“10. “If apprehensions relating to the heavenly bodies did not disturb us, and if the terrors of death have no concern with us, and if we had the courage to contemplate the boundaries of pain and of the desires, we should have no need of physiological studies. 11. “It would not be possible for a person to banish all fear about those things which are called most essential, unless he knew what is the nature of the universe, or if he had any idea that the fables told about it could be true; and therefore, it is, that a person cannot enjoy unmixed pleasure without physiological knowledge. 12. “It would be no good for a man to secure himself safety as far as men are concerned, while in a state of apprehension as to all the heavenly bodies, and those under the earth, and in short, all those in the infinite.” — Diogenes Laertius, *Lives of Eminent Philosophers*, Book X, Sec. XXXI, Maxims 10–12, trans. C. D. Yonge (1853). **Surface Gloss:** Studying natural science has zero intrinsic value; we only need to understand the physical mechanics of the cosmos because otherwise mythic fables about the sky and the underworld will poison our peace of mind. The **Therapeutic Minimum of Research**: never build an explanatory model deeper than the specific anxiety or operational risk it is meant to neutralize. Before sinking months into mapping a complex system ("physiological studies"), ask what concrete fear or failure mode that knowledge eliminates. If a black-box system poses no threat to your execution and you already know the boundaries of your own needs, deep-diving its internal mechanics is intellectual procrastination disguised as rigor.
— In our words · Source: Lives of Eminent Philosophers (Diogenes Laertius)