Possibility quotes

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Arthur_Bloch

Murphy's Law Corollary 3

“If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong.”
  • Source: Attributed to Edward A Murphy, reported in the book “Murphy's Law and Other Reasons Why Things Go Wrong” written by Arthur Bloch, first edition published in 1977 by Price/Stern/Sloan, Los Angeles, California. ISBN-10: 0843104287. ISBN-13: 978-0843104288. Chapter Murphology, page 11.
Keywords: Possibility_quotes Several_quotes Go_quotes Wrong_quotes One_quotes Cause_quotes Most_quotes Damage_quotes Law_quotes Murphy(topic)_quotes

Mihaly_Csikszentmihalyi

Flow Experience

“It is not easy to transform ordinary experience into flow, but almost everyone can improve his or her ability to do so...[but] attentional disorders not only interfere with learning, but effectively rule out the possibility of experiencing flow as well... People who can enjoy themselves in a variety of situations have the ability to screen out stimulation and to focus only on what they decide is relevant... The association between the ability to concentrate and flow is clear.”
  • Source: Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in the book “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience“, chapter “The Autotelic Personality”, page 83. Original content published by Harper Perennial Modern Classics in 1990. Kindle edition published by Harper Collins in 2008. ISBN: 978-0061876721.
Keywords: Easy_quotes Transform_quotes Ordinary_quotes Experience_quotes Flow_quotes Improve_quotes Ability_quotes Attention_quotes Disorder_quotes Interfere_quotes Rule_quotes Out_quotes Possibility_quotes Enjoy_quotes Variety_quotes Situation_quotes Screen_quotes Stimulation_quotes Focus_quotes Decide_quotes Relevant_quotes Association_quotes Concentrate_quotes

David_Deutsch

Universal Virtual Reality

“Since building a universal virtual-reality generator is physically possible, it must actually be built in some universes.”
Keywords: Universal_quotes Virtual_Reality_quotes Computed_Reality_quotes Physical_quotes Possibility_quotes

Edsger_Wybe_Dijkstra

Art of Programming

“The art of programming is the art of organizing complexity, of mastering multitude and avoiding its bastard chaos as effectively as possible.”
Keywords: Art_quotes Programming_quotes Complexity_quotes Multitude_quotes Chaos_quotes Effectiveness_quotes Possibility_quotes Organization_quotes Master_quotes Avoid_quotes Bastard_quotes

Competent Programming

“Don't blame me for the fact that competent programming, as I view it as an intellectual possibility, will be too difficult for 'the average programmer' — you must not fall into the trap of rejecting a surgical technique because it is beyond the capabilities of the barber in his shop around the corner.”
Keywords: Competence_quotes Blame_quotes Programming_quotes Programmer_quotes Surgical_quotes Technique_quotes Capability_quotes Average_quotes Rejection_quotes Barber_quotes Fact_quotes Intellectual_quotes Possibility_quotes Difficult_quotes Fall_quotes Trap_quotes Shop_quotes Corner_quotes

Frank_Drake

Drake Equation

    N = R* ⋅ ƒp ⋅ ne ⋅ ƒl ⋅ ƒi ⋅ ƒc ⋅ L

  where

    • N  = the number of civilizations in the Milky Way galaxy
           with which communication might be possible.
    • R* = the average rate of star formation in our Galaxy.
    • ƒp = the fraction of those stars that have planets.
    • ne = the average number of planets that can potentially
           support life per star that has planets.
    • ƒl = the fraction of planets that could support life
           that actually develops life at some point.
    • ƒi = the fraction of planets with life that go on to
           develop intelligent life (civilizations).
    • ƒc = the fraction of civilizations that develop a
           technology that releases detectable signs of
           their existence into space.
    • L =  the length of time for which such civilizations
           release detectable signals into space.
  • Notes: The original form of the equation was written by Frank Drake in 1960 in preparation for a work meeting at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO)in Green Bank, West Virginia. However, he did not formally publish the equation until 1961 (see above).
Keywords: Drake(topic)_quotes Equation_quotes Civilization_quotes Milky_Way_quotes Galaxy_quotes Extraterrestrial_quotes Life_quotes Alien_quotes Communication_quotes Possibility_quotes Rate_quotes Star_quotes Formation_quotes Fraction_quotes Planet_quotes Intelligent_quotes Technology_quotes Detectable_quotes Sign_quotes Length_quotes Time_quotes Space_quotes Signal_quotes Existence_quotes

