--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Imagine, Bishop, that you have a beloved…" description: "\"“Imagine, Bishop, that you have a beloved cat, but that your cat is not with you. If you close your eyes and further imagine you are petting your cat, ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/086/david-marusek-27635_ai_imagine-bishop-that-you-have-a-beloved-c_38896.jpg" --- # Imagine, Bishop, that you have a beloved cat, but that… ![“Imagine, Bishop, that you have a beloved cat, but that your cat is not with you. If you close your eyes and further imagine you are petting your cat, the same neurons in your brains are activated as if you were petting the actual cat. Our minds may know the difference between its models and…” quote by David Marusek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/086/david-marusek-27635_ai_imagine-bishop-that-you-have-a-beloved-c_38896.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/086/david-marusek-27635_ai_imagine-bishop-that-you-have-a-beloved-c_38896.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/086/david-marusek-27635_ai_imagine-bishop-that-you-have-a-beloved-c_38896.jpg) > ““Imagine, Bishop, that you have a beloved cat, but that your cat is not with you. If you close your eyes and further imagine you are petting your cat, the same neurons in your brains are activated as if you were petting the actual cat. Our minds may know the difference between its models and reality itself, but it prefers its models. So much so that we apprehend reality through our models, rather than directly via the sense. When I'm speaking to you, I have a little bishop in my head, and though I speak out load, I'm speaking to my little bishop. When you answer, I can only perceive you through my model of you. Mentars also make models, but they don't apprehend reality through them. They end up, not with little people in their minds, but with highly complex rule sets. They relate to their models in the same way we relate to weather models, as things to consult, but not to conflate with external reality.”” [David Marusek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-marusek/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Our brains simulate experiences, activating the same neural pathways as real perception, so we interpret the world through internal models rather than direct sensory data. **In simple terms:** We understand reality via mental models, not raw senses. Key Takeaway Perception is model‑driven. Themes cognition perception mental models neuroscience philosophy of mind Mood thoughtful curious Type philosophical scientific When to use this quote - visualizing a distant loved one - using a map to navigate - reading a novel and feeling the story - playing a video game with simulated physics Key Concepts constructivism embodied cognition Practical Applications - leverage mental rehearsal for skill acquisition - design interfaces that align with users' internal models Questions to Reflect On - How do our mental models shape our emotional reactions? - When might relying on a model hinder accurate perception? A Different Perspective Models can be biased or incomplete, leading to misinterpretations of reality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [AI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ai/) [Answer Perceive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/answer-perceive-449784/) [Apprehend Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apprehend-reality-449785/) [Close your eyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/close-your-eyes/) [Little people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/little-people/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Minds Know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/minds-know-449781/) [Models Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/models-reality-449783/) [Perceive Model](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perceive-model-449782/) [Perception](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perception/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Singularity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/singularity/) [Ur Eyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ur-eyes/) ## Related quotes > [Your perception of the world is ... really a fabrication of your model of the world. You don't really see light or sound. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-hawkins/your-perception-of-the-world-is-really-a-fabrication-of-your-model-of/) [Jeff Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-hawkins/) > [The art of seeing nature, or, in other words, the art of using models, is in reality the great object, the point to which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-reynolds/the-art-of-seeing-nature-or-in-other-words-the-art-of-using-models-is/) [Joshua Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-reynolds/) > [“Law 4: Rewrite your models of reality. Extraordinary minds have models of reality that empower them to feel good about themselves and powerful in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vishen-lakhiani/law-4-rewrite-your-models-of-reality-extraordinary-minds-have-models/) [Vishen Lakhiani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vishen-lakhiani/) > [Your cameras can't control the minds of those who know, that you'll even sell your soul just to get a story sold.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-jackson/your-cameras-can-t-control-the-minds-of-those-who-know-that-you-ll/) [Michael Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-jackson/) > [History does not repeat itself except in the minds of those who do not know history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/history-does-not-repeat-itself-except-in-the-minds-of-those-who-do/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) > [“Ignorant minds know no beauty because they will never blossom nor bloom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danielle-luz-matias/ignorant-minds-know-no-beauty-because-they-will-never-blossom-nor/) [Danielle Luz Matias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danielle-luz-matias/) > [I never knew you were there, sorry, if you had said something I would've known...i can't read minds you know...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naquitta-faith/i-never-knew-you-were-there-sorry-if-you-had-said-something-i-would/) [Naquitta Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naquitta-faith/) > [Not all those who know their minds know their hearts as well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/not-all-those-who-know-their-minds-know-their-hearts-as-well/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [IndyCar is what it is and in the back of our minds we all know it is a dangerous sport.