The universe begins to look more like a great thought than a great machine.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that perceiving the universe as a thought emphasizes creativity and consciousness rather than mechanical interactions.
James Jeans' quote highlights a philosophical shift where the universe is viewed not merely as a machine governed by physical laws, but rather as a manifestation of thought and consciousness. This perspective encourages a deeper understanding of existence, suggesting that creativity and ideas play a central role in the fabric of reality, thereby blurring the lines between science, philosophy, and spirituality.
In practice
In a philosophy class when discussing the nature of reality.
The stream of knowledge is heading towards a non-mechanical reality; the universe begins to look more like a great thought than like a machine. Mind no longer appears to be an accidental intruder into the realm of matter...we ought rather hail it as the creator and governor of the realm of matter.
Put three grains of sand inside a vast cathedral, and the cathedral will be more closely packed with sand than space is with stars.
...nature seems very conversant with the rules of pure mathematics, as our own mathematicians have formulated them in their studies, out of their own inner consciousness and without drawing to any appreciable extent on their experience of the outer world.
...to many it is not knowledge but the quest for knowledge that gives greater interest to thought-to travel hopefully is better than to arrive.
Since it is difficult to join them together, it is safer to be feared than to be loved when one of the two must be lacking.
Censorship ends in logical completeness when nobody is allowed to read any books except the books that nobody reads.
Never ascribe to an opponent motives meaner than your own.
If we compare a severely defective human infant with a nonhuman animal, a dog or a pig, for example, we will often find the nonhuman to have superior capacities, both actual and potential, for rationality, self-consciousness, communication and anything else that can plausibly be considered morally significant.
Heaven is author of the virtue that is in me
What's really hurting me, the name Islam is involved, and Muslim is involved and causing trouble and starting hate and violence. ... Islam is not a killer religion. ... Islam means peace, I couldn't just sit home and watch people label Muslims as the reason for this problem.
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