--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To understand the magic way of thinking…" description: "\"To understand the magic way of thinking you have to know non-magic thinking. If you see that clearly, you will see how many magic thoughts are necessar..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a6/asger-jorn-16504_elements_to-understand-the-magic-way-of-thinking_2704283.png" --- # To understand the magic way of thinking you have to know… ![“To understand the magic way of thinking you have to know non-magic thinking. If you see that clearly, you will see how many magic thoughts are necessary elements even of natural science today.” quote by Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a6/asger-jorn-16504_elements_to-understand-the-magic-way-of-thinking_2704283.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a6/asger-jorn-16504_elements_to-understand-the-magic-way-of-thinking_2704283.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a6/asger-jorn-16504_elements_to-understand-the-magic-way-of-thinking_2704283.png) > “To understand the magic way of thinking you have to know non-magic thinking. If you see that clearly, you will see how many magic thoughts are necessary elements even of natural science today.” [Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Understanding magical thinking requires recognizing ordinary reasoning; magic thoughts are embedded even in science. **In simple terms:** Know ordinary thinking to see magic in science. Key Takeaway Recognize hidden assumptions. Themes philosophy creativity science Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - art criticism - scientific research - education - personal reflection Key Concepts magical thinking non‑magical thinking epistemology Questions to Reflect On - How do you differentiate metaphor from fact? - What assumptions underlie scientific concepts? A Different Perspective Magic thoughts may be metaphorical, not literal. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Elements](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elements/) [Magic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/magic/) [Natural science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/natural-science/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/today/) [Way of thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way-of-thinking/) ## Related quotes > [“Non-magic people (more commonly known as Muggles) were particularly afraid of magic in medieval times, but not very good at recognizing it. On the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-k-rowling/non-magic-people-more-commonly-known-as-muggles-were-particularly/) [J.K. Rowling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-k-rowling/) > [“You have to be very specific when it comes to magic,” A-Through-L said sheepishly. “You must say things as carefully as you can. 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Bury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-bury/) > [But there is another reason for the high repute of mathematics: it is mathematics that offers the exact natural sciences a certain measure of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/but-there-is-another-reason-for-the-high-repute-of-mathematics-it-is/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) ## More by Asger Jorn > [The great work of art is the complete banality, and the fault with most banalities is that they are not banal enough. Banality here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asger-jorn/the-great-work-of-art-is-the-complete-banality-and-the-fault-with/) [Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) > [Being an artist is being an isolated individual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asger-jorn/being-an-artist-is-being-an-isolated-individual/) [Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) > [We are not talking about a new cognition in relation to abstract art, rather a new area of cognition...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asger-jorn/we-are-not-talking-about-a-new-cognition-in-relation-to-abstract-art/) [Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) > [To break and be able to grow together again in a better way: that is the difficult art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asger-jorn/to-break-and-be-able-to-grow-together-again-in-a-better-way-that-is/) [Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) > [If the image was sketched onto the canvas and spontaneously drawn, colour would often be restrained and unfree... The most important and the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asger-jorn/if-the-image-was-sketched-onto-the-canvas-and-spontaneously-drawn/) [Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) > [Everything is in constant flux, from state to state, from good to bad and back again…, only in transmutation, perpetual motion, lies truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asger-jorn/everything-is-in-constant-flux-from-state-to-state-from-good-to-bad/) [Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) > [Beautiful, ugly, impressive, disgusting, meaningless, grim, contradictory etc … It makes no difference, as long as it is life, vigorously pouring forth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asger-jorn/beautiful-ugly-impressive-disgusting-meaningless-grim-contradictory/) [Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) > [To get anywhere, one must choose one's mistakes. I chose experimental acts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asger-jorn/to-get-anywhere-one-must-choose-one-s-mistakes-i-chose-experimental/) [Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) > [Anything really new is repulsive, because it is abnormal and unreasonable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asger-jorn/anything-really-new-is-repulsive-because-it-is-abnormal-and/) [Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) > [My