When I was in Cambridge reading mathematics, I went to Amsterdam for the International Mathematics Congress. There I saw M.C. Escher's fascinating work. That inspired me to try my hand at drawing such impossibilities.
Roger PenroseRead
Some people take the view that we happen by accident. I think that there is something much deeper, of which we have very little inkling at the moment.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that human existence is not a mere coincidence but has a deeper significance beyond our current understanding.
Roger Penrose reflects on the nature of existence, proposing that while some may see our being as a random occurrence, he believes there is a profound reality underlying our existence that we have yet to fully comprehend. This thought challenges the idea of chance and hints at a hidden depth to life and the universe that warrants exploration.
Themes
ExistenceMeaningUniverseDepthUnderstanding
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the meaning of life, one might reference this quote to emphasize the idea that existence has a purposeful and profound basis.
More from Roger Penrose
All quotes →Some people take the view that the universe is simply there, and it runs along - it's a bit as though it just sort of computes, and we happen by accident to find ourselves in this thing. I don't think that's a very fruitful or helpful way of looking at the universe.
Roger PenroseRead
Consciousness ... is the phenomenon whereby the universe's very existence is made known.
Roger PenroseRead
Some years ago, I wrote a book called the Emperor’s New Mind and that book was describing a point of view I had about consciousness and why it was not something that comes about from complicated calculations.
Roger PenroseRead
I believe there is something going on in a conscious being, which includes many animals, as well as ourselves, that is not a computational activity. And to be conscious at all is not a quality that a computer as such will ever possess - no matter how complicated, no matter how well it plays chess or any of these things.
Roger PenroseRead
The image of Stephen Hawking - who has died aged 76 - in his motorised wheelchair, with head contorted slightly to one side and hands crossed over to work the controls, caught the public imagination as a true symbol of the triumph of mind over matter.
Roger PenroseRead
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