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-dixon/indycar-is-what-it-is-and-in-the-back-of-our-minds-we-all-know-it-is/) [Scott Dixon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-dixon/) > [All who know their own minds know not their own hearts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/all-who-know-their-own-minds-know-not-their-own-hearts/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [“Echoes can’t read minds. But when you get to know someone very well, you can read their expressions. Pay attention. It will happen to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dew-pellucid/echoes-can-t-read-minds-but-when-you-get-to-know-someone-very-well/) [Dew Pellucid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dew-pellucid/) > [ “When General Genius built the first mentar \[Artificial Intelligence\] mind in the last half of the twenty-first century, it based its design on the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-marusek/when-general-genius-built-the-first-mentar-artificial-intelligence/) [David Marusek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-marusek/) > [“Imagine - a thousand Eleanors ruling under a thousand suns.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-marusek/imagine-a-thousand-eleanors-ruling-under-a-thousand-suns/) [David Marusek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-marusek/) > [“The journey of a thousands suns begins today. Some may question whether the journey is worth the sacrifice and danger. To them I say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-marusek/the-journey-of-a-thousands-suns-begins-today-some-may-question/) [David Marusek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-marusek/) > [Regular geometry, the geometry of Euclid, is concerned with shapes which are smooth, except perhaps for corners and lines, special lines which are singularities,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benoit-mandelbrot/regular-geometry-the-geometry-of-euclid-is-concerned-with-shapes/) [Benoit Mandelbrot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benoit-mandelbrot/) ## More by David Marusek > [“Who among us can claim normalcy, Bishop?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-marusek/who-among-us-can-claim-normalcy-bishop/) [David Marusek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-marusek/) > [“The journey of a thousands suns begins today. Some may question whether the journey is worth the sacrifice and danger. To them I say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-marusek/the-journey-of-a-thousands-suns-begins-today-some-may-question/) [David Marusek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-marusek/) > [ “What a mistake that had been, to create a construct \[AI\] that could suffer. He knew that now. Life, pain, death, they were no… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-marusek/what-a-mistake-that-had-been-to-create-a-construct-ai-that-could/) [David Marusek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-marusek/) > [“Imagine - a thousand Eleanors ruling under a thousand suns.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-marusek/imagine-a-thousand-eleanors-ruling-under-a-thousand-suns/) [David Marusek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-marusek/) > [“Evolution is largely a temporal phenomenon, Merrill. The environment changes, and populations in that environment change in turn, or they languish. Individual organisms don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-marusek/evolution-is-largely-a-temporal-phenomenon-merrill-the-environment/) [David Marusek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-marusek/) > [“Society can serve its citizens only to the extent that it knows them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-marusek/society-can-serve-its-citizens-only-to-the-extent-that-it-knows-them/) [David Marusek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-marusek/) > [“Capitalism was a marvel, as long as you were a capitalist.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-marusek/capitalism-was-a-marvel-as-long-as-you-were-a-capitalist/) [David Marusek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-marusek/) > [“Why do we need so many people on Earth? I ask you. What are they good for? They live out ludicrous lives of pointless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-marusek/why-do-we-need-so-many-people-on-earth-i-ask-you-what-are-they-good/) [David Marusek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-marusek/) > [“And among the sleeping soldiers and colonists in the crypts lay one apart, a woman who had forgotten the meaning of life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-marusek/and-among-the-sleeping-soldiers-and-colonists-in-the-crypts-lay-one/) [David Marusek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-marusek/) > [“Intelligence is not limited to neural networks, Merrill. Indeed, half of human intelligence resides in our bodies outside our skulls…The genius of the irrational…This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-marusek/intelligence-is-not-limited-to-neural-networks-merrill-indeed-half-of/) [David Marusek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-marusek/) > [“The person who works for recognition devalues the work he does, that awards are first and foremost political instruments, that altruism's true name is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-marusek/the-person-who-works-for-recognition-devalues-the-work-he-does-that/) [David Marusek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-marusek/) > [“…I tell you that loneliness itself is the secret. It’s a secret you cannot tell anyone. Why? Because to confess your loneliness is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-marusek/i-tell-you-that-loneliness-itself-is-the-secret-it-s-a-secret-you/) [David Marusek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-marusek/) > [“There's not much to say about loneliness, for it's not a broad subject. Any child, alone in her room, can journey across its entire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-marusek/there-s-not-much-to-say-about-loneliness-for-it-s-not-a-broad-subject/) [David Marusek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-marusek/) > [“In a thousand years, Fred, no one will even know or care we existed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-marusek/in-a-thousand-years-fred-no-one-will-even-know-or-care-we-existed/) [David Marusek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-marusek/) > [ “When General Genius built the first mentar \[Artificial Intelligence\] mind in the last half of the twenty-first century, it based its design on the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-marusek/when-general-genius-built-the-first-mentar-artificial-intelligence/) [David Marusek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-marusek/) [Explore all 20 David Marusek quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-marusek/) ## More AI quotes > [Having been trained as a computer scientist in the '90s, everybody knew that AI didn't work. People tried it. They tried neural nets, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergey-brin/having-been-trained-as-a-computer-scientist-in-the-90s-everybody-knew/) [Sergey Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergey-brin/) > [AI and other emerging technologies will determine the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-husted/ai-and-other-emerging-technologies-will-determine-the-future/) [Jon Husted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-husted/) > [“Stomach full of jitters, little beasts that were second cousins to guacamolians—little green monsters that wreaked havoc in your stomach.