work is based on a tradition quite distinct from the Eckersberg tradition, a Nordic line of development that had never been clearly and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asger-jorn/my-work-is-based-on-a-tradition-quite-distinct-from-the-eckersberg/) [Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) > [There can be no question of selecting in any direction, but of penetrating the whole cosmic law of rhythms, forces and material that are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asger-jorn/there-can-be-no-question-of-selecting-in-any-direction-but-of/) [Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) > [We are sparks that must glow as brightly as possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asger-jorn/we-are-sparks-that-must-glow-as-brightly-as-possible/) [Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) > [The reverse process is extremely important to me - that artistic images can inspire to words and different myths, and that in certain cultures…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asger-jorn/the-reverse-process-is-extremely-important-to-me-that-artistic-images/) [Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) > [In the beginning was the image.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asger-jorn/in-the-beginning-was-the-image/) [Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) > [A creative train of thought is set off by: the unexpected, the unknown, the accidental, the disorderly, the absurd, the impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asger-jorn/a-creative-train-of-thought-is-set-off-by-the-unexpected-the-unknown/) [Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) [Explore all 39 Asger Jorn quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) ## More Elements quotes > [My team and I have reunited two elements that coexist with diffiulty: respect and affection, because when they love you they don't respect you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shakira/my-team-and-i-have-reunited-two-elements-that-coexist-with-diffiulty/) [Shakira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shakira/) > [I was in high school and I had an independent album out, and we kept sending that out, and I was doing shows. 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If it happens that the question which we wish to examine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/geometry-which-should-only-obey-physics-when-united-with-it-sometimes/) [Jean le Rond d'Alembert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/) > [I find in working always the disturbing intrusion of elements not a part of my most interested vision, and the inevitable obliteration and replacement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hopper/i-find-in-working-always-the-disturbing-intrusion-of-elements-not-a/) [Edward Hopper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hopper/) > [Music and language are a vital element. We, as actors and directors, offer it to people who want to experience it. Sometimes the actual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-branagh/music-and-language-are-a-vital-element-we-as-actors-and-directors/) [Kenneth Branagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-branagh/) > [Intelligence is a separate gift, for the benefit of students, so that they may think of themselves as intellectual and not very intelligent, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/intelligence-is-a-separate-gift-for-the-benefit-of-students-so-that/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I don't think that writing, real writing, has much to do with affirming belief--if anything it causes rifts and gaps in belief which make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-evenson/i-don-t-think-that-writing-real-writing-has-much-to-do-with-affirming/) [Brian Evenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-evenson/) > [The proliferation of right-to-carry laws throughout the states has drawn plaintive complaints from the criminal element. They feel that it makes their profession too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-cooper/the-proliferation-of-right-to-carry-laws-throughout-the-states-has/) [Jeff Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-cooper/) > [To me, the most important elements in a theatre are the actors and the texts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naseeruddin-shah/to-me-the-most-important-elements-in-a-theatre-are-the-actors-and-the/) [Naseeruddin Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naseeruddin-shah/) > [Two elements are needed to form a truth - a fact and an abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/remy-de-gourmont/two-elements-are-needed-to-form-a-truth-a-fact-and-an-abstraction/) [Remy de Gourmont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/remy-de-gourmont/) > [In America there is not one single element of civilization that is not made to depend, in the end, upon public opinion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/in-america-there-is-not-one-single-element-of-civilization-that-is/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [Most of us think of pride as self-centeredness, conceit, boastfulness, arrogance, or haughtiness. All of these are elements of the sin, but the heart,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-taft-benson/most-of-us-think-of-pride-as-self-centeredness-conceit-boastfulness/) [Ezra Taft Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-taft-benson/) [Browse all 3,647 Elements quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elements/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To understand the magic way of thinking you have to know non-magic thinking. 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