The great extension of our experience in recent years has brought light to the insufficiency of our simple mechanical conceptions and, as a consequence, has shaken the foundation on which the customary interpretation of observation was based.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Recent experiences show that simple mechanical views are insufficient and shake the basis of observation.
- In plain terms
- New experiences show simple views are not enough.
- What can you take from it?
- Update your views as experience grows.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What views need updating?
- How does experience change truth?
Another view
It may underestimate the value of established models.
More from Niels Bohr
We must be clear that when it comes to atoms, language can be used only as in poetry. The poet, too, is not nearly so concerned with describing facts as with c…
Permalink to quote #1 Isolated material particles are abstractions, their properties being definable and observable only through their interaction with other systems.
Permalink to quote #3 What is it that we humans depend on? We depend on our words... Our task is to communicate experience and ideas to others. We must strive continually to extend …
Permalink to quote #4
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