Dwight_D_Eisenhower

Crises and Balance

“Crises there will continue to be. In meeting them, whether foreign or domestic, great or small, there is a recurring temptation to feel that some spectacular and costly action could become the miraculous solution to all current difficulties. A huge increase in newer elements of our defenses; development of unrealistic programs to cure every ill in agriculture; a dramatic expansion in basic and applied research -- these and many other possibilities, each possibly promising in itself, may be suggested as the only way to the road we wish to travel. But each proposal must be weighed in the light of a broader consideration: the need to maintain balance in and among national programs, balance between the private and the public economy, balance between the cost and hoped for advantages, balance between the clearly necessary and the comfortably desirable, balance between our essential requirements as a nation and the duties imposed by the nation upon the individual, balance between actions of the moment and the national welfare of the future. Good judgment seeks balance and progress. Lack of it eventually finds imbalance and frustration.”
  • Source: Dwight D. Eisenhower, Farewell address (17 January 1961).
Keywords: Crisis_quotes Balance_quotes Action_quotes Miracle_quotes Solution_quotes Difficulty_quotes Defense_quotes Cure_quotes Program_quotes Research_quotes Possibility_quotes Consider_quotes Weighing_quotes Private_quotes Public_quotes Economy_quotes Cost_quotes Advantage_quotes Nation_quotes Necessary_quotes Comfort_quotes Desire_quotes Requirements_quotes Duty_quotes Individual_quotes Future_quotes Judgment_quotes Welfare_quotes Progress_quotes Frustration_quotesContinue_quotes Foreign_quotes Domestic_quotes Great_quotes Small_quotes Recurring_quotes Temptation_quotes Feel_quotes Spectacular_quotes Element_quotes Development_quotes Unrealistic_quotes Ill_quotes Agriculture_quotes Dramatic_quotes Expansion_quotes Basic_quotes Applied_quotes Promise_quotes Road_quotes Travel_quotes Proposal_quotes Need_quotes Essential_quotes Imbalance_quotes

David_Epstein

Creative Constraints

“That's the thing about constraints that spur creativity: They shut down many possibilities, but stimulate more varied and novel exploration of those that remain... Given complete freedom, our very strong urge is to follow the ‘path of least resistance.’ Specifically, we do only what we have done before, or follow the first example that jumps to mind.”
  • Source: David Epstein in the book “Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better”. Published 2026 by Riverhead Books. Page 58. ISBN 978-0593715734 (Ebook).
Keywords: Thing_quotes Constraint_quotes Spur_quotes Creativity_quotes Shut_quotes Down_quotes Many_quotes Possibility_quotes Stimulate_quotes Variety_quotes Novel_quotes Explore_quotes Remain_quotes Give_quotes Complete_quotes Freedom_quotes Strong_quotes Urge_quotes Follow_quotes Path_quotes Least_quotes Resistance_quotes Do_quotes What_quotes Before_quotes Follow_quotes First_quotes Example_quotes Jump_quotes Mind_quotes

Complete Freedom

“In other words, when anything is possible, it becomes nearly impossible to do anything new. Complete freedom, paradoxically, leads to conformity.”
  • Source: David Epstein in the book “Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better”. Published 2026 by Riverhead Books. Page 58. ISBN 978-0593715734 (Ebook).
Keywords: Anything_quotes Possibility_quotes Become_quotes Near_quotes Impossible_quotes Do_quotes New_quotes Complete_quotes Freedom_quotes Paradox_quotes Lead_quotes Conform_quotes

Haiku

“Haiku, the three-line poem made by alternating lines of five, seven, and five syllables... in the seventeenth century, a student of Zen named Matsuo Bashō... made it into its own serious form, imbued with Zen principles. Not only were the words spare, but the ethos was as well... It prompted poets to pause and look mindfully at the world around them... This minuscule problem space is known around the world for its ability to turn anyone, from kindergartener to adult, into a probing wordsmith in an instant. Look around you; try it. The form's scarcity will immediately ignite an exploration of new linguistic possibilities in your mind.”
  • Source: David Epstein in the book “Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better”. Published 2026 by Riverhead Books. Page 68. ISBN 978-0593715734 (Ebook).
Keywords: Haiku_quotes Poem_quotes Make_quotes Alternative_quotes Line_quotes Syllable_quotes Century_quotes Student_quotes Zen_quotes Serious_quotes Form_quotes Imbue_quotes Principle_quotes Spare_quotes Ethos_quotes Prompt_quotes Poet_quotes Pause_quotes Look_quotes Mindful_quotes World_quotes Around_quotes Minuscule_quotes Problem_quotes Space_quotes Know_quotes Ability_quotes Turn_quotes Anyone_quotes Kindergarten_quotes Adult_quotes Probe_quotes Wordsmith_quotes Instant_quotes Try_quotes Scarce_quotes Immediate_quotes Ignite_quotes Explore_quotes Linguistic_quotes Possibility_quotes Mind_quotes

Gordon_Glegg

Engineering the Impossible

“One of the intriguing facts of the engineering profession is that it is not only possible but essential to do the impossible. But we must be careful to define what we mean by that word. We must distinguish between the relatively impossible and the intrinsically impossible. The relative impossibility is something which is impossible unless something else becomes possible. It always includes or implies a clause beginning 'unless'. The intrinsic impossibility contains an imprisoned self-contradiction within itself; it is absolutely impossible.”
  • Source: Glegg, G. L. (1969). The Design of Design. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 978-0-511-79996-9. Chapter 1 page 5.
Keywords: Fact_quotes Intriguing_quotes Engineering_quotes Professional_quotes Possibility_quotes Essential_quotes Impossibility_quotes Careful_quotes Definition_quotes Meaning_quotes Word_quotes Relative_quotes Intrinsic_quotes Self-Contradiction_quotes Absolute_quotes Distinguish_quotes Unless_quotes

Stephen_Hawking

Indefinite Past

“In classical physics, the past is assumed to exist as a definite series of events, but according to quantum physics, the past, like the future, is indefinite and exists only as a spectrum of possibilities. Even the universe as a whole has no single past or history.”
  • Source: Hawking & Mlodinow, Scientific American, October 2010.
Keywords: Classical_quotes Physics_quotes Past_quotes Series_quotes Quantum_quotes Future_quotes Indefinite_quotes Existence_quotes Spectrum_quotes Possibility_quotes Probability_quotes Universe_quotes History_quotes Multiverse_quotes Assume_quotes Event_quotes

