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| "The map is not the territory. … The only usefulness of a map depends on similarity of structure between the empirical world and the map…" | | Uncategorized | |
| God may forgive your sins, but your nervous system won't | | Sin | |
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| If the map shows a different structure from the territory represented -- for instance, shows the cities in a wrong order. . . . then the map is worse than useless, as it misinforms and leads astray. | | Uncategorized | |
| If we consider that all we deal with represents constantly changing sub-microscopic, interrelated processes which are not, and cannot be ‘identical with themselves’, the old dictum that ‘everything is identical with itself’ becomes in [today’s understanding of the universe] a principle invariably false to facts. | | Law; Logic; Politics; Psychology; Semantics | |
| If words are not things, or maps are not the actual territory, then, obviously, the only possible link between the objective world and the linguistic world is found in structure, and structure alone. | | Uncategorized | |
| In the rough, a symbol is a sign that stands for something… Before a noise, etc., may become a symbol, something must exist for the symbol to symbolize. | | Law; Logic; Politics; Psychology; Semantics | |
| It is amusing to discover, in the twentieth century, that the quarrels between two lovers, two mathematicians, two nations, two economic systems, usually assumed insoluble in a finite period should exhibit one mechanism, the semantic mechanism of identification -- the discovery of which makes universal agreement possible, in mathematics and in life. | | Uncategorized | |
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| Let us repeat the two crucial negative premises as established firmly by all human experience: (1) Words are not the things we are speaking about; and (2) There is no such thing as an object in absolute isolation. | | Law; Logic; Politics; Psychology; Semantics | |
| The affairs of man are conducted by our own, man-made rules and according to man-made theories. Man's achievements rest upon the use of symbols.... we must consider ourselves as a symbolic, semantic class of life, and those who rule the symbols, rule us. | | Uncategorized | |
| The map is not the territory. | | Country | |
| The only usefulness of a map or a language depends on the similarity of structure between the empirical world and the map-languages. | | Language; Reality | |
| There are two ways to slice easily thorugh life; to believe everythingor to doubt everything. Both ways save us from thinking. | | Uncategorized | |
| There are two ways to slide easily through life: to believe everything or to doubt everything. Both ways save us from thinking. | | Faith; Life; Sceptic; Thinking | |
| Thus, we see that one of the obvious origins of human disagreement lies in the use of noises for words. | | Law; Logic; Psychology; Semantics | |
| Two important characteristics of maps should be noticed. A map is not the territory it represents, but, if correct, it has a similar structure to the territory, which accounts for its usefulness. | | Uncategorized | |
| We should not be surprised that we find meaningless noises in the foundation of many old ‘philosophies’, and that from them arise most of the old ‘philosophical’ fights and arguments. | | Law; Logic; Psychology; Semantics | |
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When we say ‘our rulers’, we mean those who are engaged in the manipulation of symbols. We must consider ourselves a symbolic, semantic class of life, and cannot cease from being so… those who control the symbols rule us.
Bankers, priests, lawyers,… politicians, [and news media] constitute one class [of our rulers] and work together. They do not produce any values but manipulate the values produced by others, and often pass signs for no value at all. Scientists and teachers also comprise a ruling class. They produce the main values mankind has, but, at present, they do not realize this. They are, in the main, ruled by the cunning methods of the first class. | | Uncategorized | |
