--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The history of the object is more…" description: "\"“The history of the object is more relevant than the object itself, if we want to pinpoint what is interesting to us.”\" — John Brockman" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5d/john-brockman-13638_history_the-history-of-the-object-is-more-releva_3076672.jpg" --- # The history of the object is more relevant than the object… ![“The history of the object is more relevant than the object itself, if we want to pinpoint what is interesting to us.” quote by John Brockman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5d/john-brockman-13638_history_the-history-of-the-object-is-more-releva_3076672.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5d/john-brockman-13638_history_the-history-of-the-object-is-more-releva_3076672.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5d/john-brockman-13638_history_the-history-of-the-object-is-more-releva_3076672.jpg) > ““The history of the object is more relevant than the object itself, if we want to pinpoint what is interesting to us.”” [John Brockman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-brockman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Understanding an object's history reveals its significance more than the object itself. **In simple terms:** History of an object matters more than the object. Key Takeaway Study context before judging. Themes history objects meaning interpretation research Mood analytical curious Type philosophical inquisitive When to use this quote - museum curation - academic research - product design - marketing narratives - personal collecting Key Concepts archaeology philosophy of science cultural studies Questions to Reflect On - What does the past of this item tell us? - How does context shape perception? A Different Perspective Objects can be misleading without context. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [History Object](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history-object-567857/) [Interesting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interesting/) [Object Relevant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/object-relevant-5229389/) [Pinpoint Interesting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pinpoint-interesting-5229391/) [Relevant Object](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/relevant-object-5229390/) ## Related quotes > [“The course of history as a whole is no object of experience; history has no edios, because the course of history extends into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-voegelin/the-course-of-history-as-a-whole-is-no-object-of-experience-history-2/) [Eric Voegelin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-voegelin/) > [The course of history as a whole is no object of experience; history has no eidos, because the course of history extends into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-voegelin/the-course-of-history-as-a-whole-is-no-object-of-experience-history/) [Eric Voegelin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-voegelin/) > [It's so much more interesting to study a ... damaged world. 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It moved people to overcome their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-merkel/history-has-often-showed-us-the-strength-of-the-forces-that-are/) [Angela Merkel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-merkel/) > [We find few historians who have been diligent enough in their search for truth; it is their common method to take on trust what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/we-find-few-historians-who-have-been-diligent-enough-in-their-search/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [What is history after all? History is facts which become lies in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/what-is-history-after-all-history-is-facts-which-become-lies-in-the/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Things live and die, and then someone processes them into edible portions. This is a complete telling of the story, 'Food.' The basic plot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-fahrenthold/things-live-and-die-and-then-someone-processes-them-into-edible/) [David Fahrenthold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-fahrenthold/) > [History is a certain way, but you just change the point of view a little bit, and you discover a whole new side of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allison-schroeder/history-is-a-certain-way-but-you-just-change-the-point-of-view-a/) [Allison Schroeder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allison-schroeder/) > [We're at a point in history were we have to become a part of the neighborhood of inhabited planets, like a neighborhood of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-mitchell/we-re-at-a-point-in-history-were-we-have-to-become-a-part-of-the/) [Edgar Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-mitchell/) > [Today is a reality, tomorrow's a promise, and yesterday's history!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-blanks/today-is-a-reality-tomorrow-s-a-promise-and-yesterday-s-history/) [Billy Blanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-blanks/) > [Truth be told from compulsive liars with a history/Everything must change 2nd chances are a mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-dash/truth-be-told-from-compulsive-liars-with-a-history-everything-must/) [C-DASH](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-dash/) > [Every army in the history of the world has always had some deserters, usually much greater than we have today, because once again every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-hilferty/every-army-in-the-history-of-the-world-has-always-had-some-deserters/) [Bryan Hilferty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-hilferty/) > [“To those great geniuses now in petticoats, who shall write novels for the beloved reader's children, these men and things will be as much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/to-those-great-geniuses-now-in-petticoats-who-shall-write-novels-for/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) [Browse all 27,263 History quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The history of the object is more relevant than the object itself, if we want to pinpoint what is interesting to us.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Brockman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-brockman/the-history-of-the-object-is-more-relevant-than-the-object-itself-if/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "History" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-brockman/the-history-of-the-object-is-more-relevant-than-the-object-itself-if/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5d/john-brockman-13638_history_the-history-of-the-object-is-more-releva_3076672.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5d/john-brockman-13638_history_the-history-of-the-object-is-more-releva_3076672.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5d/john-brockman-13638_history_the-history-of-the-object-is-more-releva_3076672.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The history of the object is more relevant than the object itself, if we want to pinpoint what is…” — John Brockman", "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": "John Brockman", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-brockman/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The history of the object is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-brockman/the-history-of-the-object-is-more-relevant-than-the-object-itself-if/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-brockman/the-history-of-the-object-is-more-relevant-than-the-object-itself-if/#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 } } ] } ```