Extraterrestrials

“[On the possibility of contact with an alien civilization:] I think it would be a disaster. The extraterrestrials would probably be far in advance of us. The history of advanced races meeting more primitive people on this planet is not very happy, and they were the same species. I think we should keep our heads low.”
  • Source: Stephen Hawking on an appearance in the National Geographic Channel program “Naked Science: Alien Contact”. As quoted in The New York Times in the 2004-11-24 issue.
Keywords: Extraterrestrial_quotes Possibility_quotes Contact_quotes Alien_quotes Civilization_quotes Disaster_quotes Far_quotes Advance_quotes History_quotes Race_quotes Meet_quotes Primitive_quotes People_quotes Happy_quotes Species_quotes Keep_quotes Head_quotes Low_quotes

Donald_Hoffman

Consciousness Not From Space-Time

“But you can't boot up consciousness from space-time objects. It's just not possible.”
  • Source: Donald D. Hoffman in a youtube video entitled "Proof That Reality Is An Illusion: The Mystery Beyond Space-Time", posted on the "André Duqum" channel, quote at about 31 minutes into video, viewed 2023-09-12.
Keywords: Boot_quotes Consciousness_quotes Up_quotes Space-Time_quotes Object_quotes Possibility_quotes

Carl_Jung

Unknown Potential

“Here and there it happened in my practice that a patient grew beyond himself because of unknown potentialities, and this became an experience of prime importance to me. I had learned in the meanwhile that the greatest and most important problems of life are all in a certain sense insoluble. They must be so because they express the necessary polarity inherent in every self-regulating system. They can never be solved, but only outgrown. I therefore asked myself whether this possibility of outgrowing, that is, further psychic development, was not the normal thing, and therefore remaining stuck in a conflict was what was pathological. Everyone must possess that higher level, at least in embryonic form, and in favorable circumstances must be able to develop this possibility.”
Keywords: Practice_quotes Patient_quotes Growth_quotes Potential_quotes Experience_quotes Importance_quotes Problem_quotes Life_quotes Insoluble_quotes Polarity_quotes Self-Regulation_quotes Solution_quotes Embryo_quotes Circumstance_quotes Development_quotes Possibility_quotes Outgrow_quotes Psychic_quotes Conflict_quotes Pathological_quotes Level_quotes Form_quotes

Bernardo_Kastrup

Global Synchronization

“The possibility of there being a global synchronization mechanism in nature is opened up by quantum mechanics itself.”
  • Source: From “Decoding Jung's Metaphysics: The Archetypal Semantics of an Experiential Universe”. Written by Bernardo Kastrup. Published by IFF Books, Washington DC. Kindle Edition. Page 52. Chapter 4.
Keywords: Possibility_quotes Global_quotes Synchronization_quotes Mechanism_quotes Nature_quotes Open_quotes Quantum_quotes Mechanics_quotes

John_Maynard_Keynes

Traditional Purpose

“Thus, we have been expressly evolved by nature — with all our impulses and deepest instincts — for the purpose of solving the economic problem. If the economic problem is solved, mankind will be deprived of its traditional purpose. Will this be a benefit? If one believes at all in the real values of life, the prospect at least opens up the possibility of benefit. Yet I think with dread of the readjustment of the habits and instincts of the ordinary man, bred into him for countless generations, which he may be asked to discard within a few decades.”
  • Source: From the Essay “Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren” written by John Maynard Keynes in 1930. Included in the book “Essays in Persuasion” edited by John Maynard Keynes and published by W. W. Norton & Company in 1963.
Keywords: Express_quotes Evolve_quotes Nature_quotes Impulse_quotes Deep_quotes Instinct_quotes Purpose_quotes Solve_quotes Economic_quotes Problem_quotes Mankind_quotes Humanity_quotes Deprive_quotes Traditional_quotes Benefit_quotes Believe_quotes Real_quotes Value_quotes Life_quotes Prospect_quotes Open_quotes Up_quotes Possibility_quotes Think_quotes Dread_quotes Readjustment_quotes Adjustment_quotes Habit_quotes Ordinary_quotes Man_quotes Human_quotes Bred_quotes Countless_quotes Generation_quotes Ask_quotes Discard_quotes Few_quotes Decade_quotes

David_Kipping

Parent Reality Different

“If we concede that the possibility that our observations and understanding of physics may in fact be simulated... our knowledge of physics is wholly local to the simulation and may have no real bearing on the constraints that affect a parent reality, whose rules and limitations may be entirely different.”
  • Source: David Kipping from the paper “A Bayesian Approach to the Simulation Argument”, published 2020 in the journal ‘Universe’, volume 6, issue 8. DOI:10.3390/universe6080109. Online at https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1997/6/8/109 (2025).
Keywords: Concede_quotes Possibility_quotes Observation_quotes Understand_quotes Physics_quotes Fact_quotes Simulation_quotes Knowledge_quotes Whole_quotes Local_quotes Real_quotes Bearing_quotes Constraint_quotes Affect_quotes Parent_quotes Reality_quotes Rule_quotes Limit_quotes Entire_quotes Different_quotes

