QuoteProject
Conventional economics is a form of brain damage. Economics is so fundamentally disconnected from the real world, it is destructive.
David Suzuki
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote criticizes conventional economics for being out of touch with reality, implying it harms understanding and decision-making.

David Suzuki argues that conventional economics fails to align with real-world experiences and observations, leading to detrimental consequences for society. He suggests that this detachment creates a form of cognitive impairment, limiting the ability to address pressing issues effectively. By equating the disconnection of economic theories from reality to brain damage, Suzuki emphasizes the urgent need for a more grounded and pragmatic approach to economics that considers the complexities of human life and the environment.

Themes

EconomicsRealityCriticismBrain DamageDisconnection

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion on the limitations of economic theory, this quote can articulate concerns about its applicability to real-world issues.

More from David Suzuki

We're in a giant car heading towards a brick wall and everyone's arguing over where they're going to sit.
David SuzukiRead
As parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts we need to start getting out into nature with the young people in our lives. Families play a key role in getting kids outside.
David SuzukiRead
One of the joys of being a grandparent is getting to see the world again through the eyes of a child.
David SuzukiRead
The medical literature tells us that the most effective ways to reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, Alzheimer's, and many more problems are through healthy diet and exercise. Our bodies have evolved to move, yet we now use the energy in oil instead of muscles to do our work.
David SuzukiRead
Do you know how much land is under ice, rock and snow? Do you know why 90 percent of us live within 100 kilometres of the U.S. border? We have this idea we're a vast country. But the reality is that a lot of it, a huge amount, is uninhabitable.
David SuzukiRead
We no longer see the world as a single entity. We've moved to cities and we think the economy is what gives us our life, that if the economy is strong we can afford garbage collection and sewage disposal and fresh food and water and electricity. We go through life thinking that money is the key to having whatever we want, without regard to what it does to the rest of the world.
David SuzukiRead

Similar quotes

We have first raised a dust and then complain we cannot see.
George BerkeleyRead
The women are, of course, the biggest single group of oppressed people in the world and, if we are to believe the Book of Genesis, the very oldest.
Chinua AchebeRead
Mob rule and emasculation of the wise' and 'who will watch the guardians'?
PlatoRead
If my activism, however well-motivated, drives out love, then I have misunderstood Jesus’ gospel. I am stuck with law, not the gospel of grace.
Philip YanceyRead
Surely the wake left behind by mankind's forward march reveals its movement just as clearly as the spray thrown up elsewhere by the prow.
Pierre Teilhard De ChardinRead
Without looking through the window, you can see Heaven's Way.
LaoziRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.