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About this quote

What does it mean?
Realism can reduce complex beings to simple geometric forms.
In plain terms
Realists see cats as simple tubes.
What can you take from it?
Realism simplifies life too much.

Where it applies

  • problem solving
  • critique
  • analysis

Putting it to work

  • consider complexity
  • avoid oversimplification
  • use multiple views

Questions to consider

  • When is simplification useful?
  • What do you lose when simplifying?

Another view

Simplification helps clarity sometimes.

More from Terry Pratchett

  1. It's an interesting fact that fewer than 17 % of Real cats end their lives with the same name they started with. Much family effort goes into selecting one at …

    Permalink to quote #75
  2. Everyone's heard of Erwin Schrodinger's famous thought experiment. You put a cat in a box with a bottle of poison, which many people would suggest is about as …

    Permalink to quote #77
  3. Cats don't hunt seals. They would if they knew what they were and where to find them. But they don't, so that's all right.

    Permalink to quote #74

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