Arthur_Koestler

Evolution of the Brain

“It is entirely unprecedented that evolution should provide a species with an organ which it does not know how to use... But the evolution of man’s brain has so wildly overshot man’s immediate needs that he is still breathlessly catching up with its unexploited, unexplored possibilities.”
  • Source: Arthur Koestler, In The Ghost in the Machine (1967), p. 298-299.
  • Note: This is often seen paraphrased as “The evolution of the brain not only overshot the needs of prehistoric man, it is the only example of evolution providing a species with an organ which it does not know how to use”.
Keywords: Evolution_quotes Species_quotes Organ_quotes Brain_quotes Need_quotes Possibility_quotes Potential_quotes Unprecedent_quotes Know_quotes Wild_quotes Overshot_quotes Breathless_quotes Catch_quotes Unexploited_quotes Unexplored_quotes

J_Robert_Oppenheimer

World Going to Hell

“It is perfectly obvious that the whole world is going to hell. The only possible chance that it might not is that we do not attempt to prevent it from doing so.”
  • Source: Attributed to Oppenheimer by Alan Watts in Play to Live: Lectures of Alan Watts (1982) by Alan Watts [Author], Mark Watts [Editor, Photographer]Robert Oppenheimer.
Keywords: Perfect_quotes Obvious_quotes World_quotes Hell_quotes Possibility_quotes Chance_quotes Attempt_quotes Prevent_quotes Do_quotes Go_quotes

Steven_Pinker

Neurons to Consciousness

“None of us has a brain that can actually put us in touch with reality unaided with truth. I've just shown you a bunch of gadgetry that responds to things that are essential to our survival, things that prevent us from falling off cliffs and bumping into trees. But they don't actually correspond to any clear description of the world as it is. So we have, for example, circuitry that responds to the edges rather than the physical distribution of light, because edges are important, that's where objects leave off and their backgrounds begin. Moreover, they can be fooled, as I did with each one of you. That since our neural circuitry does consist of a mechanism, not a pipeline to the truth or a window onto objective reality. That is naïve realism we know is false because there are illusions. You can't just trust your senses. That means we need some way of augmenting the faculties that nature gave us to make our beliefs as accurate as possible. Which of course is why the early modern philosophers made such a big deal of visual illusions. They said you can't just open your eyes and see the world as it is. Look at all these illusions. So what we do, what gives some of us confidence that our beliefs are objectively true is that they are part of an institutional infrastructure of testing and criticism and logic and determining which hypotheses withstand criticism and attempts at refutation. Devising exotic arrangements of reality to reflect the way reality is put together, namely experiments. Thanks to this huge network of minds, each one of them making up for deficits of all the others, we like to think that we have a collective grasp on truth that none of us individually can have. But of course, it's always fallible. The religious beliefs I think were actually pretty reasonable hypotheses in earlier states of our collective knowledge. Even Richard Dawkins said that before Darwin he probably would have been a creationist because the cosmic engineer was the only available explanation for the obvious adaptive complexity of living things. I would add that prior to the advent of modern neuroscience I probably would have believed in souls because there was no better explanation for phenomena such as that people respond intelligently to their environments. When you dream some part of you is up and about the world while your body is in bed the whole time. That seems like there must be some part of you that can leave your body. When a person suddenly dies some kind of animating force no longer seems to be animating the body that was there just a few minutes ago. So the soul hypothesis is not a stupid or irrational belief, nor is creationism if it's the best that you have. Now, of course, we can do better. But doing better in part depends not just on this cumulative weight of evidence and argument. But because few of us can actually reconstruct the scientific observations that justify the theory of natural selection or the theory of neural networks, all of us, at least a little bit, take it on faith in the following sense; that there is a community that you trust enough because when they have been challenged to defend their beliefs they can connect them to reality. They have shown that it isn't magic. That they have given reason to trust them because they've convinced you that they're the mores of their culture, of their scientific culture, designed so that they will find true things and weed out false things. If you don't have a degree of solidarity or trust, if you think that scientists are all in cahoots with big corporations or are trying to tear down all faith and values and meaning and you simply refuse to follow through the very long chain of deduction that connects the claims to the experiments, then you'll naturally reject it just because it's not your tribe. For you and me scientists are our tribe and we're apt to give them some credibility, indeed some credulousness, knowing that if ever challenged it would be repaid. But unless you trace that through it can be all too easy to reject the conclusions of science, and indeed a number of studies have shown that contrary to the common belief that people believe in falsehoods, such as that vaccines cause autism or that humans were created five thousand years ago or that the burning of fossil fuels has no effect on global temperatures, it turns out that people with those beliefs that we have every reason to believe are false are no more scientifically naïve on average than people that have beliefs that are scientifically justified. You give a test on evolution to a bunch of people who believe in evolution, give it to a bunch of creationists, there's not much difference in how well they score. In fact, often they are equal. Likewise, the typical grasp of climate science among someone who signs on to the scientific consensus is not much better than the adamant deniers. That kind of dashes the hope that simply by increasing the quality of science education you will lead people to more accurate beliefs. There, in addition, has to be a dissociation of who you think are the good guys and who are the bad guys from who has the best claims to truth. That's what it depends on.”
Keywords: Accuracy_quotes Adament_quotes Adaptability_quotes Addition_quotes Advent_quotes Aid_quotes Animate_quotes Argue_quotes Arrangement_quotes Attempt_quotes Augment_quotes Autism_quotes Availability_quotes Background_quotes Bad_quotes Bed_quotes Belief_quotes Best_quotes Big_quotes Body_quotes Brain_quotes Bump_quotes Bunch_quotes Burn_quotes Cahoot_quotes Chain_quotes Challenge_quotes Circuit_quotes Claim_quotes Clear_quotes Cliff_quotes Climate_quotes Collective_quotes Complexity_quotes Common_quotes Community_quotes Conclusion_quotes Confidence_quotes Connection_quotes Consensus_quotes Consist_quotes Contrary_quotes Convince_quotes Cooperation_quotes Corporation_quotes Correspondence_quotes Cosmic_quotes Creationism_quotes Credibility_quotes Criticism_quotes Culture_quotes Cumulative_quotes Dash_quotes Deal_quotes Death_quotes Deception_quotes Deduction_quotes Defence_quotes Deficit_quotes Degree_quotes Deny_quotes Dependence_quotes Description_quotes Design_quotes Determine_quotes Devise_quotes Differences_quotes Dissociation_quotes Distribution_quotes Dreaming_quotes Early_quotes Easy_quotes Edge_quotes Education_quotes Effect_quotes Engineer_quotes Environment_quotes Essential_quotes Evidence_quotes Evolution_quotes Exotic_quotes Experiment_quotes Explanation_quotes Eye_quotes Faculty_quotes Faith_quotes Fall_quotes Fallible_quotes False_quotes Few_quotes Find_quotes Follow_quotes Fool_quotes Force_quotes Fossil_quotes Fuel_quotes Gadget_quotes Global_quotes Good_quotes Grasp_quotes Guy_quotes Huge_quotes Hypothesis_quotes Illusion_quotes Importance_quotes Increasing_quotes Individual_quotes Infrastructure_quotes Institution_quotes Intelligence_quotes Irrational_quotes Justification_quotes Knowledge_quotes Leave_quotes Life_quotes Light_quotes Logic_quotes Long_quotes Magic_quotes Meaning_quotes Mechanism_quotes Mind_quotes Modern_quotes Moral_quotes Naïve_quotes Nature_quotes Natural_Selection_quotes Network_quotes Neural_quotes Neuroscience_quotes Object_quotes Objectivity_quotes Observation_quotes Obvious_quotes Part_quotes People_quotes Perception_quotes Phenomena_quotes Philosophy_quotes Physical_quotes Pipeline_quotes Possibility_quotes Prehistoric_quotes Prevent_quotes Reality_quotes Reason_quotes Reconstruct_quotes Reflection_quotes Refuse_quotes Refutation_quotes Rejection_quotes Religion_quotes Repay_quotes Respond_quotes Science_quotes Scientist_quotes Score_quotes Seem_quotes Selection_quotes Sense_quotes Show_quotes Sight_quotes Solidarity_quotes Soul_quotes State_quotes Study_quotes Stupidity_quotes Survival_quotes Tear_quotes Temperature_quotes Testing_quotes Theory_quotes Thinking_quotes Time_quotes Touch_quotes Trace_quotes Tree_quotes Tribal_quotes Trust_quotes Truth_quotes Try_quotes Typical_quotes Unaided_quotes Vaccine_quotes Value_quotes Visual_quotes Weed_quotes Weight_quotes Whole_quotes Window_quotes Withstand_quotes World_quotes

