--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The assumption that a whole system can be…" description: "\"“The assumption that a whole system can be made to work better through an assault on its conscious elements betrays a dangerous ignorance. This has oft..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/016/frank-herbert-262_ignorance_the-assumption-that-a-whole-system-can-b_45552.jpg" --- # The assumption that a whole system can be made to work… ![“The assumption that a whole system can be made to work better through an assault on its conscious elements betrays a dangerous ignorance. This has often been the approach of those who call themselves scientists and technologists.” quote by Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/016/frank-herbert-262_ignorance_the-assumption-that-a-whole-system-can-b_45552.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/016/frank-herbert-262_ignorance_the-assumption-that-a-whole-system-can-b_45552.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/016/frank-herbert-262_ignorance_the-assumption-that-a-whole-system-can-b_45552.jpg) > ““The assumption that a whole system can be made to work better through an assault on its conscious elements betrays a dangerous ignorance. This has often been the approach of those who call themselves scientists and technologists.”” [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Improving complex systems by targeting only their visible, conscious parts ignores deeper, hidden dynamics, leading to misguided interventions. **In simple terms:** Surface fixes miss deeper causes. Key Takeaway Address root structures, not just symptoms. Themes systems thinking complexity holism unintended consequences critical thinking Mood cautious analytical Type aphilosophical critical When to use this quote - organizational change - software development - public policy - environmental management Key Concepts feedback loops emergent behavior interdependence Practical Applications - designing resilient architectures - evaluating policy impact Questions to Reflect On - What hidden factors might be overlooked? - How can we test for systemic interdependencies? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Approach Scientists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/approach-scientists-667940/) [Dangerous Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dangerous-ignorance-667937/) [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [Ignorance Approach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance-approach-667938/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Scientists Technologists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientists-technologists-667939/) ## Related quotes > [Ever since Sir Isaac Newton's times, scientists have worked in the same sort of way: They show a great respect for experiment and observation,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-nurse/ever-since-sir-isaac-newton-s-times-scientists-have-worked-in-the/) [Paul Nurse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-nurse/) > [We can't see and we can't reach the true frontiers of our ignorance; we can only approach to it by extending our knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/we-can-t-see-and-we-can-t-reach-the-true-frontiers-of-our-ignorance/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [The only thing more dangerous than ignorance is the pretense of intelligent ignorance. The former is teachable; the latter is not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/the-only-thing-more-dangerous-than-ignorance-is-the-pretense-of/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [Ignorance per se is not nearly as dangerous as ignorance of ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-j-harris/ignorance-per-se-is-not-nearly-as-dangerous-as-ignorance-of-ignorance/) [Sydney J. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-j-harris/) > [All the scientists and technologists should work in appropriate region, specifically the rural technologies, to transform Indian rural sector.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-p-j-abdul-kalam/all-the-scientists-and-technologists-should-work-in-appropriate/) [A. P. J. Abdul Kalam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-p-j-abdul-kalam/) > [Today scientists, technologists, businessmen, engineers don't have any personal responsibility for the consequences of their actions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-joy/today-scientists-technologists-businessmen-engineers-don-t-have-any/) [Bill Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-joy/) > [(Space programs are) a force operating on educational pipelines that stimulate the formation of scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians... They're the ones that make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/space-programs-are-a-force-operating-on-educational-pipelines-that/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [The best computer scientists are...technologists who crave beauty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-gelernter/the-best-computer-scientists-are-technologists-who-crave-beauty/) [David Gelernter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-gelernter/) > [The way to solve problems in the world is to become scientists and technologists and build things that haven't been built before and discover…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rana-el-kaliouby/the-way-to-solve-problems-in-the-world-is-to-become-scientists-and/) [Rana el Kaliouby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rana-el-kaliouby/) > [“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr-2/nothing-in-the-world-is-more-dangerous-than-sincere-ignorance/) [Martin Luther King Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr-2/) > [Imperfect understanding is often more dangerous than ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/imperfect-understanding-is-often-more-dangerous-than-ignorance/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The only thing more dangerous than ignorance is arrogance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/the-only-thing-more-dangerous-than-ignorance-is-arrogance/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [“quotation from Einstein: ‘The only thing more dangerous than ignorance is arrogance.’ I would suggest to Dr. Chauncy that in combination, the two qualities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-preston/quotation-from-einstein-the-only-thing-more-dangerous-than-ignorance/) [Douglas Preston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-preston/) > [Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and consciencious stupidity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king/nothing-in-the-world-is-more-dangerous-than-sincere-ignorance-and/) [Martin Luther King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king/) > [Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr-2/nothing-in-all-the-world-is-more-dangerous-than-sincere-ignorance-and/) [Martin Luther King Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr-2/) ## More by Frank Herbert > [“He who can destroy a thing has the real control of it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/he-who-can-destroy-a-thing-has-the-real-control-of-it/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [“A leader, you see, is one of the things that distinguishes a mob from a people. He maintains the level of individuals. Too few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/a-leader-you-see-is-one-of-the-things-that-distinguishes-a-mob-from-a/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [“I will tell you this only once. Homosexuals have been among the best warriors in our history, the berserkers of last resort. They were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/i-will-tell-you-this-only-once-homosexuals-have-been-among-the-best/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [“Between depriving a man of one hour from his life and depriving him of his life there exists only a difference of degree.