--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To understand something, whether we are…" description: "\"To understand something, whether we are aware of it or not, depends on choosing a model. We get to understand what we see by comparing it with somethin..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ac/iain-mcgilchrist-20810_aware_to-understand-something-whether-we-are-a_502424.jpg" --- # To understand something, whether we are aware of it or… ![“To understand something, whether we are aware of it or not, depends on choosing a model. We get to understand what we see by comparing it with something else, something that we think we understand better. But what we compare it with turns out to have a huge influence on the outcome.” quote by Iain McGilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ac/iain-mcgilchrist-20810_aware_to-understand-something-whether-we-are-a_502424.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ac/iain-mcgilchrist-20810_aware_to-understand-something-whether-we-are-a_502424.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ac/iain-mcgilchrist-20810_aware_to-understand-something-whether-we-are-a_502424.jpg) > “To understand something, whether we are aware of it or not, depends on choosing a model. We get to understand what we see by comparing it with something else, something that we think we understand better. But what we compare it with turns out to have a huge influence on the outcome.” [Iain McGilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-mcgilchrist/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Understanding depends on the models we use; the choice of model frames perception and interpretation. **In simple terms:** Our models shape what we perceive. Key Takeaway Choose models wisely to see clearly. Themes perception modeling knowledge philosophy Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - education - policy making - personal decision making Key Concepts cognitive science epistemology frameworks Questions to Reflect On - Which model are you using now? - How might a different model change your view? A Different Perspective Models can bias or limit insight. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Influence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/influence/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) ## Related quotes > [Meditation allows us to deal with life as it is rather than looking at it and comparing it with how we think it's supposed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-kober/meditation-allows-us-to-deal-with-life-as-it-is-rather-than-looking/) [Jeff Kober](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-kober/) > [“I sometimes think you understand me better than I understand myself. We wasted so much stupid time. Time I can never get back with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-askew/i-sometimes-think-you-understand-me-better-than-i-understand-myself/) [Kim Askew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-askew/) > [I think I should understand that better, if I had it written down: but I can't quite follow it as you say it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-think-i-should-understand-that-better-if-i-had-it-written-down-but/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The problem with most of us is we are not who we think we are! When you understand that, you can be better every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hadi-farnoud/the-problem-with-most-of-us-is-we-are-not-who-we-think-we-are-when/) [Hadi Farnoud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hadi-farnoud/) > [I can never satisfy myself until I can make a mechanical model of a thing. If I can make a mechanical model, I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/i-can-never-satisfy-myself-until-i-can-make-a-mechanical-model-of-a/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [“Perception begins with what is experienced, rather than beginning with what is expected; the model is to "see and understand" rather than "understand and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-dourish/perception-begins-with-what-is-experienced-rather-than-beginning-with/) [Paul Dourish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-dourish/) > [I think it's more comforting to look in the past because you can understand it better, and there are labels for it often.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynn-hershman-leeson/i-think-it-s-more-comforting-to-look-in-the-past-because-you-can/) [Lynn Hershman Leeson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynn-hershman-leeson/) > [Often we're having an argument with something imaginary - a fixed idea of the "enemy" and the good. We need to get beyond that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duncan-green/often-we-re-having-an-argument-with-something-imaginary-a-fixed-idea/) [Duncan Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duncan-green/) > [When you listen to other women’s stories, you begin to understand your own better, and you begin to find ways back through and with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-ensler/when-you-listen-to-other-women-s-stories-you-begin-to-understand-your/) [Eve Ensler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-ensler/) > [If I can relate the black experience to white people, then they can understand us better and not be so afraid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-griffin/if-i-can-relate-the-black-experience-to-white-people-then-they-can/) [Eddie Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-griffin/) > [The more you think about yourself, the better you understand yourself. The more you understand yourself, the better you serve your future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-more-you-think-about-yourself-the-better-you-understand-yourself/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If we learn to understand each other, we will have a better understanding of ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-gadon/if-we-learn-to-understand-each-other-we-will-have-a-better/) [Sarah Gadon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-gadon/) > [The more positive representation and accurate representation we have in the world, the more we can understand ourselves better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariana-debose/the-more-positive-representation-and-accurate-representation-we-have/) [Ariana DeBose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariana-debose/) > [If you always tell people why, they'll understand it better, they'll consider it more important, and they'll be more likely to comply.