Learning

“But learning is not a surrounding gas or force field, and it does not happen by magic. It is made possible by innate machinery designed to do the learning... To understand learning, we need new ways of thinking to replace the prescientific metaphors — the mixtures and forces, the writing on slates and sculpting of blocks of marble.”
  • Source: Steven Pinker (1997). How the Mind Works. New York, NY: W. W. Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-06973-0; eISBN 978-0-393-06973-0. Chapter 1 Section Reverse-Engineering the Psyche.
Keywords: Learning_quotes Surround_quotes Gas_quotes Force_quotes Field_quotes Happen_quotes Magic_quotes Possibility_quotes Innate_quotes Machine_quotes Design_quotes Do_quotes Understanding_quotes Way_quotes Thinking_quotes Replace_quotes Science_quotes Prescience_quotes Metaphor_quotes Mix_quotes Writing_quotes Slate_quotes Block_quotes Marble_quotes Sculpting_quotes

Karl_Popper

Theory Personality

“Understanding a theory has, indeed, much in common with understanding a human personality. We may know or understand a man's system of dispositions pretty well; that is to say, we may be able to predict how he would act in a number of different situations. But since there are infinitely many possible situations, of infinite variety, a full understanding of a man's dispositions does not seem to be possible.”
  • Source: Karl Raimund Popper, Objective Knowledge: an Evolutionary Approach (1972), 299.
Keywords: Understanding_quotes Theory_quotes Common_quotes Humanity_quotes Personality_quotes Knowledge_quotes System_quotes Disposition_quotes Prediction_quotes Differences_quotes Situation_quotes Infinity_quotes Possibility_quotes Variety_quotes Full_quotes Possible_quotes

No Conclusive Disproof

“No conclusive disproof of a theory can ever be produced; for it is always possible to say that the experimental results are not reliable.”
  • Source: Popper, K. R. (2005). The Logic of Scientific Discovery | 1935 (1935/Epub ed.). New York, NY: Routledge. Chap. 2
Keywords: Conclusive_quotes Disproof_quotes Proof_quotes Theory_quotes Production_quotes Possibility_quotes Experiment_quotes Result_quotes Reliability_quotes

