--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My car and my adding machine understand…" description: "\"My car and my adding machine understand nothing: they are not in that line of business\" — John Searle" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d5c/john-searle-17370_adding_my-car-and-my-adding-machine-understand_3195927.jpg" --- # My car and my adding machine understand nothing: they are… ![“My car and my adding machine understand nothing: they are not in that line of business” quote by John Searle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d5c/john-searle-17370_adding_my-car-and-my-adding-machine-understand_3195927.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d5c/john-searle-17370_adding_my-car-and-my-adding-machine-understand_3195927.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d5c/john-searle-17370_adding_my-car-and-my-adding-machine-understand_3195927.jpg) > “My car and my adding machine understand nothing: they are not in that line of business” [John Searle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-searle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Machines lack consciousness and cannot grasp human meaning, highlighting limits of AI. **In simple terms:** Machines don’t understand like humans. Key Takeaway Recognize AI’s limits. Themes philosophy technology consciousness Mood skeptical reflective Type analytical critical When to use this quote - ethics discussions - AI development - public policy - education - media criticism Key Concepts Artificial intelligence semantic gap Questions to Reflect On - Can machines ever truly understand? - How should we treat AI that appears conscious? A Different Perspective AI may still mimic understanding without true comprehension. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adding/) [Adding Machine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adding-machine-3760794/) [Business](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/business/) [Car](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/car/) [Car Adding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/car-adding-5913591/) [Computers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computers/) [Lines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lines/) [Machine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/machine/) [Machine Understand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/machine-understand-3571761/) [Machines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/machines/) ## Related quotes > [I will argue that in the literal sense the programmed computer understands what the car and the adding machine understand, namely, exactly nothing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-searle/i-will-argue-that-in-the-literal-sense-the-programmed-computer/) [John Searle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-searle/) > [In my life there are not that many questions I can't properly deal with using my $40 adding machine and dog-eared compound interest table.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/in-my-life-there-are-not-that-many-questions-i-can-t-properly-deal/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [A film is a machine made of images](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hollis-frampton/a-film-is-a-machine-made-of-images/) [Hollis Frampton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hollis-frampton/) > [I've got a phone, answer machine, TV set, computer, hand grenade - everything you need to run a business in Los Angeles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ice-t/i-ve-got-a-phone-answer-machine-tv-set-computer-hand-grenade/) [Ice T](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ice-t/) > [For most purposes, a man with a machine is better than a man without a machine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ford/for-most-purposes-a-man-with-a-machine-is-better-than-a-man-without-a/) [Henry Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ford/) > [Someday it'll all be done by machine. 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Nothing enters our minds or determines our actions which is not directly or indirectly a response to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikola-tesla/man-like-the-universe-is-a-machine-nothing-enters-our-minds-or/) [Nikola Tesla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikola-tesla/) > [Silence has been destroyed, but also the idea that it's important to learn how another person thinks, to enter the mind of another person.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-shteyngart/silence-has-been-destroyed-but-also-the-idea-that-it-s-important-to/) [Gary Shteyngart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-shteyngart/) > [In a machine age, dressmaking is one of the last refuges of the human, the personal, the inimitable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-dior/in-a-machine-age-dressmaking-is-one-of-the-last-refuges-of-the-human/) [Christian Dior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-dior/) > [I love Soundgarden, I love Rage Against the Machine, Simon & Garfunkel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-dewyze/i-love-soundgarden-i-love-rage-against-the-machine-simon-garfunkel/) [Lee DeWyze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-dewyze/) > [I hope they invent a machine in which you type in the age you want to be, and it lifts and separates everything nonsurgically.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-bullock/i-hope-they-invent-a-machine-in-which-you-type-in-the-age-you-want-to/) [Sandra Bullock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-bullock/) > [Get on up, stay on the scene, get on up, like a sex machine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-brown/get-on-up-stay-on-the-scene-get-on-up-like-a-sex-machine/) [James Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-brown/) > [The most beautiful fighting machine I have ever seen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/the-most-beautiful-fighting-machine-i-have-ever-seen/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Once upon a time we were just plain people. But that was before we began having relationships with mechanical systems. Get involved with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/once-upon-a-time-we-were-just-plain-people-but-that-was-before-we/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [In the Machine Age, the company itself became a machine - a machine for making money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-senge/in-the-machine-age-the-company-itself-became-a-machine-a-machine-for/) [Peter Senge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-senge/) ## More by John Searle > [The problem posed by indirect speech acts is the problem of how it is possible for the speaker to say one thing and mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-searle/the-problem-posed-by-indirect-speech-acts-is-the-problem-of-how-it-is/) [John Searle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-searle/) > [Where consciousness is concerned, the appearance is the reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-searle/where-consciousness-is-concerned-the-appearance-is-the-reality/) [John Searle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-searle/) > [In many cases it is a matter for decision and not a simple matter of fact whether x understands y; and so on](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-searle/in-many-cases-it-is-a-matter-for-decision-and-not-a-simple-matter-of/) [John Searle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-searle/) > [We often attribute 'understanding' and other cognitive predicates by metaphor and analogy to cars, adding machines, and other artifacts, but nothing is proved by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-searle/we-often-attribute-understanding-and-other-cognitive-predicates-by/) [John Searle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-searle/) > [I will argue that in the literal sense the programmed computer understands what the car and the adding machine understand, namely, exactly nothing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-searle/i-will-argue-that-in-the-literal-sense-the-programmed-computer/) [John Searle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-searle/) > [We do not live in several different, or even two different, worlds, a mental world and a physical world, a scientific world and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-searle/we-do-not-live-in-several-different-or-even-two-different-worlds-a/) [John Searle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-searle/) > [Whatever is referred to must exist. Let us call this the axiom of existence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-searle/whatever-is-referred-to-must-exist-let-us-call-this-the-axiom-of/) [John Searle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-searle/) > [You can't \*discover\* that the brain is a digital computer. You can only \*interpret\* the brain as a digital computer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-searle/you-can-t-discover-that-the-brain-is-a-digital-computer-you-can-only/) [John Searle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-searle/) > [How do we get from electrons to elections and from protons to presidents?