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-kely-mcclung/stomach-full-of-jitters-little-beasts-that-were-second-cousins-to/) [William Kely McClung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-kely-mcclung/) > [AI might be a powerful technology, but things won't get better simply by adding AI.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vivienne-ming/ai-might-be-a-powerful-technology-but-things-won-t-get-better-simply/) [Vivienne Ming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vivienne-ming/) > [OpenAI is doing important work by releasing tools which promote AI to be developed in the open. Compute power is largely produced by NVIDIA…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-ehrsam/openai-is-doing-important-work-by-releasing-tools-which-promote-ai-to/) [Fred Ehrsam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-ehrsam/) > [It's hard for me to speculate about what motivates somebody like Stephen Hawking or Elon Musk to talk so extensively about AI. I'd have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oren-etzioni/it-s-hard-for-me-to-speculate-about-what-motivates-somebody-like/) [Oren Etzioni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oren-etzioni/) > [If you could train an AI to be a Buddhist, it would probably be pretty good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reid-hoffman/if-you-could-train-an-ai-to-be-a-buddhist-it-would-probably-be-pretty/) [Reid Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reid-hoffman/) > [“In the race to scale a startup, overlooking financial planning is like to building a skyscraper on shaky ground. True growth stems from decisions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-hishmeh/in-the-race-to-scale-a-startup-overlooking-financial-planning-is-like/) [Jason Hishmeh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-hishmeh/) > [I'm a geek through and through. My last job at Microsoft was leading much of the search engine relevance work on Bing. There we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramez-naam/i-m-a-geek-through-and-through-my-last-job-at-microsoft-was-leading/) [Ramez Naam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramez-naam/) > [Emotion AI will be ingrained in the technologies we use every day, running in the background, making our tech interactions more personalized, relevant, authentic,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rana-el-kaliouby/emotion-ai-will-be-ingrained-in-the-technologies-we-use-every-day/) [Rana el Kaliouby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rana-el-kaliouby/) > [Even a cat has things it can do that AI cannot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fei-fei-li/even-a-cat-has-things-it-can-do-that-ai-cannot/) [Fei-Fei Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fei-fei-li/) > [AI is a tool. The choice about how it gets deployed is ours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oren-etzioni/ai-is-a-tool-the-choice-about-how-it-gets-deployed-is-ours/) [Oren Etzioni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oren-etzioni/) > [I joined Baidu in 2014 to work on AI. Since then, Baidu's AI group has grown to roughly 1,300 people, which includes the 300-person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-ng/i-joined-baidu-in-2014-to-work-on-ai-since-then-baidu-s-ai-group-has/) [Andrew Ng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-ng/) > [“But on the question of whether the robots will eventually take over, he { Rodney A. Brooks } says that this will probably not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michio-kaku/but-on-the-question-of-whether-the-robots-will-eventually-take-over/) [Michio Kaku](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michio-kaku/) > [“The 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis came well before the current age of AI, yet computers were in use and technology played a critical role…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-rickards/the-1962-cuban-missile-crisis-came-well-before-the-current-age-of-ai/) [James Rickards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-rickards/) [Browse all 315 AI quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ai/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Imagine, Bishop, that you have a beloved cat, but that your cat is not with you. If you close your eyes and further imagine you are petting your cat, the same neurons in your brains are activated as if you were petting the actual cat. Our minds may know the difference between its models and reality itself, but it prefers its models. So much so that we apprehend reality through our models, rather than directly via the sense. When I'm speaking to you, I have a little bishop in my head, and though I speak out load, I'm speaking to my little bishop. When you answer, I can only perceive you through my model of you. Mentars also make models, but they don't apprehend reality through them. They end up, not with little people in their minds, but with highly complex rule sets. They relate to their models in the same way we relate to weather models, as things to consult, but not to conflate with external reality.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Marusek" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-marusek/imagine-bishop-that-you-have-a-beloved-cat-but-that-your-cat-is-not/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "AI" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-marusek/imagine-bishop-that-you-have-a-beloved-cat-but-that-your-cat-is-not/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/086/david-marusek-27635_ai_imagine-bishop-that-you-have-a-beloved-c_38896.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/086/david-marusek-27635_ai_imagine-bishop-that-you-have-a-beloved-c_38896.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/086/david-marusek-27635_ai_imagine-bishop-that-you-have-a-beloved-c_38896.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Imagine, Bishop, that you have a beloved cat, but that your cat is not with you. If you close your eyes and…” — David Marusek", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "David Marusek", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-marusek/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Imagine, Bishop, that you have a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-marusek/imagine-bishop-that-you-have-a-beloved-cat-but-that-your-cat-is-not/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-marusek/imagine-bishop-that-you-have-a-beloved-cat-but-that-your-cat-is-not/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```