Way quotes
From Motley Bytes Wiki
Contents
- 1 Nima_Arkani-Hamed
- 2 Arthur_Bloch
- 3 David_Bohm
- 4 Robert_N_Britcher
- 5 Arthur_C_Clarke
- 6 Mihaly_Csikszentmihalyi
- 7 W_Edwards_Deming
- 8 English Proverbs
- 9 David_Epstein
- 10 Samuel_C_Florman
- 11 Robert_Heinlein
- 12 Donald_Hoffman
- 13 Grace_Hopper
- 14 Sabine_Hossenfelder
- 15 Carl_Jung
- 16 Bernardo_Kastrup
- 17 Alan_Kay
- 18 Søren_Kierkegaard
- 19 Laozi
- 20 Edward_A_Murphy
- 21 Friedrich_Nietzsche
- 22 David_E_Nye
- 23 J_Robert_Oppenheimer
- 24 Richard_Pascale
- 25 Alan_Perlis
- 26 Steven_Pinker
- 27 Robert_M_Pirsig
- 28 Karl_Popper
- 29 Bertrand_Russell
- 30 Carl_Sagan
- 31 Erwin_Schrödinger
- 32 Melvin_Schwartz
- 33 Mark_Seemann
- 34 Rupert_Sheldrake
- 35 Herbert_Simon
- 36 Baruch_Spinoza
- 37 Adlai_Stevenson-II
- 38 Albert_Szent-Györgyi
- 39 Gerald_Weinberg
- 40 Stephen_Wolfram
- 41 Israel_Zangwill
- 42 Shoshana_Zuboff
Nima_Arkani-Hamed
Some Other Structure
“So, there's some other structure that we're looking for. And some way of thinking about interpreting this structure will let us see spacetime and quantum mechanics emerge simultaneously and joined at the hip.”
- Source: Nima Arkani-Hamed, Harvard Lecture I. 2019. YouTube video entitled “Donald Hoffman's New Approach To Consciousness” channel “Dr Brian Keating”. Online at <https://youtu.be/mU_WBela71Y?si=fNfLLsOsUDRDC1XD> posted 2024-08, retrieved 2024-08. In video at 33:00.
Arthur_Bloch
Murphy's Law Corollary 4
"If you perceive that there are four possible ways in which a procedure can go wrong, and circumvent these, then a fifth way will promptly develop."
- 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.
- See Also:
Iles's Law
“There is always an easier way to do it. When looking directly at the easier way, especially for long periods, you will not see it.”
- Source: Attributed to Iles, 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 13.
- Notes: Who Iles was has not been reliably identified.
- See Also:
Finagle's Rules
1. “To study a subject best, understand it thoroughly before you start.” 2. “Always keep a record of data — it indicates you've been working.” 3. “Always draw your curves, then plot your reading.” 4. “In case of doubt, make it sound convincing.” 5. “Experiments should be reproducible — they should all fail in the same way.” 6. “Do no believe in miracles — rely on them.”
- Source: Attributed to a fictional character named Finagle, reported in the book "Murphy's Law and Other Reasons Why Things Go Wrong" written by Arthur Bloch, first edition publish in 1977 by Price/Stern/Sloan, Los Angeles, California. ISBN-10: 0843104287. ISBN-13: 978-0843104288. Chapter Murphology, page 16.
- Notes: Often attributed to a fictional character named Finagle, its true origin remains uncertain and likely derived from multiple sources. See https://www.devx.com/terms/finagles-law/.
- Keywords: Murphy(topic)_quotes Law_quotes Study_quotes Subject_quotes Best_quotes Understand_quotes Before_quotes Start_quotes Always_quotes Keep_quotes Record_quotes Data_quotes Indicate_quotes Work_quotes Draw_quotes Curve_quotes Plot_quotes Read_quotes Case_quotes Doubt_quotes Make_quotes Sound_quotes Convince_quotes Experiment_quotes Reproducible_quotes Fail_quotes Same_quotes Way_quotes Believe_quotes Miricle_quotes Rely_quotes
David_Bohm
Theory Purpose
“we must avoid postulating a new element for each new phenomenon. But an equally serious mistake is to admit into the theory only those elements which can now be observed. For the purpose of a theory is not only to correlate the results of observations that we already know how to make, but also to suggest the need for new kinds of observations and to predict their results. In fact, the better a theory is able to suggest the need for new kinds of observations and to predict their results correctly, the more confidence we have that this theory is likely to be good representation of the actual properties of matter and not simply an empirical system especially chosen in such a way as to correlate a group of already known facts.”
- Source: David Bohm in the paper “A Suggested Interpretation of the Quantum Theory in Terms of ‘Hidden’ Variables. II”. Published January 1952 in Physical Review volume 35 issue 2.
- Keywords: Avoid_quotes Postulate_quotes Element_quotes New_quotes Phenomenon_quotes Mistake_quotes Admit_quotes Theory_quotes Observation_quotes Purpose_quotes Correlation_quotes Result_quotes Already_quotes Make_quotes Suggest_quotes Need_quotes Kind_quotes Prediction_quotes Better_quotes Correct_quotes Confidence_quotes Good_quotes Represent_quotes Actual_quotes Property_quotes Matter_quotes Empirical_quotes System_quotes Choose_quotes Way_quotes Group_quotes Known_quotes Fact_quotes
Robert_N_Britcher
Programming Not Science
“Programming is not a science, and there is no theory of programming. If there were, everyone would approach programming the same way.”
- Source: Britcher, Robert N. (1999). The Limits of Software: People, Projects, and Perspectives. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley. ISBN 0-201-43323-0. Page 17.
- Keywords: Programming_quotes Science_quotes Theory_quotes Approach_quotes Way_quotes
Arthur_C_Clarke
Clarke's Second Law
“The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.”
- Source: Arthur C. Clarke in his book ‘Profiles of the Future: An Inquiry Into the Limits of the Possible’, published 1962 by HMH Publishing, Revised edition, within chapter 2 ‘Hazards of Prophecy: The Failure of Imagination’.
- Keywords: Way_quotes Discover_quotes Limit_quotes Possible_quotes Venture_quotes Little_quotes Past_quotes Impossible_quotes Law_quotes
Mihaly_Csikszentmihalyi
Daydreaming
“One of the simplest ways to use the mind is daydreaming: playing out some sequence of events as mental images. But even this apparently easy way to order thought is beyond the range of many people... Daydreaming not only helps create emotional order by compensating in imagination for unpleasant reality — as when a person can reduce frustration and aggression against someone who has caused injury by visualizing a situation in which the aggressor is punished — but it also allows children and adults to rehearse imaginary situations so that the best strategy for confronting them may be adopted, alternative options considered, unanticipated consequences discovered — all results that help increase the complexity of consciousness. And, of course, when used with skill, daydreaming can be very enjoyable.”