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/if-you-always-tell-people-why-they-ll-understand-it-better-they-ll/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [If I can understand them better as a person then I can understand how to make them a better player too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-dyche/if-i-can-understand-them-better-as-a-person-then-i-can-understand-how/) [Sean Dyche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-dyche/) ## More by Iain McGilchrist > [Attention may sound dull, but it is an essential aspect of consciousness. In fact, it governs what it is that we turn out to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-mcgilchrist/attention-may-sound-dull-but-it-is-an-essential-aspect-of/) [Iain McGilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-mcgilchrist/) > [“Our talent for division, for seeing the parts, is of staggering importance – second only to our capacity to transcend it, in order to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-mcgilchrist/our-talent-for-division-for-seeing-the-parts-is-of-staggering/) [Iain McGilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-mcgilchrist/) > [Perspective in art has receded along with harmony in music: We tend more and more to see the world as a heap of intrinsically…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-mcgilchrist/perspective-in-art-has-receded-along-with-harmony-in-music-we-tend/) [Iain McGilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-mcgilchrist/) > [I trained in medicine after pursuing an academic career in the humanities, mainly because of my interest in the relationship between mind and body,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-mcgilchrist/i-trained-in-medicine-after-pursuing-an-academic-career-in-the/) [Iain McGilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-mcgilchrist/) > [We have 26,000 genes. But a blind, millimetre-long roundworm with only 959 cells in total already has over 19,000.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-mcgilchrist/we-have-26-000-genes-but-a-blind-millimetre-long-roundworm-with-only/) [Iain McGilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-mcgilchrist/) > [“When Lear cries, ‘Is there any cause in nature that makes these hard hearts?’, we could reply, on one level, yes – a defect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-mcgilchrist/when-lear-cries-is-there-any-cause-in-nature-that-makes-these-hard/) [Iain McGilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-mcgilchrist/) > [The genome was once thought to be just the blueprint for a living organism, like a combination of the architect's plan for a building…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-mcgilchrist/the-genome-was-once-thought-to-be-just-the-blueprint-for-a-living/) [Iain McGilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-mcgilchrist/) > [“Language enables the left hemisphere to represent the world ‘off-line’, a conceptual version, distinct from the world of experience, and shielded from the immediate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-mcgilchrist/language-enables-the-left-hemisphere-to-represent-the-world-off-line/) [Iain McGilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-mcgilchrist/) > [Being uprooted from your own culture, provided you take with you the way of thinking and being that characterises the more integrated social culture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-mcgilchrist/being-uprooted-from-your-own-culture-provided-you-take-with-you-the/) [Iain McGilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-mcgilchrist/) > [“Every thing that purports to be the truth is, according to Heidegger, inevitably an approximation and true things, things that really are, rather than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-mcgilchrist/every-thing-that-purports-to-be-the-truth-is-according-to-heidegger/) [Iain McGilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-mcgilchrist/) > [Over recent years, urbanisation, globalisation and the destruction of local cultures has led to a rise in the prevalence of mental illness in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-mcgilchrist/over-recent-years-urbanisation-globalisation-and-the-destruction-of/) [Iain McGilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-mcgilchrist/) > [“If there is a tendency for the right hemisphere to be more sorrowful and prone to depression, this can, in my view, be seen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-mcgilchrist/if-there-is-a-tendency-for-the-right-hemisphere-to-be-more-sorrowful/) [Iain McGilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-mcgilchrist/) > [In Shakespeare, unique individuals repudiate the stereotypes demanded by the structure of the play: Shylock commands our sympathy, Barnardine refuses to be hanged. Individuals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-mcgilchrist/in-shakespeare-unique-individuals-repudiate-the-stereotypes-demanded/) [Iain McGilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-mcgilchrist/) > [The human genome contains so much data that, it has been calculated, it would fill 43 volumes of Webster's International Dictionary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-mcgilchrist/the-human-genome-contains-so-much-data-that-it-has-been-calculated-it/) [Iain McGilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-mcgilchrist/) > [We bring about a world in consciousness that is partly what is given, and partly what we bring, something that comes into being through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-mcgilchrist/we-bring-about-a-world-in-consciousness-that-is-partly-what-is-given/) [Iain McGilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-mcgilchrist/) [Explore all 30 Iain McGilchrist quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-mcgilchrist/) ## More Aware quotes > [I actually think acting is a form of self-hypnosis. You have to be hyper, hyper aware of what's going on around you. You have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianne-moore/i-actually-think-acting-is-a-form-of-self-hypnosis-you-have-to-be/) [Julianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianne-moore/) > [I am an aware citizen, so I want my characters to be aware, too. They should be aware of what's happening in the society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-tripathi/i-am-an-aware-citizen-so-i-want-my-characters-to-be-aware-too-they/) [Pankaj Tripathi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-tripathi/) > [I'm aware of who I am and I'm comfortable with who I choose to date.