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/between-depriving-a-man-of-one-hour-from-his-life-and-depriving-him/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [The surest way to keep a secret is to make someone think they already know the answer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/the-surest-way-to-keep-a-secret-is-to-make-someone-think-they-already/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [“how inevitable it was that the aristocrat would refuse his final duty—which was to step aside and vanish into history.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/how-inevitable-it-was-that-the-aristocrat-would-refuse-his-final-duty/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [“What we should have done was test the gift first. We should have probed for dangers. We were too bedazzled by it, though.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/what-we-should-have-done-was-test-the-gift-first-we-should-have/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [“Have you noticed, Stil, how beautiful the young women are this year?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/have-you-noticed-stil-how-beautiful-the-young-women-are-this-year/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [“Humans are born with a susceptibility to that most persistent and debilitating disease of intellect: self-deception. The best of all possible worlds and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/humans-are-born-with-a-susceptibility-to-that-most-persistent-and/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [Face your fears or they will climb over your back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/face-your-fears-or-they-will-climb-over-your-back/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [Many have marked the speed with which Muad'Dib learned the necessities of Arrakis. The Bene Gesserit, of course, know the basis of this speed.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/many-have-marked-the-speed-with-which-muad-dib-learned-the/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [The power to destroy a thing is the absolute control over it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/the-power-to-destroy-a-thing-is-the-absolute-control-over-it/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [Providence and Manifest Destiny are synonyms often invoked to support arguments based on wishful thinking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/providence-and-manifest-destiny-are-synonyms-often-invoked-to-support/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [If you ask "Should we be in space?" you ask a nonsense question. We are in space. We will be in space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/if-you-ask-should-we-be-in-space-you-ask-a-nonsense-question-we-are/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [We tend to become like the worst in those we oppose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/we-tend-to-become-like-the-worst-in-those-we-oppose/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) [Explore all 776 Frank Herbert quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) ## More Ignorance quotes > [My folks tried to make a preacher of me and missed by a narrow margin… I would have made a good one if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/my-folks-tried-to-make-a-preacher-of-me-and-missed-by-a-narrow-margin/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-you-had-made-the-acquiring-of-ignorance-the-study-of-your-life-you/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [One of the deepest and strangest of all human moods is the mood which will suddenly strike us perhaps in a garden at night,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-of-the-deepest-and-strangest-of-all-human-moods-is-the-mood-which/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Ignorance is not bliss — it is oblivion. Determined ignorance is the hastiest kind of oblivion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-wylie/ignorance-is-not-bliss-it-is-oblivion-determined-ignorance-is-the/) [Philip Wylie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-wylie/) > [... informed ignorance provides the natural state of mind for research scientists at the ever-shifting frontiers of knowledge. People who believe themselves ignorant of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/informed-ignorance-provides-the-natural-state-of-mind-for-research/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [“If knowledge does not liberate the self from the self, then ignorance is better than such knowledge.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hakim-sanai/if-knowledge-does-not-liberate-the-self-from-the-self-then-ignorance/) [Hakim Sanai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hakim-sanai/) > [You are senile old fool, and because of your impudence, I cannot fathom how you still live!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-are-senile-old-fool-and-because-of-your-impudence-i-cannot-fathom/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Surely, God could have caused birds to fly with their bones made of solid gold, with their veins full of quicksilver, with their flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/surely-god-could-have-caused-birds-to-fly-with-their-bones-made-of/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [“Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/knowledge-will-forever-govern-ignorance-and-a-people-who-mean-to-be/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [“Don’t turn your face away. Once you’ve seen, you can no longer act like you don’t know. Open your eyes to the truth. It’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vashti-quiroz-vega/don-t-turn-your-face-away-once-you-ve-seen-you-can-no-longer-act-like/) [Vashti Quiroz-Vega](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vashti-quiroz-vega/) > [Nothing is worse than active ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/nothing-is-worse-than-active-ignorance/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [The only victories which leave no regret are those which are gained over ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/the-only-victories-which-leave-no-regret-are-those-which-are-gained/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [“Those who embrace prejudice doom themselves to live in ignorance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-p-lintz-sr/those-who-embrace-prejudice-doom-themselves-to-live-in-ignorance/) [John P Lintz Sr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-p-lintz-sr/) > [“You are a lawmaker in your own right.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/you-are-a-lawmaker-in-your-own-right/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [Sanity can take one of only two forms: that of ignorance, or denial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-r-audette/sanity-can-take-one-of-only-two-forms-that-of-ignorance-or-denial/) [Derek R. Audette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-r-audette/) [Browse all 5,657 Ignorance quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The assumption that a whole system can be made to work better through an assault on its conscious elements betrays a dangerous ignorance. 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