- Source: Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in the book “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience“, chapter “The Flow of Thought”, page 120. Original content published by Harper Perennial Modern Classics in 1990. Kindle edition published by Harper Collins in 2008. ISBN: 978-0061876721.
- Keywords: Simple_quotes Way_quotes Mind_quotes Daydreaming_quotes Play_quotes Event_quotes Mental_quotes Image_quotes Order_quotes Thought_quotes Beyond_quotes Range_quotes People_quotes Help_quotes Emotion_quotes Compensate_quotes Imagination_quotes Unpleasant_quotes Reality_quotes Reduce_quotes Person_quotes Frustration_quotes Aggression_quotes Cause_quotes Injury_quotes Visualize_quotes Situation_quotes Punish_quotes Allow_quotes Reherse_quotes Best_quotes Strategy_quotes Optimization_quotes Confront_quotes Adopt_quotes Alternative_quotes Unanticipated_quotes Consequence_quotes Discover_quotes Result_quotes Increase_quotes Complexity_quotes Consciousness_quotes Use_quotes Skill_quotes Enjoyable_quotes
W_Edwards_Deming
Handicapped by the System
"The supposition is prevalent the world over that there would be no problems in production or service if only our production workers would do their jobs in the way that they were taught. Pleasant dreams. The workers are handicapped by the system, and the system belongs to the management."
- Source: W. Edwards Deming (1982) Out Of The Crisis. The MIT Press. (2e ed. 1986) p. 134.
English Proverbs
Turtles All the Way Down
“Turtles all the way down”
- Source: The exact origin of the phrase is uncertain.
- Turtles all the way down is an expression of the problem of infinite regress.
- The saying alludes to the mythological idea of a World Turtle that supports a flat Earth on its back. It suggests that this turtle rests on the back of an even larger turtle, which itself is part of a column of increasingly larger turtles that continues indefinitely.
- The expression has been used to illustrate problems such as the regress argument in epistemology.
- See Also:
- Keywords: Infinite_quotes Regress_quotes Turtle_quotes All_quotes Way_quotes Down_quotes
David_Epstein
Replication Crisis
“The so-called replication crisis over the last decade has been painful for many scientists, but researchers in every discipline have been learning from it and working to improve their fields. It was, after all, scientists themselves who raised the alarm about their colleagues’ work (and in some cases their own work) in the first place. Increasingly, researchers now share or formally preregister their hypotheses at the start of a project. They can still deviate from the plan to explore unexpected findings, but the deviations are transparent. The point of restricting freedom in this way... is not to stifle inquiry but to make it more valuable.”
- Source: David Epstein in the book “Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better”. Published 2026 by Riverhead Books. Page 39. ISBN 978-0593715734 (Ebook).
- Keywords: Replication_quotes Crisis_quotes Decade_quotes Pain_quotes Science_quotes Research_quotes Discipline_quotes Learn_quotes Work_quotes Improve_quotes Field_quotes Raise_quotes Alarm_quotes Colleague_quotes Case_quotes First_quotes Place_quotes Increase_quotes Share_quotes Formal_quotes Preregister_quotes Hypothesis_quotes Start_quotes Project_quotes Deviation_quotes Plan_quotes Explore_quotes Unexpected_quotes Finding_quotes Transparency_quotes Point_quotes Restrict_quotes Freedom_quotes Way_quotes Stifle_quotes Inquiry_quotes Make_quotes Valuable_quotes
Haiku Way
“Haiku finds depth in the simple, and creativity in constraints that block the path of least resistance... Haiku is small, so you can try easily and iterate quickly. It is in present tense, so it forces you to be in the moment... Haiku is the simplest example of a helpful constraint... It is not a form, it is a way — an attitude. It is a way of being, of eagerly accepting unnecessary obstacles because of where they can lead.”
- Source: David Epstein in the book “Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better”. Published 2026 by Riverhead Books. Page 233. ISBN 978-0593715734 (Ebook).
- Keywords: Haiku_quotes Find_quotes Depth_quotes Simple_quotes Creativity_quotes Constraint_quotes Block_quotes Path_quotes Least_quotes Resistance_quotes Small_quotes Try_quotes Easy_quotes Iteration_quotes Quick_quotes Present_quotes Tense_quotes Force_quotes Moment_quotes Example_quotes Help_quotes Form_quotes Way_quotes Attitude_quotes Being_quotes Eager_quotes Accept_quotes Unnecessary_quotes Obstacle_quotes Because_quotes Where_quotes Lead_quotes
Samuel_C_Florman
Engineer Thinking
“They felt that they were improving the world, not only by their deeds, but also by their way of thinking. If engineers could solve problems by being open-minded and free of preconceptions and prejudices — by applying scientific methods — could not all men learn to think in this mode, and then would not ignorance, superstition and bigotry vanish?”
- Source: From the book “The Existential Pleasures of Engineering” by {Samuel C. Florman}. Second edition published in 1994 by {St. Martin's Press}, New York, NY. First edition published in 1976. Kindle edition published in 2023. E-book ISBN 978-1466842366. Chapter 1, page 7.
- Keywords: Engineer_quotes Feel_quotes Improve_quotes World_quotes Deed_quotes Way_quotes Thinking_quotes Solve_quotes Problem_quotes Being_quotes Open_quotes Minded_quotes Free_quotes Preconception_quotes Prejudice_quotes Apply_quotes Scientific_quotes Method_quotes Scientific_Method_quotes Men_quotes Humanity_quotes Learn_quotes Mode_quotes Ignorance_quotes Superstition_quotes Bigotry_quotes Vanish_quotes
Character
“To the everlasting credit of man, he recognized early the imperfection of his character, and set about finding ways of coping with it so as to enable himself to live harmoniously in large groups.”
- Source: From the book “The Existential Pleasures of Engineering” by {Samuel C. Florman}. Second edition published in 1994 by {St. Martin's Press}, New York, NY. First edition published in 1976. Kindle edition published in 2023. E-book ISBN 978-1466842366. Chapter 6, page 84.
Robert_Heinlein
Lazy Progress
“Progress doesn't come from early risers — progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things.”
- Source: Written by Robert A. Heinlein in the book “Time Enough for Love”, published in 1973 by Putnam's Sons, ISBN: 0-399-11151-4. Variations on a Theme I: Affairs of State, page 53. Character: Lazarus Long.
