To use words to sense reality is like going with a lamp to search for darkness.
Alfred KorzybskiRead
As words are not the things we speak about, and structure is the only link between them, structure becomes the only content of knowledge. If we gamble on verbal structures that have no observable empirical structures, such gambling can never give us any structural information about the world. Therefore such verbal structures are structurally obsolete, and if we believe in them, they induce delusions or other semantic disturbances.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of understanding the underlying structure of knowledge rather than merely relying on verbal expressions.
Alfred Korzybski argues that language and words are not the actual objects or concepts they refer to; instead, the structure of these words provides the true link to knowledge. He warns that relying on verbal constructs without empirical evidence can lead to misleading ideas and confusion, suggesting a need for clarity and a deeper understanding of the structures that underlie our language and knowledge.
Themes
LanguageStructureKnowledgeEmpiricalDelusions
In practice
Example use cases
In a philosophy class discussing the nature of knowledge.
More from Alfred Korzybski
All quotes →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.
Alfred KorzybskiRead
I want to make clear only that words are not the things spoken about, and that there is no such thing as an object in absolute isolation.
Alfred KorzybskiRead
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.
Alfred KorzybskiRead
Similar quotes
We have abundant reason to rejoice that in this Land the light of truth and reason has triumphed over the power of bigotry and superstition, and that every person may here worship God according to the dictates of his own heart. In this enlightened Age and in this Land of equal liberty it is our boast, that a man's religious tenets will not forfeit the protection of the Laws, nor deprive him of the right of attaining and holding the highest Offices that are known in the United States.
George WashingtonRead
The story of my life is about back entrances, side doors, secret elevators and other ways of getting in and out of places so that people won't bother me.
Greta GarboRead
Those who want the Government to regulate matters of the mind and spirit are like men who are so afraid of being murdered that they commit suicide to avoid assassination.
Harry S. TrumanRead
A good mooring needs no knot, still no one can untie it.
LaoziRead
We are not afraid of predators, we're transfixed by them, prone to weave stories and fables and chatter endlessly about them, because fascination creates preparedness, and preparedness, survival. In a deeply tribal way, we love our monsters.
E. O. WilsonRead
The great nations have always acted like gangsters, and the small nations like prostitutes.
Stanley KubrickRead