We are living in a computer-programmed reality, and the only clue we have to it is when some variable is changed, and some alteration in reality occurs. We have the overwhelming impression that we were reliving the present - deja vu.
This is a mournful discovery. 1)Those who agree with you are insane 2)Those who do not agree with you are in power.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the disheartening reality of social agreement and power dynamics.
Philip K. Dick's quote highlights a profound observation about societal norms and beliefs. It suggests that when a majority agrees with a particular viewpoint, it may indicate a collective insanity, while dissenting voices often find themselves marginalized or in opposition to those in power. This serves as a commentary on the nature of reality and human perception, where individual truths can be overshadowed by prevailing ideologies and authoritative structures.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion on political ideologies, you might use this quote to illustrate the complexity of social agreement.
More from Philip K. Dick
All quotes βDon't try to solve serious matters in the middle of the night.
On some other world, possibly it is different. Better. There are clear good and evil alternatives. Not these obscure admixtures, these blends, with no proper tool by which to untangle the components.
"Do you have information that there's an android in the cast? I'd be glad to help you, and if I were an android would I be glad to help you?" "An android," he said, "doesn't care what happens to another android. That's one of the indications we look for." "Then," Miss Luft said, "you must be an android."
The universe is information and we are stationary in it, not three dimensional and not in space or time.
A man is an angel that has gone deranged.
Similar quotes
I never aimed to be on television or in the press. We all have a personal life, and being a public figure disrupts that.
Can anything be so elegant as to have few wants, and to serve them one's self?
I donβt think we can solve the outside problems until we solve the ones within.
So war and peace start in the human heart. Whether that heart is open or whether that heart closes has global implications.
We kill at every step, not only in wars, riots and executions. We kill when we close our eyes to poverty, suffering and shame.In the same way all disrespect for life, all hard-heartedness,all indifference, all contempt is nothing else than killing.
It is only on the condition of humility and reverence before the world that our species will be able to remain in it.