- Keywords: Progress_quotes Early_quotes Riser_quotes Lazy_quotes Men_quotes Look_quotes Way_quotes Do_quotes Thing_quotes
Scientific Method
“There are but two ways of forming an opinion in science. One is the scientific method; the other, the scholastic. One can judge from experiment, or one can blindly accept authority. To the scientific mind, experimental proof is all important and theory is merely a convenience in description, to be junked when it no longer fits. To the academic mind, authority is everything and facts are junked when they do not fit theory laid down by authority.”.
- Source: Written by Robert A. Heinlein in the short story “Life-Line” originally published in the 1939-08 edition of “Astounding Science Fiction” magazine, page 83. Character: Dr. Pinero. Retrieved 2024-05-05 from https://www.luminist.org/archives/SF/AST.htm.
- Keywords: Scientific_Method_quotes Science_quotes Method_quotes Way_quotes Form_quotes Opinion_quotes Scholastic_quotes Judge_quotes Experiment_quotes Blind_quotes Accept_quotes Authority_quotes Mind_quotes Proof_quotes Important_quotes Theory_quotes Convenience_quotes Description_quotes Junk_quotes Fit_quotes Academic_quotes Everything_quotes Fact_quotes Laid_quotes Down_quotes
Reason
“Reason is poor propaganda when opposed by the yammering, unceasing lies of shrewd and evil and self-serving men. The little man has no way to judge and the shoddy lies are packaged more attractively. There is no way to offer color to a colorblind man, nor is there any way for us to give the man of imperfect brain the canny skill to distinguish a lie from a truth.”
- Source: Written by Robert A. Heinlein in the magazine series “Gulf” published in 1949-11 and 1949-12 issues of Astounding Science Fiction magazine. Page 62. Character: Dr. Baldwin. Online at https://www.luminist.org/archives/SF/AST.htm retrieved 2024-05-05.
- Keywords: Reason_quotes Poor_quotes Propaganda_quotes Oppose_quotes Yammer_quotes Unceasing_quotes Lie_quotes Shrewd_quotes Evil_quotes Self-serving_quotes Little_quotes Man_quotes Way_quotes Judge_quotes Shoddy_quotes Package_quotes Attractive_quotes Offer_quotes Color_quotes Colorblind_quotes Give_quotes Imperfect_quotes Brain_quotes Canny_quotes Skill_quotes Distinguish_quotes Truth_quotes
Donald_Hoffman
AI Computation
“If we look at an LLM [Large Language Model] or a future AI [Artificial Intelligence], it's going to be some kind of computational system. And computational systems have their limits. We have Gödel who said that at a minimum. I'm betting that you and I are avatars of an infinite intelligence that's the true source of all creativity and that Einstein or any scientist taps into when they come up with their truly original ideas. The first step would be to say, if it's just a computational bias, then it doesn't transcend. It doesn't get to this true originality. But then there's a deeper level... These are just avatars in a particular headset. So why can't we create a new avatar in our headset that looks like a computer that is actually an avatar of the deep intelligence? If we are only going to stick with the computational thing... But somehow the [human] avatar is a portal into the infinite consciousness... And we know one way of creating new portals into this infinite consciousness, and that is having kids. So that is one technology that allows us to do that. Once we understand spacetime as a headset, and we understand the headset and at least some layers of its relationship to the infinite reality, that's the source of true insight and true originality and creativity, could we figure out new ways to open up genuine new portals, and might that look like AI… The jury is out.”
- Source: Donald Hoffman, in the YouTube video entitled “Donald Hoffman's New Approach To Consciousness” channel “Dr Brian Keating”. Online at <https://youtu.be/mU_WBela71Y?si=fNfLLsOsUDRDC1XD> posted 2024-08, retrieved 2024-08. In video at 1:14:40.
- Keywords: Look_quotes LLM_quotes Large_quotes Language_quotes Model_quotes Future_quotes AI_quotes Artificial_quotes Intelligence_quotes Computation_quotes System_quotes Limit_quotes Gödel(topic)_quotes Minimum_quotes Bet_quotes Avatar_quotes Infinite_quotes True_quotes Source_quotes Creativity_quotes Einstein(topic)_quotes Scientist_quotes Tap_quotes Original_quotes Idea_quotes Bias_quotes Transcend_quotes Deep_quotes Level_quotes Particular_quotes Headset_quotes Create_quotes New_quotes Computer_quotes Actual_quotes Human_quotes Portal_quotes Consciousness_quotes Kid_quotes Technology_quotes Allow_quotes Understand_quotes Spacetime_quotes Relationship_quotes Reality_quotes Figure_quotes Way_quotes Open_quotes Genuine_quotes Jury_quotes
Grace_Hopper
Allergic To Change
“Humans are allergic to change. They love to say, ‘We've always done it this way.’ I try to fight that. That's why I have a clock on my wall that runs counter-clockwise.”
- Source: Grace Hopper as quoted in "The Wit and Wisdom of Grace Hopper" by Philip Schieber in OCLC Newsletter, No. 167 (March/April 1987).
Always Done It
“I think the saddest phrase I ever hear at a computer installation is that horrible one, ‘but we've always done it that way’. That's a forbidden phrase in my office.”
- Source: Grace Hopper in a lecture delivered 1982-08-19 at the NSA (National Security Agency). Video available at YouTube as “NSA Releases Internal 1982 Lecture by Computing Pioneer Rear Admiral Grace Hopper”, channel The Black Vault Originals, online at <https://youtu.be/_bP14OzIJWI?si=wcUTl04b4p4scY6k>, posted 2024-08, retrieved 2024-08. Quote in video at 23:40.
Get Something Done
“The best way to get something done was to do it, and if necessary, apologize.”
- Source: Grace Hopper in a lecture delivered 1982-08-19 at the NSA (National Security Agency). Video available at YouTube as “NSA Releases Internal 1982 Lecture by Computing Pioneer Rear Admiral Grace Hopper”, channel The Black Vault Originals, online at <https://youtu.be/_bP14OzIJWI?si=wcUTl04b4p4scY6k>, posted 2024-08, retrieved 2024-08. Quote in video at 29:05.
- Keywords: Best_quotes Way_quotes Done_quotes Do_quotes Necessary_quotes Apologize_quotes
Sabine_Hossenfelder
Closer Reality
“The foundations of physics give us a closer look at reality, but the closer we look at reality, the more slippery it becomes. Our heavy use of mathematics is a major reason. The more the fundamental descriptions of nature have become divorced from our everyday experience, the more we must rely on mathematical rigor. This reliance has consequences. Using math to describe reality means that the same observations can be equivalently explained in many different ways. That’s just because there are many sets of mathematical axioms that will give the exact same predictions for all available data. Thus, if you want to assign 'reality' to one of your explanations, you won’t know which.”
