most fields of science there’s surely a long way to go before this happens.” — Martin Rees, 2014: What Scientific Idea Is Ready for Retirement?, Edge, 2014 https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-martin-rees-human-intelligence-reach-scientific-limits ```