We favor the visible, the embedded, the personal, the narrated, and the tangible; we scorn the abstract.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Humans prefer concrete and personal stories over abstract ideas.
- In plain terms
- We like things we can see and touch more than ideas.
- What can you take from it?
- Use concrete examples not abstract ones.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Why do we prefer the concrete?
- How do you simplify ideas?
Another view
Abstract concepts are sometimes necessary for complex topics.
More from Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Probability is not about the odds, but about the belief in the existence of an alternative outcome, cause, or motive.
Permalink to quote #11 Consider that the turkey's experience may have, rather than no value, a negative value. It learned from observation, as we are all advised to do (hey, after al…
Permalink to quote #13 Science evolves from funeral to funeral.
Permalink to quote #10
Related quotes
It's a rare person who wants to hear what he doesn't want to hear.
Dick CavettDick Cavett quote #3 He that has eyes to see and ears to hear may convince himself that no mortal can keep a secret. If his lips are silent, he chatters with his fingertips; betray…
Sigmund FreudSigmund Freud quote #8 Pour qu'un ensemble de sensations soit devenu un souvenir susceptible d'etre classe dans le temps, il faut qu'il ait cesse d'etre actuel, que nous ayons perdu …
Henri PoincareHenri Poincare quote #11