- Source: Hossenfelder, Sabine. Existential Physics: A Scientist's Guide to Life's Biggest Questions (p. 74). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
- Keywords: Foundation_quotes Physics_quotes Closer_quotes Reality_quotes Slippery_quotes Heavy_quotes Mathematics_quotes Major_quotes Reason_quotes Fundamental_quotes Description_quotes Nature_quotes Divorce_quotes Everyday_quotes Experience_quotes Rely_quotes Rigor_quotes Consequence_quotes Observation_quotes Same_quotes Equivalent_quotes Explanation_quotes Different_quotes Way_quotes Set_quotes Axiom_quotes Exact_quotes Prediction_quotes Available_quotes Data_quotes Assign_quotes Know_quotes
Carl_Jung
Supreme Meaning
“...the melting together of sense and nonsense... produces the supreme meaning. But the supreme meaning is the path, the way and the bridge to what is to come... The supreme meaning is not a meaning and not an absurdity, it is image and force in one, magnificence and force together.”
- Source: Written by Carl G. Jung in ‘The Red Book’, also known as ‘Liber Novus’, which was originally written from 1914 to 1930. It was first published in 2009 by W. W. Norton in a facsimile edition, complete with an English translation. The edition used here is the book ‘The Red Book: Liber Novus: A Reader's Edition’, written by C. G. Jung, edited with an introduction by Sonu Shamdasani, translated by Mark Kyburz, John Peck, and Sonu Shamdasani; published by W. W. Norton in 2012; ISBN 978-0393089080; Page 120.
Examples
“Woe betide those who live by way of examples! Life is not with them. If you live according to an example, you thus live according to an example, but who should live your own life is not yourself? So live yourself.”
- Source: Written by Carl G. Jung in ‘The Red Book’, also known as ‘Liber Novus’, which was originally written from 1914 to 1930. It was first published in 2009 by W. W. Norton in a facsimile edition, complete with an English translation. The edition used here is the book ‘The Red Book: Liber Novus: A Reader's Edition’, written by C. G. Jung, edited with an introduction by Sonu Shamdasani, translated by Mark Kyburz, John Peck, and Sonu Shamdasani; published by W. W. Norton in 2012; ISBN 978-0393089080; Page 125.
- See Also:
The Path
“There is only one way and that is your way. You seek the path? I warn you away from my own. It can also be the wrong way for you. May each go his own way. I will be no savior, no lawgiver, no master teacher unto you. You are no longer little children.”
- Source: Written by Carl G. Jung in ‘The Red Book’, also known as ‘Liber Novus’, which was originally written from 1914 to 1930. It was first published in 2009 by W. W. Norton in a facsimile edition, complete with an English translation. The edition used here is the book ‘The Red Book: Liber Novus: A Reader's Edition’, written by C. G. Jung, edited with an introduction by Sonu Shamdasani, translated by Mark Kyburz, John Peck, and Sonu Shamdasani; published by W. W. Norton in 2012; ISBN 978-0393089080; Page 125.
- See Also:
Laws and Teachings
“Laws and teachings held in common compel people to solitude, so that they may escape the pressure of undesirable contact, but solitude makes people hostile and venomous. Therefore give people dignity and let each of them stand apart, so that each may find his own fellowship and love it. Power stands against power, contempt against contempt, love against love. Give humanity dignity, and trust that life will find the better way.”
- Source: Written by Carl G. Jung in ‘The Red Book’, also known as ‘Liber Novus’, which was originally written from 1914 to 1930. It was first published in 2009 by W. W. Norton in a facsimile edition, complete with an English translation. The edition used here is the book ‘The Red Book: Liber Novus: A Reader's Edition’, written by C. G. Jung, edited with an introduction by Sonu Shamdasani, translated by Mark Kyburz, John Peck, and Sonu Shamdasani; published by W. W. Norton in 2012; ISBN 978-0393089080; Page 126.
- Keywords: Law_quotes Teaching_quotes Hold_quotes Common_quotes Compel_quotes People_quotes Solitude_quotes Escape_quotes Pressure_quotes Undesirable_quotes Contact_quotes Hostile_quotes Venomous_quotes Dignity_quotes Stand_quotes Apart_quotes Each_quotes Find_quotes Fellowship_quotes Love_quotes Power_quotes Contempt_quotes Humanity_quotes Trust_quotes Life_quotes Better_quotes Way_quotes
Soul's Desire
“He whose desire turns away from outer things, reaches the place of the soul. If he does not find the soul, the horror of emptiness will overcome him, and fear will drive him with a whip lashing time and again in a desperate endeavor and a blind desire for the hollow things of the world. He becomes a fool through his endless desire, and forgets the way of his soul, never to find her again.”
- Source: Written by Carl G. Jung in ‘The Red Book’, also known as ‘Liber Novus’, which was originally written from 1914 to 1930. It was first published in 2009 by W. W. Norton in a facsimile edition, complete with an English translation. The edition used here is the book ‘The Red Book: Liber Novus: A Reader's Edition’, written by C. G. Jung, edited with an introduction by Sonu Shamdasani, translated by Mark Kyburz, John Peck, and Sonu Shamdasani; published by W. W. Norton in 2012; ISBN 978-0393089080; Page 129.
- Notes:
- In 1913 Jung called this turning away process the ‘introversion of the libido’ in ‘On the Question of Psychological Types’.
- Keywords: Soul_quotes Desire_quotes Turn_quotes Outer_quotes Thing_quotes Reach_quotes Place_quotes Find_quotes Horror_quotes Empty_quotes Overcome_quotes Fear_quotes Drive_quotes Whip_quotes Lash_quotes Again_quotes Desparate_quotes Endeavor_quotes Blind_quotes Hollow_quotes World_quotes Become_quotes Fool_quotes Endless_quotes Forget_quotes Way_quotes Never_quotes
Dream Language
“Dreams pave the way for life, and they determine you without you understanding their language.”
- Source: Written by Carl G. Jung in ‘The Red Book’, also known as ‘Liber Novus’, which was originally written from 1914 to 1930. It was first published in 2009 by W. W. Norton in a facsimile edition, complete with an English translation. The edition used here is the book ‘The Red Book: Liber Novus: A Reader's Edition’, written by C. G. Jung, edited with an introduction by Sonu Shamdasani, translated by Mark Kyburz, John Peck, and Sonu Shamdasani; published by W. W. Norton in 2012; ISBN 978-0393089080; Page 133.
- Keywords: Dream_quotes Pave_quotes Way_quotes Life_quotes Determine_quotes Understanding_quotes Language_quotes Symbol_quotes
Bernardo_Kastrup
Philosophy and Evidence
“Philosophy must accommodate the evidence, not the other way around.”
- 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 72. Chapter 5.
- Keywords: Philosophy_quotes Accomodate_quotes Evidence_quotes Way_quotes
Inverting Materialism
“Here we have Jung completely inverting the logic of mainstream materialism: it’s the psychic function that creates, maintains, and modifies the organic structure, not the other way around.”