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shibani-dandekar/i-m-aware-of-who-i-am-and-i-m-comfortable-with-who-i-choose-to-date/) [Shibani Dandekar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shibani-dandekar/) > [We're all painfully aware of how suddenly violence can occur, how crippling it is, and how survivors have to find a way back from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-dini/we-re-all-painfully-aware-of-how-suddenly-violence-can-occur-how/) [Paul Dini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-dini/) > [Be aware and hold the government accountable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohit-chauhan/be-aware-and-hold-the-government-accountable/) [Mohit Chauhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohit-chauhan/) > [I'm trying to be very aware of not repeating myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christoph-waltz/i-m-trying-to-be-very-aware-of-not-repeating-myself/) [Christoph Waltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christoph-waltz/) > [If I've had roadblocks along the way for being gay, I'm not aware of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-groff/if-i-ve-had-roadblocks-along-the-way-for-being-gay-i-m-not-aware-of/) [Jonathan Groff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-groff/) > [“Whenever you're around her she's calm. She's more aware. It's like you carry a frequency she can tune into.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-laurens/whenever-you-re-around-her-she-s-calm-she-s-more-aware-it-s-like-you/) [Jennifer Laurens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-laurens/) > [I thought being in the wheelchair might be kind of limiting for me as an actor. It turned out cool in a lot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-beaver/i-thought-being-in-the-wheelchair-might-be-kind-of-limiting-for-me-as/) [Jim Beaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-beaver/) > [As all of us are only too aware, the loud and frantic voices of the outer world easily drown out the small, still loving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/as-all-of-us-are-only-too-aware-the-loud-and-frantic-voices-of-the/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [I'd just like to see athletes awake. And aware. There's so much going on and so much to know... We stay in our little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-teter/i-d-just-like-to-see-athletes-awake-and-aware-there-s-so-much-going/) [Hannah Teter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-teter/) > [For people of color - especially African Americans - the idea that racist cops might frame members of their community is no abstract notion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/for-people-of-color-especially-african-americans-the-idea-that-racist/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [Once I get out onstage, it's the same sort of basic production that it is anywhere else. But I might be a little bit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phoebe-snow/once-i-get-out-onstage-it-s-the-same-sort-of-basic-production-that-it/) [Phoebe Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phoebe-snow/) > [Museums, I think, are becoming more and more aware of how to turn themselves into a must-see spectacle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jake-barton/museums-i-think-are-becoming-more-and-more-aware-of-how-to-turn/) [Jake Barton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jake-barton/) > [“The more you become aware of and respond to the needs of others, the richer your own life becomes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mollie-marti/the-more-you-become-aware-of-and-respond-to-the-needs-of-others-the/) [Mollie Marti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mollie-marti/) Browse all 1,138 Aware quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To understand something, whether we are aware of it or not, depends on choosing a model. We get to understand what we see by comparing it with something else, something that we think we understand better. But what we compare it with turns out to have a huge influence on the outcome.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Iain McGilchrist" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-mcgilchrist/to-understand-something-whether-we-are-aware-of-it-or-not-depends-on/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Aware" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-mcgilchrist/to-understand-something-whether-we-are-aware-of-it-or-not-depends-on/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ac/iain-mcgilchrist-20810_aware_to-understand-something-whether-we-are-a_502424.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ac/iain-mcgilchrist-20810_aware_to-understand-something-whether-we-are-a_502424.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ac/iain-mcgilchrist-20810_aware_to-understand-something-whether-we-are-a_502424.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“To understand something, whether we are aware of it or not, depends on choosing a model. We get to…” — Iain McGilchrist", "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": "Iain McGilchrist", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-mcgilchrist/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "To understand something, whether we are...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-mcgilchrist/to-understand-something-whether-we-are-aware-of-it-or-not-depends-on/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-mcgilchrist/to-understand-something-whether-we-are-aware-of-it-or-not-depends-on/#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 } } ] } ```