
“The simplification of anything is always sensational.”
Varied Types (1903)
Source: Behrooz Wolf (aka The Proteus Trilogy), Sight of Proteus (1978), Chapter 9 (p. 73)
“The simplification of anything is always sensational.”
Varied Types (1903)
Progress, Coexistence and Intellectual Freedom (1968), Dangers, The Threat of Nuclear War
Context: The experience of past wars shows that the first use of a new technical or tactical method of attack is usually highly effective even if a simple antidote can soon be developed. But in a thermonuclear war the first blow may be the decisive one and render null and void years of work and billions spent on creation of an anti-missile system.
"On the Physiological Causes of Harmony" (1857), p. 81
Popular Lectures on Scientific Subjects (1881)
Context: As you are aware, no perceptions obtained by the senses are merely sensations impressed on our nervous systems. A peculiar intellectual activity is required to pass from a nervous sensation to the conception of an external object, which the sensation has aroused. The sensations of our nerves of sense are mere symbols indicating certain external objects, and it is usually only after considerable practice that we acquire the power of drawing correct conclusions from our sensations respecting the corresponding objects.
“We're not scare-mongering
This is really happening”
"Idioteque"
Lyrics, Kid A (2000)
“To be overwise is to ossify; and the scruple-monger ends by standing stockstill.”
314.
Aes Triplex (1878)
X magazine (1959-62)
Context: The interesting thing is what happens in the specific picture: its precision in terms of the sensations it produces — the illusion it creates and the effect of this illusion on the psychology opposed to it. General philosophical and technical information however interesting in itself is secondary to this reality.