- 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 78. Chapter 5.
Alan_Kay
Invent the Future
“The best way to predict the future is to invent it.”
- Source: Alan Kay (1971) at a 1971 meeting between Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) scientists and Xerox planners. As reported in the Financial Times (1 Nov 1982). Also as reported by Alan Kay, in an email on Sept 17, 1998 to Peter W. Lount.
- See Also:
- Keywords: Prediction_quotes Future_quotes Invention_quotes Best_quotes Way_quotes
Søren_Kierkegaard
Ways To Be Deceived
“One may be deceived in many ways; one may be deceived by believing the false, but one may also be deceived by not believing the true; one may be deceived by appearances, but one may also be deceived by the appearance of shrewdness, by the flattering conceit which is absolutely certain it cannot be deceived. And which deception is the more dangerous? Whose recovery is the more doubtful, that of one who does not see, or his who sees and yet does not see? Which is more difficult — to awaken one who is sleeping, or to awaken one who, awaking, dreams that he is awake?”
- Source: From the book “Works of Love”, written by Søren_Kierkegaard. Originally published in Danish in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1847. English edition translated by David F. Swenson and Lillian Marvin Swenson, published by Princeton University Press in 1946. Volume 1, chapter I, page 5.
Truth Is A Snare
“The truth is a snare: you cannot have it, without being caught. You cannot have the truth in such a way that you catch it, but only in such a way that it catches you.”
- Source: written by Søren_Kierkegaard in his personal journal circe 1847. Published by Princeton University in 1978 in Volume 4 of ‘Søren Kierkegaard’s Journals and Papers’; edited and translated by Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong.; entry JP IV 4497; page 4497.
- Keywords: Truth_quotes Snare_quotes Have_quotes Caught_quotes Way_quotes Catch_quotes
Laozi
Way Guide
“A way can be a guide but not a fixed path.”
- Source: Laozi in “Tao Te Ching”, Ch. 1, as translated by Thomas Cleary (2004).
- See Also:
- Keywords: Way_quotes Guide_quotes Fixed_quotes Path_quotes
Edward_A_Murphy
Murphy's Law
Popular Version: “If anything can go wrong, it will.” Original Version First Report: “If there are two or more ways to do something and one of those results in a catastrophe, then someone will do it that way” Original Version Second Report: "If there is any way to do it wrong, he will."
- 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 publish in 1977 by Price/Stern/Sloan, Los Angeles, California. ISBN-10: 0843104287. ISBN-13: 978-0843104288.
- Attributed to Edward A Murphy, reported in the article “The Science of Murphy’s Law” written by Robert A. J. Matthews, published in 'Scientific America, volume 276 number 4, April 1997, DOI: 10.1038/scientificamerican0497-88.
- Attributed to Edward A Murphy, reported in the book “The Making of a Scientist” by Anne Roe, published in 1953 by Dodd and Mead, New York, NY. ISBN 10: 0837171512. ISBN 13: 9780837171517.
- Notes: An idea expressed by Edward Aloysius Murphy Jr. in 1949 in reference to rocket sled engineering work.
- See Also:
Friedrich_Nietzsche
Believe or Inquire
“Here the ways of men part: if you wish to strive for peace of soul and pleasure, then believe; if you wish to be a devotee of truth, then inquire.”
- Source: Friedrich Nietzsche in a letter to his sister Elizabeth 1865-06-11.
David_E_Nye
Worker Control Obsolete
“Highly computerized corporations simply do not attempt to separate information from skill, nor do they find it profitable to control workers in the same ways as before. Such practices and the kind of alienation they involved, belong to a previous epoch.”
- Source: A book. Written by David E. Nye. Entitled 'Narratives and Spaces'. Published in 1997 by Univerity of Exeter Press, Exeter, UK. Hardback ISBN 0-85989-555-6. Paperback ISBN 0-85989-556-4. Chapter 10, page 171.
J_Robert_Oppenheimer
Technically Sweet
“When you see something that is technically sweet, you go ahead and do it and argue about what to do about it only after you've had your technical success. That is the way it was with the atomic bomb.”
- Source: Julius Robert Oppenheimer testifying in his defense in his 1954 security hearings volume 2, p. 95/266 of transcript, https://www.osti.gov/opennet/hearing , https://www.osti.gov/includes/opennet/includes/Oppenheimer%20hearings/Vol%20II%20Oppenheimer.pdf .
World Would Not Be the Same
“We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita; Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and, to impress him, takes on his multi-armed form and says, ‘Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.’ I suppose we all thought that, one way or another.”
- Source: Oppenheimer is quoting from the 1944 Prabhavananda and Isherwood translation of the Bhagavad Gita. The line quoted is spoken by Krishna, one of the major avatars of Vishnu; some assert that the passage would be better translated "I am become Time, the destroyer of worlds." online video at atomicarchive.com<nowiki>. Also an interview about the Trinity explosion, first broadcast as part of the television documentary The Decision to Drop the Bomb (1965), produced by Fred Freed, NBC White Paper; atomicarchive.com
- Keywords: Knowledge_quotes World_quotes Status_Quo_quotes Change_quotes Same_quotes People_quotes Few_quotes Laughter_quotes Crying_quotes Silence_quotes Hindu_quotes Persuasion_quotes Prince_quotes Duty_quotes Impress_quotes Arm_quotes Death_quotes Destruction_quotes Suppose_quotes Thinking_quotes Way_quotes Form_quotes Become_quotes Bhagavad-Gita_quotes Vishnu_quotes
Richard_Pascale
Think and Act
“People are much more likely to act their way into a new way of thinking, than think their way into a new way of acting.”
- Source: Richard Pascale, Mark Milleman, Linda Gioja (2001). “Surfing the Edge of Chaos: The Laws of Nature and the New Laws of Business”, p.229, Crown Business
- Keywords: People_quotes Likelihood_quotes Act_quotes Way_quotes Thinking_quotes
Alan_Perlis
Programming Language
“A language that doesn't affect the way you think about programming, is not worth knowing.”
- Source: Perlis, A. J. (1982). Special Feature: Epigrams on programming. ACM SIGPLAN Notices, 17(9), 7–13. http://doi.org/10.1145/947955.1083808
- Keywords: Language_quotes Affect_quotes Way_quotes Programming_quotes Knowledge_quotes Think_quotes Worth_quotes
Error-Free Programs
“There are two ways to write error-free programs; only the third one works.”
