Any man who never conducts an experiment is a fool

From Darwin by Paul Johnson regarding Charles Darwin's paternal grandfather, Erasmus Darwin (1731–1802):

He had a maxim: “Any man who never conducts an experiment is a fool.”

Perhaps not a fool but I agree that one of the excitements of an intelligent life is the running of experiments.  Not so much the chemicals in the kitchen kind, though that of course counts.  More the observational kind.  

I believe I see a pattern.  If the pattern is real, then when I do X, Y will occur.  Sometimes in terms of conversation but more often more broadly in sociological terms.  If you seek out patterns, you must also seek out how to prove that those patterns are indeed real and not merely perceived or coincidental.