Epistemology

“In accordance with my proposal made above, epistemology, or the logic of scientific discovery, should be identified with the theory of scientific method. The theory of method, in so far as it goes beyond the purely logical analysis of the relations between scientific statements, is concerned with the choice of methods — with decisions about the way in which scientific statements are to be dealt with. These decisions will of course depend in their turn upon the aim which we choose from among a number of possible aims. The decision here proposed for laying down suitable rules for what I call the ‘empirical method’ is closely connected with my criterion of demarcation: I propose to adopt such rules as will ensure the testability of scientific statements; which is to say, their falsifiability.”
  • Source: Chapter 2. Popper, K. R. (2005). The Logic of Scientific Discovery | 1935 (1935/Epub ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
Keywords: According_quotes Proposal_quotes Epistemology_quotes Logic_quotes Science_quotes Discovery_quotes Identity_quotes Theory_quotes Scientific_Method_quotes Methodology_quotes Beyond_quotes Analysis_quotes Relationship_quotes Statement_quotes Concern_quotes Choice_quotes Decision_quotes Way_quotes Deal_quotes Dependence_quotes Aim_quotes Number_quotes Possibility_quotes Rule_quotes Law_quotes Empirical_quotes Connection_quotes Criteria_quotes Demarcation_quotes Adopt_quotes Ensure_quotes Testing_quotes Testability_quotes Falsification_quotes Pure_quotes

Wilfrid_Sellars

Aim of Philosophy

“The aim of philosophy, abstractly formulated, is to understand how things in the broadest possible sense of the term hang together in the broadest possible sense of the term.”
Keywords: Aim_quotes Philosophy_quotes Abstraction_quotes Formula_quotes Understanding_quotes Broad_quotes Possibility_quotes Sense_quotes Term_quotes Hang_quotes Together_quotes

Herbert_Simon

Bounded Rationality

“In a world of bounded rationality there are several ways to magnify the computing capabilities of individual human beings and enhance the possibilities of their collective survival and prosperity. With the combined use of markets and administrative hierarchies, the human species has enormously increased its capabilities for specialization and division of work.”
Keywords: World_quotes Bounding_quotes Rational_quotes Way_quotes Magnify_quotes Computation_quotes Capability_quotes Individual_quotes Human_quotes Enhancement_quotes Possibility_quotes Collective_quotes Survival_quotes Prosper_quotes Combination_quotes Market_quotes Administration_quotes Hierarchy_quotes Species_quotes Enormous_quotes Increasing_quotes Specialization_quotes Division_quotes Work_quotes

Top Down or Bottom Up

“Alternatives are also open, in organizing the design process, as to how far development of possible subsystems will be carried before the overall coordinating design is developed in detail, or vice-versa, how far the overall design should be carried before various components, or possible components, are developed. These alternatives of design are familiar to architects. They are familiar also to composers, who must decide how far the architectonics of a musical structure will be evolved before some of the component musical themes and other elements have been invented. Computer programmers face the same choices, between working downward from executive routines to subroutines or upward from component subroutines to a coordinating executive.”
Keywords: Alternative_quotes Open_quotes Organize_quotes Design_quotes Process_quotes Far_quotes Development_quotes Subsystem_quotes Carry_quotes Coordination_quotes Detail_quotes Vice-versa_quotes Overall_quotes Component_quotes Possibility_quotes Familiar_quotes Composer_quotes Decision_quotes Architectonic_quotes Music_quotes Theme_quotes Element_quotes Invention_quotes Computer_quotes Programmer_quotes Face_quotes Choice_quotes Work_quotes Downward_quotes Executive_quotes Routine_quotes Subroutine_quotes Upward_quotes Structure_quotes Evolve_quotes

Anthony_Standen

First Thing About Physics

“The first thing to realize about physics ... is its extraordinary indirectness.... For physics is not about the real world, it is about “abstractions” from the real world, and this is what makes it so scientific.... Theoretical physics runs merrily along with these unreal abstractions, but its conclusions are checked, at every possible point, by experiments.”
  • Source: Anthony Standen, In Science is a Sacred Cow (1950), 60-62.
Keywords: First_quotes Realization_quotes Physics_quotes Extraordinary_quotes Indirect_quotes Reality_quotes World_quotes Abstraction_quotes Science_quotes Theoretical_quotes Merry_quotes Run_quotes Unreal_quotes Conclusion_quotes Check_quotes Possibility_quotes Point_quotes Experiment_quotes

Alfred_Tarski

Truth Doubtful

“The very possibility of a consistent use of the expression ‘true sentence’ which is in harmony with the laws of logic and the spirit of everyday language seems to be very questionable, and consequently the same doubt attaches to the possibility of constructing a correct definition of this expression.”
Keywords: Possibility_quotes Consistent_quotes Use_quotes Expression_quotes True_quotes Truth_quotes Harmony_quotes Law_quotes Logic_quotes Spirit_quotes Everyday_quotes Language_quotes Seem_quotes Questionable_quotes Doubt_quotes Attach_quotes Same_quotes Construct_quotes Correct_quotes Definition_quotes

