“Branches are generated by any quantum event, right? Even before we had prisms, branches were still splitting off constantly; we just didn’t have access to any of them. If it were true that there’s always a branch where you pick… — Ted Chiang Copy Share Image
“If we say that an individual's character is revealed by the choices they make over time, then, in a similar fashion, an individual's character would also be revealed by the choices they make across many worlds.” — Ted Chiang Copy Share Image
“The physical universe was a language with a perfectly ambiguous grammar. Every physical event was an utterance that could be parsed in two entirely… — Ted Chiang Copy Share Image
Women who work with animals hear this all the time: that their love for animals must arise out of a sublimated child-rearing urge. Ana's… — Ted Chiang Copy Share Image
Contemplate the marvel that is existence, and rejoice that you are able to do so. — Ted Chiang Copy Share Image
“Perhaps men were not meant to live in such a place. If their own natures restrained them from approaching heaven too closely, then men… — Ted Chiang Copy Share Image
It is a misconception to think that during evolution humans sacrificed physical skill in exchange for intelligence: wielding one's body is a mental activity. — Ted Chiang Copy Share Image
“And then there will be the times when I see you laughing. Like the time you’ll be playing with the neighbor’s puppy, poking your… — Ted Chiang Copy Share Image
“When Arecibo is not listening to anything else, it hears the voice of creation.” — Ted Chiang Copy Share Image
Similarly, knowledge of the future was incompatible with free will. What made it possible for me to exercise freedom of choice also made it… — Ted Chiang Copy Share Image
“the ray of light has to know where it will ultimately end up before it can choose the direction to begin moving” — Ted Chiang Copy Share Image
“Yet through their endeavor, men would glimpse the unimaginable artistry of Yahweh's work, in seeing how ingeniously the world had been constructed. By this… — Ted Chiang Copy Share Image
“I would have liked to experience more of the heptapods' worldview, to feel the way they feel. Then, perhaps I could immerse myself fully… — Ted Chiang Copy Share Image