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-searle/how-do-we-get-from-electrons-to-elections-and-from-protons-to/) [John Searle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-searle/) > [Where conscious subjectivity is concerned, there is no distinction between the observation and the thing observed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-searle/where-conscious-subjectivity-is-concerned-there-is-no-distinction/) [John Searle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-searle/) > [ "Akrasia" \[weakness of will\] in rational beings is as common as wine in France. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-searle/akrasia-weakness-of-will-in-rational-beings-is-as-common-as-wine-in/) [John Searle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-searle/) > [Nowadays nobody bothers, and it is considered in slightly bad taste to even raise the question of God's existence. Matters of religion are like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-searle/nowadays-nobody-bothers-and-it-is-considered-in-slightly-bad-taste-to/) [John Searle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-searle/) > [The assertion fallacy is the fallacy of confusing the conditions for the performance of the speech act of assertion with the analysis of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-searle/the-assertion-fallacy-is-the-fallacy-of-confusing-the-conditions-for/) [John Searle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-searle/) > [It seemed to a number of philosophers of language, myself included, that we should attempt to achieve a unification of Chomsky's syntax, with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-searle/it-seemed-to-a-number-of-philosophers-of-language-myself-included/) [John Searle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-searle/) > [An utterance can have Intentionality, just as a belief has Intentionality, but whereas the Intentionality of the belief is intrinsic the Intentionality of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-searle/an-utterance-can-have-intentionality-just-as-a-belief-has/) [John Searle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-searle/) [Explore all 37 John Searle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-searle/) ## More Adding quotes > [Many American TV actors employ agents, managers, business managers, publicists and stylists, and are now adding digital media manager to the list. 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Day to day, we labor to fit together all these little moving parts - a character or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-trudeau/comic-strip-artists-generally-have-very-modest-ambitions-day-to-day/) [Garry Trudeau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-trudeau/) > [I'm really proud of all the stuff we've built with Green Lantern - from Larfleeze to the different corps. The universe has expanded and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoff-johns/i-m-really-proud-of-all-the-stuff-we-ve-built-with-green-lantern-from/) [Geoff Johns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoff-johns/) > [My stuff was more of a folk coffeehouse thing, with more acoustic guitar, just me doing a single, and then adding on instruments and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-hicks/my-stuff-was-more-of-a-folk-coffeehouse-thing-with-more-acoustic/) [Dan Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-hicks/) > [In a world where people are hungry for quick fixes and sound bites, for instant gratification, there's no patience for the long, slow rebuilding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-hill/in-a-world-where-people-are-hungry-for-quick-fixes-and-sound-bites/) [Dan Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-hill/) > [Adding 'just kidding' doesn't make it okay to insult the Principal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-cartwright/adding-just-kidding-doesn-t-make-it-okay-to-insult-the-principal/) [Nancy Cartwright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-cartwright/) > [If I was involved with the NFL, I'd seriously consider adopting some of the rules used in Canada. I've heard, unofficially, of course, some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-gillick/if-i-was-involved-with-the-nfl-i-d-seriously-consider-adopting-some/) [Pat Gillick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-gillick/) > [But I definitely see us playing a major role in St. Louis in the years to come. We already provide service to 95 percent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-arpey/but-i-definitely-see-us-playing-a-major-role-in-st-louis-in-the-years/) [Gerard Arpey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-arpey/) > [Life throws up enough road blocks to keep you from writing; you can't be adding to them yourself by saying you can only write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philipp-meyer/life-throws-up-enough-road-blocks-to-keep-you-from-writing-you-can-t/) [Philipp Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philipp-meyer/) > [Over the years I've tweaked my stuffing recipe many times, adding a variety of ingredients like sauteed wild mushrooms, dried cherries, fresh chevre, toasted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-douglas/over-the-years-i-ve-tweaked-my-stuffing-recipe-many-times-adding-a/) [Tom Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-douglas/) > [The human diet, for millions of years, did not contain any added salt - only the sodium present in natural foods, adding up to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-fuhrman/the-human-diet-for-millions-of-years-did-not-contain-any-added-salt/) [Joel Fuhrman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-fuhrman/) > [Colleges would compete by adding professors, enhancing programmes or building nicer facilities. So they competed by making institutions better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-m-christensen/colleges-would-compete-by-adding-professors-enhancing-programmes-or/) [Clayton M. Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-m-christensen/) [Browse all 77 Adding quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adding/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My car and my adding machine understand nothing: they are not in that line of business", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Searle" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-searle/my-car-and-my-adding-machine-understand-nothing-they-are-not-in-that/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Adding" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-searle/my-car-and-my-adding-machine-understand-nothing-they-are-not-in-that/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d5c/john-searle-17370_adding_my-car-and-my-adding-machine-understand_3195927.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d5c/john-searle-17370_adding_my-car-and-my-adding-machine-understand_3195927.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d5c/john-searle-17370_adding_my-car-and-my-adding-machine-understand_3195927.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“My car and my adding machine understand nothing: they are not in that line of business” — John Searle", "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 Searle", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-searle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "My car and my adding machine...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-searle/my-car-and-my-adding-machine-understand-nothing-they-are-not-in-that/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-searle/my-car-and-my-adding-machine-understand-nothing-they-are-not-in-that/#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 } } ] } ```