Frederick_Winslow_Taylor

Average versus First Class Productivity

“That there is a difference between the average and the first class man is known to all employers, but that the first class man can do in most cases from two to four times as much is known to few, and is fully realized only by those who have made a thorough and scientific study of the possibilities of men.”
  • Source: F.W. Taylor (1903) "Shop management; a paper read before the American society of mechanical engineers, " in: Transactions of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers 24: 1337-1480. p. 1346.
Keywords: Productivity_quotes Employment_quotes First_Class_quotes Average_quotes Mediocrity_quotes Scientific_Management_quotes Potential_quotes Difference_quotes Class_quotes Man_quotes Known_quotes Few_quotes Realize_quotes Science_quotes Management_quotes Possibility_quotes Men_quotes

Max_Tegmark

Quantum Impact

“We virtually ignore the astonishing range of scientific and practical applications that quantum mechanics undergirds: today an estimated 30 percent of the U.S. gross national product is based on inventions made possible by quantum mechanics, from semiconductors in computer chips to lasers in compact-disc players, magnetic resonance imaging in hospitals, and much more.”
  • Source: Max Tegmark and John Archibald Wheeler; Scientific American, February 2001
Keywords: Virtual_quotes Ignore_quotes Astonishment_quotes Range_quotes Science_quotes Practical_quotes Application_quotes Quantum_quotes Mechanics_quotes Physics_quotes Undergird_quotes Today_quotes GDP_quotes Invention_quotes Possibility_quotes Semiconductor_quotes Computer_quotes Chip_quotes Laser_quotes CD_quotes Magnetic_quotes Resonance_quotes Image_quotes Hospital_quotes Estimate_quotes

Gerald_Weinberg

Too Smart for Programming

“It is possible to be too smart for programming — if the person is not smart enough to use his intelligence to modify his social behavior and methods of communication.”
  • Source: Chapter 5. Weinberg, G. M. (2011). The Psychology of Computer Programming (Silver anniversary edition) | 1971. Weinberg & Weinberg.
Keywords: Possibility_quotes Smart_quotes Intellectualism_quotes People_quotes Modification_quotes Social_Behavior_quotes Methodology_quotes Communication_quotes Cooperation_quotes Programming_quotes Social_quotes Behavior_quotes

Shoshana_Zuboff

World Lost or Gained

'“There is a world to be lost and a world to be gained. Choices that appear to be merely technical will redefine our lives together at work. This means more than simply contemplating the implications or consequences of a new technology. It means that a powerful new technology, such as that represented by the computer, fundamentally reorganizes the infrastructure of our material world. It eliminates former alternatives. It creates new possibilities. It necessitates fresh choices.“
  • Source: Zuboff, S. (1988). In The Age Of The Smart Machine: The Future Of Work And Power. New York, NY: Basic Books, p. 5 (Introduction). ISBN:0465032125.
Keywords: World_quotes Loss_quotes Gain_quotes Decision_quotes Choice_quotes Technology_quotes Work_quotes Employment_quotes Consequence_quotes Contemplation_quotes Power_quotes Computer_quotes Material_quotes Infrastructure_quotes Alternative_quotes Possibility_quotesEliminate_quotes Reorganize_quotes Fresh_quotes

Life at the Data Interface

“Life at the data interface invites the worker into the abstract precincts of managerial work. It provides access to a broader view of the business as well as a deepened understanding of one's tasks and their role in the wider sphere of organizational functions. When work becomes synonymous with responsiveness to data, it engenders inquiry and dialogue, thus opening the way for workers to envision new possibilities and fresh alternatives to the reigning definitions of process, product, and organization.”
  • Source: Zuboff, S. (1988). In The Age Of The Smart Machine: The Future Of Work And Power. New York, NY: Basic Books, p. 301. ISBN:0465032125.
Keywords: Life_quotes Data_quotes Interface_quotes Work_quotes Organization_quotes Function_quotes Responsive_quotes Inquiry_quotes Dialogue_quotes Possibility_quotes Alternative_quotes Definition_quotes Process_quotes Product_quotes Invite_quotes Worker_quotes Abstract_quotes Precinct_quotes Management_quotes Provide_quotes Access_quotes Broad_quotes View_quotes Business_quotes Deep_quotes Understand_quotes Task_quotes Role_quotes Sphere_quotes Wide_quotes Synonymous_quotes Engender_quotes Open_quotes Way_quotes Envision_quotes Reign_quotes

Panopticon Coaching

“To be sure, some managers saw the enhanced certainty of their information about subordinates as an opportunity to accelerate learning and improve performance. They found that the data from the Overview System made it possible to survey a wide range of behavior for evidence of irregularities. To the extent that the sources of such irregularities could be discovered, the data could be used to 'coach' subordinates and to help them realign their behavior within acceptable standards... On the other hand, many of Cedar Bluff's managers were more interested in the possibility of obtaining foolproof data than in the opportunity of using such data for coaching. In the context of a conventional technology, managers had to rely on their subordinates for valid information. The quality of the data they received was likely to be a function of the quality of the reciprocal relationship they had established. In contrast, an informating technology could provide valid information under any conditions.”
  • Source: Zuboff, S. (1988). In The Age Of The Smart Machine: The Future Of Work And Power. New York, NY: Basic Books, p. 324. ISBN:0465032125.
Keywords: Panopticon_quotes Management_quotes Certainty_quotes Information_quotes Subordinate_quotes Opportunity_quotes Learning_quotes Improvement_quotes Performance_quotes Data_quotes Surveillance_quotes Behavior_quotes Evidence_quotes Irregularity_quotes Discovery_quotes Coaching_quotes Alignment_quotes Acceptability_quotes Standards_quotes Possibility_quotes Foolproof_quotes Convention_quotes Technology_quotes Reliance_quotes Dependency_quotes Validity_quotes Quality_quotes Reciprocal_quotes Relationship_quotes Condition_quotes Reliability_quotes Enhance_quotes Accelerate_quotes Overview_quotes System_quotes Survey_quotes Wide_quotes Range_quotes Source_quotes Help_quotes Realign_quotes Acceptable_quotes Manager_quotes Interest_quotes Context_quotes Conventional_quotes Rely_quotes Valid_quotes Information_quotes Quality_quotes Receive_quotes Function_quotes Relationship_quotes Establish_quotes Contrast_quotes Informate_quotes