- Source: Perlis, A. J. (1982). Special Feature: Epigrams on programming. ACM SIGPLAN Notices, 17(9), 7–13. http://doi.org/10.1145/947955.1083808
- Keywords: Error_quotes Free_quotes Quality_quotes Defect_quotes Program_quotes Programming_quotes Writing_quotes Work_quotes Way_quotes
Simplicity Gets in the Way
“In seeking the unattainable, simplicity only gets in the way. If there are epigrams, there must be meta-epigrams.”
- Source: Perlis, A. J. (1982). Special Feature: Epigrams on programming. ACM SIGPLAN Notices, 17(9), 7–13. http://doi.org/10.1145/947955.1083808
Steven_Pinker
Computational Mind
“The mind is a system of organs of computation, designed by natural selection to solve the kinds of problems our ancestors faced in their foraging way of life, in particular, understanding and outmaneuvering objects, animals, plants, and other people.”
- 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: Mind_quotes System_quotes Computation_quotes Organ_quotes Design_quotes Natural_Selection_quotes Solution_quotes Kind_quotes Problem_quotes Ancestor_quotes Forage_qoutes Way_quotes Life_quotes Understanding_quotes Maneuver_quotes Object_quotes Evolution_quotes Animal_quotes Plant_quotes People_quotes Prehistoric_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
Computational Mind Probabilistic
“The computational theory thus embraces an alternative kind of computer with many elements that are active to a degree corresponding to the probability that some statement is true or false, and in which the activity levels change smoothly to register new and roughly accurate probabilities. (As we shall see, that may be the way the brain works.) The key idea is that the answer to the question 'What makes a system smart?' is not the kind of stuff it is made of or the kind of energy flowing through it, but what the parts of the machine stand for and how the patterns of changes inside it are designed to mirror truth-preserving relationships (including probabilistic and fuzzy truths).”
- 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 2 Section: The search for Intelligent Life in the Universe.
- Keywords: Computation_quotes Theory_quotes Embrace_quotes Alternative_quotes Kind_quotes Computer_quotes Element_quotes Activity_quotes Degree_quotes Correspondence_quotes Probability_quotes Statement_quotes True_quotes False_quotes Level_quotes Change_quotes Smooth_quotes Register_quotes Rough_quotes Accuracy_quotes Sight_quotes Way_quotes Brain_quotes Work_quotes Key_quotes Idea_quotes Answer_quotes Question_quotes System_quotes Smart_quotes Stuff_quotes Energy_quotes Flow_quotes Part_quotes Machine_quotes Stand_quotes Pattern_quotes Inside_quotes Design_quotes Mirror_quotes Fuzzy_quotes Truth_quotes Preservation_quotes Mind_quotes
Robert_M_Pirsig
An Experiment is Never a Failure
“An experiment is never a failure solely because it fails to achieve predicted results. An experiment is a failure only when it also fails adequately to test the hypothesis in question, when the data it produces don’t prove anything one way or another.”
- Source: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values (1974), 102.
Karl_Popper
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
Bertrand_Russell
Savage Controversies
“The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way. Persecution is used in theology, not in arithmetic.”
- Source: Bertrand Russell, Unpopular Essays (1950, 2007), 104.
Carl_Sagan
Faith and Evidence
“What is faith? It is belief in the absence of evidence. Now, I don't propose to tell anybody what to believe, but for me believing when there is no compelling evidence is a mistake. The idea is to withhold belief until there is compelling evidence. And if the universe does not comply with our predispositions, okay, then we have the wrenching obligation to accommodate to the way the universe is. So who is more humble? The scientist who looks at the universe with an open mind and accepts whatever the universe has to teach us? Or somebody who says everything in this book must be considered the literal truth and never mind the fallibility of all the human beings involved in the writing of this book?”
- Source: Carl Sagen speaking in an video entitled 'CARL SAGEN - A Way of Thinking' posted on YouTube at https://youtu.be/J1cNaFG1VII , at 00:03:10 in video. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
- Keywords: Faith_quotes Belief_quotes Absence_quotes Evidence_quotes Proposal_quotes Tell_quotes Compel_quotes Mistake_quotes Idea_quotes Withhold_quotes Universe_quotes Compliance_quotes Predisposition_quotes Bias_quotes Wrench_quotes Obligation_quotes Accommodate_quotes Way_quotes Humility_quotes Scientist_quotes Look_quotes Open_quotes Mind_quotes Acceptance_quotes Teaching_quotes Book_quotes Consideration_quotes Literal_quotes Truth_quotes Fallibility_quotes Writing_quotes
Science Thinking
“Science is more than a body of knowledge. It's a way of thinking. A way of skeptically interrogating the universe with a fine understanding of the human fallibility. If we are not able to ask skeptical questions to interrogate those who tell us that something is true, to be skeptical of those in authority, then we are up for grabs for the next charlatan, political or religious, who comes ambling along. It is a thing that Jefferson laid great stress on. It wasn't enough he said to enshrine some rights in a constitution or bill of rights. The people had to be educated and they have to practice their skepticism and education. Otherwise we don't run the government. The government runs us.”
- Source: Carl Sagen speaking in an video entitled 'CARL SAGEN - A Way of Thinking' posted on YouTube at https://youtu.be/J1cNaFG1VII , at 00:01:25 in video. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
- Keywords: Science_quotes Body_quotes Knowledge_quotes Thinking_quotes Truth_quotes Skeptical_quotes Interrogate_quotes Understanding_quotes Human_quotes Fallibility_quotes Question_quotes Tell_quotes Authority_quotes Grab_quotes Charlatan_quotes Political_quotes Religion_quotes Amble_quotes Jefferson_quotes Lay_quotes Stress_quotes Great_quotes Enshrine_quotes Rights_quotes Constitution_quotes Bill_quotes People_quotes Education_quotes Practice_quotes Run_quotes Government_quotes Way_quotes
Erwin_Schrödinger
Objective Nature
“While the direct sensual perception of the phenomenon tells us nothing as to its objective physical nature (or what we usually call so) and has to be discarded from the outset as a source of information, yet the theoretical picture we obtain eventually rests entirely on a complicated array of various informations, all obtained by direct sensual perception. It resides upon them, it is pieced together from them, yet it cannot really be said to contain them. In using the picture we usually forget about them, except in the quite general way that we know our idea of a light-wave is not a haphazard invention of a crank but is based on experiment.”
- Source: Erwin Schrödinger in the book “Mind and Matter”, chapter 6. Contained within the anthology “What is Life? The Physical Aspect of the Living Cell with Mind and Matter and Autobiographical Sketches”. Published in 1992 and reprinted in 2013 by Cambridge University Press, New York, NY. ISBN: 9781107604667. Online at <http://strangebeautiful.com/other-texts/schrodinger-what-is-life-mind-matter-auto-sketches.pdf> retrieved 2024. Note: “Mind and Matter” originally published separately in 1944.
