Home > Author > Larry Gottlieb
1 " I speak a bit about physics in this book. I do so in order to see if I can convince you, as I have been convinced, that what we call common sense, our shared “knowledge” of the world we live in, is not a good indication of how the world actually works, let alone what it actually is. "
― Larry Gottlieb , Hoodwinked: Uncovering Our Fundamental Superstitions
2 " In fact, it could be said that our language evolved for the express purpose of allowing us to participate in that interaction with others. That would explain why it is so hard to talk about whatever it is that might lie beyond or behind the description of the world: our language evolved to represent the description, and not the world itself. "
3 " The barrier between ourselves and a greater range of possibilities of experience is a contradictory belief, a filter that removes those possibilities. "
4 " I have suggested that we can choose to regard the world as an interpretation of information provided by our senses, as opposed to a durable, external entity that will outlast us. If you’re focusing upon a description of the world, and you know it’s only a description, you can experiment with changing that description. This new view offers us a powerful choice of how to look at our lives. "
5 " After more than a hundred years of debate, quantum scientists still believe that the physical world is a law-based machine… Perhaps the time will come when these women and men of science finally discover for themselves that we cannot fully explain reality without talking about consciousness. Maybe then, more of them will begin to consider the implications of realizing that there is no world apart from its observation, that the world “out there” isn’t what it seems to be, and that we are so much more than we imagine ourselves to be. "
6 " We depend on our description of the world for everything we perceive. As a result, nothing new can be allowed to threaten that description; we hold onto it with all our might. So, what happens when we encounter new events and new people, and we form new memories? "
7 " A strange mixture of disbelief and complete trust washed over me. On the one hand, I had no way to explain what had just happened, and on the other I was again feeling that everything was fine. In terms of what I see now, the world had stopped for me. "
8 " Trying to change situations or conditions solely with action in the world would be like trying to fix an unwanted image in the mirror without changing what’s being reflected. It just doesn't work. "
9 " What if that which we think of as the entire physical universe is actually a story, a description, an interpretation of what we see, a set of ideas about the world? What if we are all immersed in this invisible—more accurately, transparent—story that not only colors everything we see but actually determines what we are able to see? "
― Larry Gottlieb
