--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Simplifying to the extreme, I define…" description: "\"Simplifying to the extreme, I define postmodern as incredulity toward metanarratives.\" — Jean-Francois Lyotard" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f99/jean-francois-lyotard-24555_extremes_simplifying-to-the-extreme-i-define-post_1276166.jpg" --- # Simplifying to the extreme, I define postmodern as… ![“Simplifying to the extreme, I define postmodern as incredulity toward metanarratives.” quote by Jean-Francois Lyotard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f99/jean-francois-lyotard-24555_extremes_simplifying-to-the-extreme-i-define-post_1276166.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f99/jean-francois-lyotard-24555_extremes_simplifying-to-the-extreme-i-define-post_1276166.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f99/jean-francois-lyotard-24555_extremes_simplifying-to-the-extreme-i-define-post_1276166.jpg) > “Simplifying to the extreme, I define postmodern as incredulity toward metanarratives.” [Jean-Francois Lyotard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-francois-lyotard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Postmodernism questions skepticism toward all-encompassing narratives that claim universal truth. **In simple terms:** Questioning big stories that claim everything. Key Takeaway Recognize limits of grand explanations. Themes skepticism philosophy culture Mood critical introspective Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - academic discourse - media analysis - political debate Key Concepts postmodernism metanarratives relativism Questions to Reflect On - What narratives do you accept without question? - How does skepticism affect community building? A Different Perspective Overlooks the need for shared values. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Extremes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extremes/) [Incredulity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/incredulity/) [Modernism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modernism/) [Postmodern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/postmodern/) ## Related quotes > [“jSimplifying to the extreme, I define postmodern as incredulity toward metanarratives.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-f-lyotard-the-postmodern-condition-a-report-on-knowledge/jsimplifying-to-the-extreme-i-define-postmodern-as-incredulity-toward/) J.F.Lyotard The POstmodern Condition A Report on Knowledge > [“Lyotard has described the postmodern condition succinctly as "incredulity towards metanarratives":' an attitude commendable in itself, no doubt, but also one that can easily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/lyotard-has-described-the-postmodern-condition-succinctly-as/) [David Bentley Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/) > [“Lyotard. 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Later…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/steve-coogan-picks-up-enough-to-lecture-an-interviewer-this-is-a/) [Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/) > [The postmodern reply to the modern consists of recognizing that the past, since it cannot really be destroyed, because its destruction leads to silence,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/the-postmodern-reply-to-the-modern-consists-of-recognizing-that-the/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [“Postmodernism has turned into this devil's vortex where no matter what you do, your neck will be turned and your face shoved into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-celio/postmodernism-has-turned-into-this-devil-s-vortex-where-no-matter/) [Brian Celio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-celio/) > [“Being postmodern, however, is about being complicit rather than virtuous, it is about approaching categories like Good and Evil with a certain ironic skepticism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-hollinger/being-postmodern-however-is-about-being-complicit-rather-than/) Veronica Hollinger ## More by Jean-Francois Lyotard > [Our working hypothesis is that the status of knowledge is altered as societies enter what is known as the postindustrial age and cultures enter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-francois-lyotard/our-working-hypothesis-is-that-the-status-of-knowledge-is-altered-as/) [Jean-Francois Lyotard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-francois-lyotard/) > [“Saddam Hussein is a product of Western departments of state and big companies, just as Hitler, Mussolini, and Franco were born of the 'peace'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-francois-lyotard/saddam-hussein-is-a-product-of-western-departments-of-state-and-big/) [Jean-Francois Lyotard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-francois-lyotard/) > [And today more than ever, knowing about that society involves first of all choosing what approach the inquiry will take, and that necessarily means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-francois-lyotard/and-today-more-than-ever-knowing-about-that-society-involves-first-of/) [Jean-Francois Lyotard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-francois-lyotard/) > [What guides Marxism, then, is a different model of society, and a different conception of the function of the knowledge that can be produced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-francois-lyotard/what-guides-marxism-then-is-a-different-model-of-society-and-a/) [Jean-Francois Lyotard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-francois-lyotard/) > [One knows that frontal and/or profile photography is torn to pieces... 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In this nihilist fin de siècle, he was affirmation. Right through to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-francois-lyotard/he-was-too-tough-to-experience-disappointments-and-resentments/) [Jean-Francois Lyotard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-francois-lyotard/) > [Eclecticism is the degree zero of contemporary general culture: one listens to reggae, watches a western, eats McDonald's food for lunch and local cuisine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-francois-lyotard/eclecticism-is-the-degree-zero-of-contemporary-general-culture-one/) [Jean-Francois Lyotard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-francois-lyotard/) > [Even now it is no longer composed of the traditional political class, but of a composite layer of corporate leaders, high-level administrators, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-francois-lyotard/even-now-it-is-no-longer-composed-of-the-traditional-political-class/) [Jean-Francois Lyotard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-francois-lyotard/) > [Knowledge is and will be produced in order to be sold, it is and will be consumed in order to be valorised in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-francois-lyotard/knowledge-is-and-will-be-produced-in-order-to-be-sold-it-is-and-will/) [Jean-Francois Lyotard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-francois-lyotard/) > [It is our business not to supply reality but to invent allusions to the conceivable which cannot be presented.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-francois-lyotard/it-is-our-business-not-to-supply-reality-but-to-invent-allusions-to/) [Jean-Francois Lyotard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-francois-lyotard/) > [On the other hand, in a society whose communication component is becoming more prominent day by day, both as a reality and as an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-francois-lyotard/on-the-other-hand-in-a-society-whose-communication-component-is/) [Jean-Francois Lyotard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-francois-lyotard/) [Explore all 24 Jean-Francois Lyotard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-francois-lyotard/) ## More Extremes quotes > [It must be assumed and established as a principle, that the right of private property must be regarded as sacred. 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But it is rude to argue about politics with people you disagree with.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-lessig/it-s-fine-to-talk-about-politics-with-people-you-agree-with-but-it-is/) [Lawrence Lessig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-lessig/) > [Either dragons should exist completely or fail to exist at all, he felt. 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