--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If that's how it all started, then we…" description: "\"If that's how it all started, then we might as well face the fact that what's left out there is a great deal of shrapnel and a whole bunch of cinders (..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65f/barbara-ehrenreich-1204_bangs_if-that-s-how-it-all-started-then-we-mig_2751873.jpg" --- # If that's how it all started, then we might as well face… ![“If that's how it all started, then we might as well face the fact that what's left out there is a great deal of shrapnel and a whole bunch of cinders (one of which is, fortunately, still hot enough and close enough to be good for tanning). Trying to find some sense and order in this mess may be as…” quote by Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65f/barbara-ehrenreich-1204_bangs_if-that-s-how-it-all-started-then-we-mig_2751873.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65f/barbara-ehrenreich-1204_bangs_if-that-s-how-it-all-started-then-we-mig_2751873.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65f/barbara-ehrenreich-1204_bangs_if-that-s-how-it-all-started-then-we-mig_2751873.jpg) > “If that's how it all started, then we might as well face the fact that what's left out there is a great deal of shrapnel and a whole bunch of cinders (one of which is, fortunately, still hot enough and close enough to be good for tanning). Trying to find some sense and order in this mess may be as futile as trying to ... reconstruct the economy of Iowa from a bowl of popcorn. \[On searching for evidence of the Big Bang.\]” [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Finding order in chaotic evidence is futile, like reconstructing an economy from popcorn; the mess contains remnants of past events. **In simple terms:** Chaos resists simple explanations. Key Takeaway Accept complexity, avoid oversimplification. Themes complexity analysis skepticism Mood critical analytical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - data analysis - policy making - scientific research Key Concepts economics science philosophy Questions to Reflect On - How do you handle incomplete data? - When is a rough model acceptable? A Different Perspective Simplistic models can mislead. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bangs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bangs/) [Be good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/be-good/) [Big bang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/big-bang/) [Bigs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bigs/) [Bowls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bowls/) [Bunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bunch/) [Bunch Cinders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bunch-cinders-3105082/) [Deal Shrapnel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deal-shrapnel-3105085/) [Deals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deals/) [Economy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economy/) [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [Evidence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evidence/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Hot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hot/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Iowa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/iowa/) [Left](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/left/) [Left out](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/left-out/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Mess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mess/) [Might](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/might/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Popcorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/popcorn/) [Reconstruct Economy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reconstruct-economy-3105084/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Shrapnel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shrapnel/) [Shrapnel Bunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shrapnel-bunch-3105083/) [Stills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stills/) [Tanning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tanning/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) [Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universe/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) [Whole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whole/) ## Related quotes > [Would I rather the research lab that tests animals is reduced to a bunch of cinders? Yes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-newkirk/would-i-rather-the-research-lab-that-tests-animals-is-reduced-to-a/) [Ingrid Newkirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-newkirk/) > [“shrapnel fizzed around the room. A splinter buried itself in Gray’s buttock, stinging like a hornet, and”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-mcdermott/shrapnel-fizzed-around-the-room-a-splinter-buried-itself-in-gray-s/) [Alan McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-mcdermott/) > [When you push a car off a cliff and blow it up, be sure to roll the windows down to avoid shrapnel. Also, strip…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/when-you-push-a-car-off-a-cliff-and-blow-it-up-be-sure-to-roll-the/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [The word experience is like a shrapnel shell, and bursts into a thousand meanings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/the-word-experience-is-like-a-shrapnel-shell-and-bursts-into-a/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [“I do not own the words used to debase me in any way shape or form. I gladly take the shrapnel and shower it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christy-leigh-stewart/i-do-not-own-the-words-used-to-debase-me-in-any-way-shape-or-form-i/) [Christy Leigh Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christy-leigh-stewart/) > [When we got down from the ambulances there were sharp cracks about us as bursts of shrapnel splashed down upon the Town Hall square.