- Keywords: Direct_quotes Sensual_quotes Perception_quotes Tell_quotes Nothing_quotes Objective_quotes Physical_quotes Nature_quotes Call_quotes Discard_quotes Outset_quotes Source_quotes Information_quotes Theoretical_quotes Picture_quotes Obtain_quotes Eventual_quotes Rest_quotes Entire_quotes Complicated_quotes Array_quotes Reside_quotes Piece_quotes Together_quotes Say_quotes Contain_quotes Forget_quotes Except_quotes General_quotes Way_quotes Knowledge_quotes Idea_quotes Light_quotes Wave_quotes Haphazard_quotes Invention_quotes Crank_quotes Base_quotes Experiment_quotes
Melvin_Schwartz
Mathematics More than a Language
“Mathematics is much more than a language for dealing with the physical world. It is a source of models and abstractions which will enable us to obtain amazing new insights into the way in which nature operates. Indeed, the beauty and elegance of the physical laws themselves are only apparent when expressed in the appropriate mathematical framework.”
- Source: Melvin Schwartz, In Principles of Electrodynamics (1972, 1987), 105.
- Keywords: Mathematics_quotes Language_quotes Deal_quotes Physical_quotes World_quotes Source_quotes Model_quotes Abstraction_quotes Enable_quotes Obtain_quotes Amazement_quotes Insight_quotes Way_quotes Nature_quotes Operation_quotes Beauty_quotes Elegant_quotes Law_quotes Apparent_quotes Expression_quotes Appropriate_quotes Framework_quotes
Mark_Seemann
Stroll
“I’ve lost count of the number of times I return to a problem after a stroll, only to realize that I’ve been thinking about it the wrong way. If walking about for a few minutes isn’t enough, try asking for help. If you have a colleague to bother, do that.”
- Source: Mark Seemann, “Code That Fits in Your Head: Heuristics for Software Engineering”. Published in 2021 by Pearson Education, Kindle Edition, ISBN: 978-0-13-746440-1. Page 239.
Rupert_Sheldrake
Empirical Approach
“Science needs to be liberated from these constrictive dogmas of mechanistic materialism... If we go beyond those dogmas, science gets much more interesting. All sorts of new research become possible. New questions can be asked. We can find out more about nature and more about consciousness by doing science in a new more open way. But what remains part of science so crucial to it is the empirical approach. The putting forward of hypotheses, the critical discussion, and the testing of hypotheses by experiment, the scientific method.”
- Source: Rupert Sheldrake. The video “Nature's Hidden Intelligence: Morphic Fields”. Online at https://youtu.be/qrIlWrGe4w4?t=4894. Posted 2025-01-03. Video offset 1:21:34.
- Keywords: Need_quotes Liberate_quotes Constrict_quotes Dogma_quotes Mechanistic_quotes Materialism_quotes Interesting_quotes New_quotes Research_quotes Possible_quotes Question_quotes Ask_quotes Find_quotes Nature_quotes Consciousness_quotes Do_quotes Open_quotes Way_quotes Remain_quotes Part_quotes Science_quotes Crucial_quotes Empirical_quotes Approach_quotes Hypothesis_quotes Critical_quotes Discussion_quotes Test_quotes Experiment_quotes Scientific_Method_quotes Method_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.”
- Source: Simon, H. A. (1996). The Sciences of the Artificial (Third Edition). Computers & Mathematics with Applications (3rd ed., Vol. 33). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. ISBN: 9780585360102. Retrieved 2018-08-23 from https://monoskop.org/images/9/9c/Simon_Herbert_A_The_Sciences_of_the_Artificial_3rd_ed.pdf. Chapter 2, page 43.
- 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
Baruch_Spinoza
Free Will Open Eye Dream
“Therefore, those who believe, that they speak or keep silence or act in any way from the free decision of their mind, do but dream with their eyes open.”
- Source: A book. Entitled Ethics. Written by Baruch Spinoza. Originally published 1677. Online at https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Ethics_(Spinoza). Translated from Latin by R. H. M. Elwes. Part III, Prop. II note.
Adlai_Stevenson-II
Way of the Egghead
“'Via ovicipitum dura est,' or, for the benefit of the engineers among you: ‘The way of the egghead is hard’.”
- Source: From a lecture by Adlai Ewing Stevenson II at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, March 17, 1954
- Keywords: Benefit_quotes Engineer_quotes Way_quotes Egghead_quotes Hard_quotes
Albert_Szent-Györgyi
Greatest Mistake
“There is but one safe way to avoid mistakes: to do nothing or, at least, to avoid doing something new. This, however, in itself, may be the greatest mistake of all.”
- Source: Szent-Györgyi, A. (1957). Bioenergetics. New York, NY: Academic Press.
- Keywords: Safe_quotes Way_quotes Avoidance_quotes Mistake_quotes New_quotes Do_quotes Nothing_quotes
Gerald_Weinberg
Small Teams More Efficient
“In any case, the basic rule for size and composition of programming teams would seem to be this — for the best programming at the least cost, give the best possible programmers you can find sufficient time so you need the smallest number of them. When you have to work faster, or with less experienced people, costs and uncertainties will rise. In any case, the worst way to do a programming project is to hire a horde of trainees and put them to work under pressure and without supervision — although this is the most common practice today.”
- Source: Chapter 5. Weinberg, G. M. (2011). The Psychology of Computer Programming (Silver anniversary edition) | 1971. Weinberg & Weinberg.
- Keywords: Rule_quotes Size_quotes Programming_quotes Programmer_quotes Team_quotes Cost_quotes Slack_quotes Time_quotes Fast_quotes Experience_quotes People_quotes Hiring_quotes Training_quotes Pressure_quotes Supervision_quotes Management_quotes Practice_quotes Common_quotes Basic_quotes Composition_quotes Quality_quotes Small_quotes Rise_quotes Uncertainty_quotes Worse_quotes Way_quotes Project_quotes Horde_quotes Trainee_quotes Work_quotes
Amateur and Professional Programmers
“The amateur... is looking for a way to get the job done. If he runs into difficulty, all he wants is to surmount it — the manner of doing so is of little consequence. Not so, however, for the professional. She may well be aware of numerous ways of circumnavigating the problem at hand. She may even employ one of them for the immediate purpose of getting the job done. But her work does not stop there; it begins there. It begins because she must understand why she did not understand, in order that she may prepare herself for the programs she may someday write which will require that understanding. The amateur, then, is learning about his problem... The professional, conversely, is learning about her profession — programming — and the problem being programmed is only one incidental step in her process of development.”
- Source: Chapter 7. Weinberg, G. M. (2011). The Psychology of Computer Programming (Silver anniversary edition) | 1971. Weinberg & Weinberg.