Anticipatory Conformity

“Anticipatory conformity is a tactic for avoiding the dread associated with the possibility of shame. It accepts visibility and adapts to it by producing behavior that minimizes the risk of unwanted discovery. As the immediate environment is saturated with measurement, the pressure of visibility begins to reorganize behavior at its source, shaping it in conformity with the normative standards of the observer.”
  • Source: Zuboff, S. (1988). In The Age Of The Smart Machine: The Future Of Work And Power. New York, NY: Basic Books, p. 345. ISBN:0465032125.
Keywords: Anticipation_quotes Conformity_quotes Tactic_quotes Avoidance_quotes Dread_quotes Possibility_quotes Shame_quotes Visibility_quotes Adaptation_quotes Behavior_quotes Minimum_quotes Risk_quotes Discovery_quotes Environment_quotes Saturation_quotes Measurement_quotes Pressure_quotes Standards_quotes Observation_quotes Associate_quotes Accept_quotes Produce_quotes Unwanted_quotes Reorganize_quotes Source_quotes Shaping_quotes Conformity_quotes Normative_quotes Observer_quotes

Technological Innovations

“History reveals the power of certain technological innovations to transform the mental life of an era -- the feelings, sensibilities, perceptions, expectations, assumptions, and, above all, possibilities that define a community. From the social influence of the medieval castle,' to the coming of the printed book, to the social and physical upheaval associated with the rise of the automobile -- each specific example serves to drive home a similar message. An important technological innovation is not usefully thought of as a unitary cause eliciting a series of discrete effects. Instead, it can be seen as an alteration of the material horizon of our world, with transformative implications for both the contours and the interior texture of our lives. Technology makes the world a new place...”
  • Source: Zuboff, S. (1988). In The Age Of The Smart Machine: The Future Of Work And Power. New York, NY: Basic Books, p. 388. ISBN:0465032125.
Keywords: History_quotes Power_quotes Technology_quotes Innovation_quotes Transformation_quotes Feeling_quotes Sensibility_quotes Perception_quotes Expectation_quotes Assumption_quotes Possibility_quotes Community_quotes Society_quotes Influence_quotes Castle_quotes Medieval_quotes Printing_quotes Book_quotes Physical_quotes Upheaval_quotes Automobile_quotes Thinking_quotes Causality_quotes Effect_quotes Alteration_quotes Material_quotes Life_quotes World_quotes Change_quotes Mental_quotes Life_quotes Message_quotes Unitary_quotes Elicit_quotes Series_quotes Discrete_quotes Horizon_quotes Transform_quotes Implication_quotes Contour_quotes Interior_quotes Texture_quotes New_quotes Place_quotes

Technology Change

“To fully grasp the way in which a major new technology can change the world... it is necessary to consider both the manner in which it creates intrinsically new qualities of experience and the way in which new possibilities are engaged by the often-conflicting demands of social, political, and economic interests in order to produce a 'choice.' To concentrate only on intrinsic change and the texture of an emergent mentality is to ignore the real weight of history and the diversity of interests that pervade collective behavior. However, to narrow all discussion of technological change to the play of these interests overlooks the essential power of technology to reorder the rules of the game and thus our experience as players. Moreover, these two dimensions of technological change, the intrinsic and the contingent, need to be understood, not separately, but in relation to one another. The same innovation that abstracts work and increases its intellectual content, thus enhancing the learning of lower level employees... can also, within the context of the choices by which it is adapted, be experienced as a new source of divisiveness and control.”
  • Source: Zuboff, S. (1988). In The Age Of The Smart Machine: The Future Of Work And Power. New York, NY: Basic Books, p. 389. ISBN:0465032125.
Keywords: Technology_quotes Change_quotes World_quotes Consideration_quotes Intrinsic_quotes Quality_quotes Experience_quotes Possibility_quotes Conflict_quotes Demand_quotes Society_quotes Political_quotes Economics_quotes Interest_quotes Choice_quotes Concentration_quotes Emergence_quotes Thinking_quotes Mental_quotes History_quotes Diversity_quotes Collectivism_quotes Behavior_quotes Discussion_quotes Power_quotes Rule_quotes Game_quotes Play_quotes Contingent_quotes Understanding_quotes Relationship_quotes Innovation_quotes Abstraction_quotes Work_quotes Intellectualism_quotes Learning_quotes Employee_quotes Divisiveness_quotes Control_quotes Grasp_quotes Way_quotes Major_quotes New_quotes Manner_quotes Create_quotes Engage_quotes Texture_quotes Real_quotes Weight_quotes Pervade_quotes Narrow_quotes Overlook_quotes Reorder_quotes Player_quotes Dimension_quotes Increase_quotes Enhance_quotes Lower_quotes Level_quotes Context_quotes Adapt_quotes Source_quotes
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