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-gibbs/when-we-got-down-from-the-ambulances-there-were-sharp-cracks-about-us/) [Philip Gibbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-gibbs/) > [“His friends told him that nobody was interested in his goddam soul unless it was the priest and he managed to answer that no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/his-friends-told-him-that-nobody-was-interested-in-his-goddam-soul/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [“They will be scared to touch her, even the ones who believe her, because they don't want to risk getting hit by shrapnel when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fredrik-backman/they-will-be-scared-to-touch-her-even-the-ones-who-believe-her/) [Fredrik Backman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fredrik-backman/) > [but nothing can be taken back, not the leaves by the trees, the rain by the clouds. You want to take back the ugly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-young/but-nothing-can-be-taken-back-not-the-leaves-by-the-trees-the-rain-by/) [Dean Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-young/) > [Any day we create that much shrapnel is a good day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-hyneman/any-day-we-create-that-much-shrapnel-is-a-good-day/) [Jamie Hyneman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-hyneman/) > [“We carry secrets under our skin like shrapnel. Our surface wounds heal, but the damage festers underneath while we worry what tiny pieces will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-lawton/we-carry-secrets-under-our-skin-like-shrapnel-our-surface-wounds-heal/) [Stephanie Lawton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-lawton/) > [My men are being unmercifully shelled. They cannot hold out if an attack is launched. The firing line and my headquarters are being plastered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-bennett/my-men-are-being-unmercifully-shelled-they-cannot-hold-out-if-an/) [Gordon Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-bennett/) > [To be a judge you don't have to know about books, you have to be skilled at picking shrapnel out of your head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-lumley/to-be-a-judge-you-don-t-have-to-know-about-books-you-have-to-be/) [Joanna Lumley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-lumley/) > [“I guess whoever built and buried that IED out there in the desert will never know how far that blast traveled. But all things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-christopher/i-guess-whoever-built-and-buried-that-ied-out-there-in-the-desert/) [Lucy Christopher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-christopher/) > [Disease may score a direct hit on only one member of a family, but shrapnel tears the flesh of the others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-rollin/disease-may-score-a-direct-hit-on-only-one-member-of-a-family-but/) [Betty Rollin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-rollin/) ## More by Barbara Ehrenreich > [Money does not bring happiness' - only the wherewithal, perhaps, to endure its absence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/money-does-not-bring-happiness-only-the-wherewithal-perhaps-to-endure/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [Yes. I think the anti-Wal-Mart is Costco, which pays much better and has much better health benefits and which is profitable and offers low…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/yes-i-think-the-anti-wal-mart-is-costco-which-pays-much-better-and/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [Jesus: a wine-guzzling vagrant and precocious socialist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/jesus-a-wine-guzzling-vagrant-and-precocious-socialist/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [ What would it mean in practice to eliminate all the 'negative people' from one's life \[as demanded by motivational speaker J.P. Maroney\]? It might… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/what-would-it-mean-in-practice-to-eliminate-all-the-negative-people/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [Wars produce warlike societies, which in turn make the world more dangerous for other societies, which are thus recruited into being war-prone themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/wars-produce-warlike-societies-which-in-turn-make-the-world-more/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [Heads of state are notoriously ill prepared for their mature careers; think of Adolf Hitler (landscape painter), Ho Chi Minh (seaman), and our own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/heads-of-state-are-notoriously-ill-prepared-for-their-mature-careers/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [Some people make stuff; other people have to buy it. And when we gave up making stuff, starting in the 1980s, we were left…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/some-people-make-stuff-other-people-have-to-buy-it-and-when-we-gave/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [ “Robert Jackall’s book \[ Moral Mazes \] impressed on me that corporate dress serves a far more important function than mere body covering. “Proper… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/robert-jackall-s-book-moral-mazes-impressed-on-me-that-corporate/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [war is, in some not yet entirely defined sense, a self-replicating pattern of behavior, possessed of a dynamism not unlike that of living things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/war-is-in-some-not-yet-entirely-defined-sense-a-self-replicating/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [Sometime in the eighties, Americans had a new set of 'traditional values' installed. ... the poor and the middle class were shaken down, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/sometime-in-the-eighties-americans-had-a-new-set-of-traditional/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [Marriage probably originated as a straightforward food-for-sex deal among foraging primates. Compatibility was not a big issue, nor, of course, was there any tension…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/marriage-probably-originated-as-a-straightforward-food-for-sex-deal/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [I became a student of the history of religion. I am fascinated by how religions often center on mystical experience, and in the Old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/i-became-a-student-of-the-history-of-religion-i-am-fascinated-by-how/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [The nation was not founded by habitual groupthinkers. But it stands a fair chance of being destroyed by them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/the-nation-was-not-founded-by-habitual-groupthinkers-but-it-stands-a/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [ “You might discover that, nationwide, America's food banks are experiencing 'a torrent of need which \[they\] cannot meet' and that, according to a survey… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/you-might-discover-that-nationwide-america-s-food-banks-are/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [My Turn is the distilled bathwater of Mrs. Reagan's life. It is for the most part sweetish, with a tart edge of rebuke, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/my-turn-is-the-distilled-bathwater-of-mrs-reagan-s-life-it-is-for-the/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) [Explore all 274 Barbara Ehrenreich quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) ## More Bangs quotes > [The very first company I started failed with a great bang. The second one failed a little bit less, but still failed. The third…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-levchin/the-very-first-company-i-started-failed-with-a-great-bang-the-second/) [Max Levchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-levchin/) > [Between the idea And the reality Between the motion And the act Falls the Shadow For Thine is the Kingdom Between the conception And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/between-the-idea-and-the-reality-between-the-motion-and-the-act-falls/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [About 120 million of us place the big bang 2,500 years after the Babylonians and Sumerians learned to brew beer. If our polls are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/about-120-million-of-us-place-the-big-bang-2-500-years-after-the/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [And you've actually watched it yourself?' I asked. 'Willingly?' Sure. I had to see it, you know? Besides we should be safe. Only one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-westerfeld/and-you-ve-actually-watched-it-yourself-i-asked-willingly-sure-i-had/) [Scott Westerfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-westerfeld/) > [He owned an expensive camera that required thought before you pressed the shutter, and I quickly became his favorite subject, round-faced, missing teeth, my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/he-owned-an-expensive-camera-that-required-thought-before-you-pressed/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [Tune your television to any channel it doesn't receive and about 1 percent of the dancing static you see is accounted for by this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/tune-your-television-to-any-channel-it-doesn-t-receive-and-about-1/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [Insect politics, indifferent universe. Bang your head against the wall, but apathy is worse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-henley/insect-politics-indifferent-universe-bang-your-head-against-the-wall/) [Don Henley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-henley/) > [When people can't abide things as they are, when they can't abide the present, they do one of two things ... either they ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/when-people-can-t-abide-things-as-they-are-when-they-can-t-abide-the/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [I give money to Unicef because I like the 'bang for your buck' aspect. Here's $10, go and save 1,000 kids from blindness!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emo-philips/i-give-money-to-unicef-because-i-like-the-bang-for-your-buck-aspect/) [Emo Philips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emo-philips/) > [how can he love me then not? He went,he ran. And I cannot bring him back. Yet I left the door metaphorically wide open,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-north/how-can-he-love-me-then-not-he-went-he-ran-and-i-cannot-bring-him/) [Freya North](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-north/) > [ Bill Prady and Chuck Lorre, the guys who run that show \[Big Bang Theory\], are really funny and really smart, and the cast is… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brent-spiner/bill-prady-and-chuck-lorre-the-guys-who-run-that-show-big-bang-theory/) [Brent Spiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brent-spiner/) > [Working on television is like being shot out of a cannon. They cram you all up with rehearsals, then someone lights a fuse and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tallulah-bankhead/working-on-television-is-like-being-shot-out-of-a-cannon-they-cram/) [Tallulah Bankhead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tallulah-bankhead/) > [Everybody was going along thinking that it was a day like any other day, and bang, down went the Twin Towers. Changed everything. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/everybody-was-going-along-thinking-that-it-was-a-day-like-any-other/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [I don't trust anyone who hasn't been self-destructiv e in some way, and who hasn't gone through some sort of bout of self-loathing. You've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-depp/i-don-t-trust-anyone-who-hasn-t-been-self-destructiv-e-in-some-way/) [Johnny Depp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-depp/) > [She folded her arms and then shouted, "Right you thieving scunners! How dare you steal Miss Treason's funeral meats!" "Oh, waily, waily, it's the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/she-folded-her-arms-and-then-shouted-right-you-thieving-scunners-how/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) [Browse all 462 Bangs quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bangs/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If that's how it all started, then we might as well face the fact that what's left out there is a great deal of shrapnel and a whole bunch of cinders (one of which is, fortunately, still hot enough and close enough to be good for tanning). Trying to find some sense and order in this mess may be as futile as trying to ... reconstruct the economy of Iowa from a bowl of popcorn. 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