- Keywords: Amateur_quotes Professional_quotes Job_quotes Difficulty_quotes Circumnavigation_quotes Problem_quotes Work_quotes Understanding_quotes Program_quotes Programming_quotes Programmer_quotes Preparation_quotes Process_quotes Development_quotes Look_quotes Way_quotes Surmount_quotes Manner_quotes Do_quotes Little_quotes Consequence_quotes Numerous_quotes Hand_quotes Employ_quotes Immediate_quotes Purpose_quotes Stop_quotes Begin_quotes Order_quotes Write_quotes Someday_quotes Require_quotes Learning_quotes Converse_quotes Profession_quotes Incidental_quotes Step_quotes
Stephen_Wolfram
Simple Purpose
“Whenever there’s computational irreducibility we can think of it as exerting a powerful force towards unpredictability and randomness... So for a system to achieve an overall “computationally simple purpose” this computational irreducibility must in some sense be tamed, or at least contained. And in fact it’s an inevitable feature of computational irreducibility that within it there must be “pockets of computational reducibility” where simpler behavior occurs. And at some level the way computationally simple purposes must be achieved is by tapping into those pockets of reducibility. When there’s computational irreducibility it means that there’s no simple narrative one can expect to give of how a system behaves, and no overall “mechanism” one can expect to identify for it. But one can think of pockets of computational reducibility as corresponding to at least small-scale “identifiable mechanisms”... When there’s a “simple overall purpose” being achieved these mechanisms tend to become more manifest.”
- Source: Stephen Wolfram. “What’s Special about Life? Bulk Orchestration and the Rulial Ensemble in Biology and Beyond” published 2025-11-11 at https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2025/11/whats-special-about-life-bulk-orchestration-and-the-rulial-ensemble-in-biology-and-beyond/.
- Keywords: Computation_quotes Irreducibility_quotes Think_quotes Exertion_quotes Powerful_quotes Force_quotes Toward_quotes Unpredictability_quotes Predictability_quotes Randomness_quotes System_quotes Achieve_quotes Simple_quotes Purpose_quotes Tame_quotes Contain_quotes Inevitable_quotes Feature_quotes Pocket_quotes Reducible_quotes Behavior_quotes Occur_quotes Level_quotes Way_quotes Tap_quotes Narrative_quotes Expect_quotes Overall_quotes Mechanism_quotes Identify_quotes Correspond_quotes Least_quotes Small_quotes Scale_quotes Tend_quotes Become_quotes Manifest_quotes
Future Jumping
“There’s a certain robustness to time when viewed in these computational terms. There’s no way to ‘jump ahead’ in time; the only way to find out what will happen in the future is to go through the irreducible computational steps to get there.”
- Source: Stephen Wolfram. “On the Nature of Time” published 2024-10-08 at https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2024/10/on-the-nature-of-time/.
Israel_Zangwill
Democracy
“I recognize that Democracy is the least bad form of government. It is, of course, peculiarly liable to be exploited by demagogues, who, instead of uplifting the masses, use them as a means for lifting themselves up. But whereas there is no way of correcting a maleficent autocracy save by smashing it, a maleficent Democracy contains the cure for its own evils. For the people has a sound instinct in the long run.”
- Source: Israel Zangwill. A speech. Address delivered before The American Jewish Congress, Carnegie Hall, New York City, October 14, 1923-10-14. Transcript published by The American Jewish Congress, New York. Entitled “Watchman, What of the Night?”.
- See Also:
- Keywords: Democracy_quotes Least_quotes Bad_quotes Form_quotes Government_quotes Peculiar_quotes Liable_quotes Exploit_quotes Demagogue_quotes Uplift_quotes Mass_quotes Lift_quotes Way_quotes Correct_quotes Maleficent_quotes Autocracy_quotes Smash_quotes Contain_quotes Cure_quotes Evil_quotes People_quotes Sound_quotes Instinct_quotes Long_quotes Run_quotes
Shoshana_Zuboff
Natural Attitude
“The most treacherous enemy of such research is what philosophers call ‘the natural attitude,’ our capacity to live daily life in a way that takes for granted the objects and activities that surround us. Even when we encounter new objects in our environment, our tendency is to experience them in terms of categories and qualities with which we are already familiar. The natural attitude allows us to assume and predict a great many things about each other's behavior without first establishing premises at the outset of every interaction. The natural attitude can also stand in the way of awareness, for ordinary experience has to be made extraordinary in order to become accessible to reflection. This occurs when we encounter a problem: when our actions do not yield the expected results, we are caught by surprise and so are motivated to reflect upon our initial assumptions. Awareness requires a rupture with the world we take for granted; then old categories of experience are called into question and revised.”
- Source: Zuboff, S. (1988). In The Age Of The Smart Machine: The Future Of Work And Power. New York, NY: Basic Books, p. 13. ISBN:0465032125.
- Keywords: Enemy_quotes Research_quotes Natural_quotes Attitude_quotes Capacity_quotes Object_quotes Activity_quotes Environment_quotes Experience_quotes Category_quotes Quality_quotes Familiarity_quotes Assumption_quotes Prediction_quotes Behavior_quotes Premise_quotes Interaction_quotes Problem_quotes Awareness_quotes Extraordinary_quotes Accessibility_quotes Reflection_quotes Thinking_quotes Expectation_quotes Result_quotes Surprise_quotes Motivation_quotes World_quotes Rupture_quotes Question_quotes Revision_quotes Treacherous_quotes Philosopher_quotes Call_quotes Live_quotes Daily_quotes Way_quotes Surround_quotes Outset_quotes Stand_quotes Ordinary_quotes Action_quotes Yield_quotes Initial_quotes
Skill and Effort
“These twin functions of the body -- as a source of skill and as a source of efforts -- complicated the way in which employers confronted the problems of labor discipline and the speed with which they invested in labor-saving technology, just as they complicated workers' responses to that technology.”
- Source: Zuboff, S. (1988). In The Age Of The Smart Machine: The Future Of Work And Power. New York, NY: Basic Books, p. 36. ISBN:0465032125.
- Keywords: Body_quotes Skill_quotes Effort_quotes Employment_quotes Labor_quotes Technology_quotes Worker_quotes Work_quotes Automation_quotes Twin_quotes Function_quotes Source_quotes Complicated_quotes Way_quotes Problem_quotes Confront_quotes Discipline_quotes Speed_quotes Invest_quotes Response_quotes
Computers Over People
“When managers express a preference for computers over people, the effects find their way into every corner of the worker's mind.”
- Source: Zuboff, S. (1988). In The Age Of The Smart Machine: The Future Of Work And Power. New York, NY: Basic Books, p. 268. ISBN:0465032125.
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
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