--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The reason creatures wanted to use…" description: "\"“The reason creatures wanted to use language instead of mental telepathy was that they found out they could get so much more done with language. Langua..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4c/kurt-vonnegut-jr-2355_alien_the-reason-creatures-wanted-to-use-langu_2927254.jpg" --- # The reason creatures wanted to use language instead of… ![“The reason creatures wanted to use language instead of mental telepathy was that they found out they could get so much more done with language. Language made them so much more active. Mental telepathy, with everybody constantly telling everybody everything, produced a sort of generalized…” quote by Kurt Vonnegut Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4c/kurt-vonnegut-jr-2355_alien_the-reason-creatures-wanted-to-use-langu_2927254.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4c/kurt-vonnegut-jr-2355_alien_the-reason-creatures-wanted-to-use-langu_2927254.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4c/kurt-vonnegut-jr-2355_alien_the-reason-creatures-wanted-to-use-langu_2927254.jpg) > ““The reason creatures wanted to use language instead of mental telepathy was that they found out they could get so much more done with language. Language made them so much more active. Mental telepathy, with everybody constantly telling everybody everything, produced a sort of generalized indifference to all information. But language, with its slow, narrow meanings, made it possible to think about one thing at a time -- to start thinking in terms of projects.”” [Kurt Vonnegut Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut-jr/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Language enables focused, project‑oriented thought, unlike the overload of constant mental telepathy. **In simple terms:** Language lets us concentrate on one task. Key Takeaway Use language to structure work. Themes communication focus productivity Mood reflective analytical Type philosophical psychology When to use this quote - team meetings - writing - software development - education Key Concepts cognitive science information theory project management Questions to Reflect On - How does language shape your workflow? - What are limits of verbal coordination? A Different Perspective Language can be ambiguous, causing misinterpretation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alien/) [Allegory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/allegory/) [English](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/english/) [Information](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/information/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Language Instead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language-instead-1047635/) [Linguistics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/linguistics/) [Meanings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meanings/) [Mental Telepathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mental-telepathy-2038931/) [Projects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/projects/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Telepathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/telepathy/) [Telepathy Everybody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/telepathy-everybody-4296147/) [Telepathy Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/telepathy-language-4296146/) ## Related quotes > [You don't know what mental telepathy exists from the human to the animal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tippi-hedren/you-don-t-know-what-mental-telepathy-exists-from-the-human-to-the/) [Tippi Hedren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tippi-hedren/) > [“The whole time I pretend I have mental telepathy. And with my mind only, I’ll say — or think? — to the target, 'Don’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-quick/the-whole-time-i-pretend-i-have-mental-telepathy-and-with-my-mind/) [Matthew Quick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-quick/) > [“Isn't language loss a good thing, because fewer languages mean easier communication among the world's people? Perhaps, but it's a bad thing in other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/isn-t-language-loss-a-good-thing-because-fewer-languages-mean-easier/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [The attitude of independence toward a constructed language which all national speakers must adopt is really a great advantage, because it tends to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-sapir/the-attitude-of-independence-toward-a-constructed-language-which-all/) [Edward Sapir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-sapir/) > [People have the idea that an image must stand for something else, that the real meaning needs to be described with language. Instead it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-ryden/people-have-the-idea-that-an-image-must-stand-for-something-else-that/) [Mark Ryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-ryden/) > [If there's a steady paycheck in it, I'll believe anything you say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-hudson/if-there-s-a-steady-paycheck-in-it-i-ll-believe-anything-you-say/) [Ernie Hudson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-hudson/) > [In a story you only had to wish, you only had to write it down and you could have the world...It seemed so obvious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/in-a-story-you-only-had-to-wish-you-only-had-to-write-it-down-and-you/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“It's telepathy, over.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flash-gordon/it-s-telepathy-over/) [Flash Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flash-gordon/) > [“Energy manipulation took place completely in mind,same way believing in telepathy caused telepathic abilities to grow STRONGER.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-westover/energy-manipulation-took-place-completely-in-mind-same-way-believing/) [Christina Westover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-westover/) > [“They were two people staring at each other knowingly, communicating psychically amidst an ocean of deaf, dumb and blind meatsacks.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/travis-luedke/they-were-two-people-staring-at-each-other-knowingly-communicating/) [Travis Luedke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/travis-luedke/) > [“He felt eyes suddenly upon him because marital telepathy is a terrible thing”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/he-felt-eyes-suddenly-upon-him-because-marital-telepathy-is-a/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“My vision is to help each man, woman and child connect with their inherent psychic ability. I believe that each person has the potential…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandy-anastasi/my-vision-is-to-help-each-man-woman-and-child-connect-with-their/) [Sandy Anastasi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandy-anastasi/) > [“Yet even without saying, each knew what the other was thinking, and, more acutely, what the other was feeling -- this is a further…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-banville/yet-even-without-saying-each-knew-what-the-other-was-thinking-and/) [John Banville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-banville/) > [It's not telepathy. It's not the Borg. But we created a new central nervous system made of two brains.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-nicolelis/it-s-not-telepathy-it-s-not-the-borg-but-we-created-a-new-central/) [Miguel Nicolelis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-nicolelis/) > [“Telepathy’ literally means to feel at a distance, just as ‘telephone’ is to hear at a distance and ‘television’ is to see at a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/telepathy-literally-means-to-feel-at-a-distance-just-as-telephone-is/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) ## More by Kurt Vonnegut Jr > [“Lucky me , Lucky mud”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut-jr/lucky-me-lucky-mud/) [Kurt Vonnegut Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut-jr/) > [“I wonder about turtles.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut-jr/i-wonder-about-turtles/) [Kurt Vonnegut Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut-jr/) > [“Then you’ll do it brilliantly, darling. You’ll get to Pittsburgh yet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut-jr/then-you-ll-do-it-brilliantly-darling-you-ll-get-to-pittsburgh-yet/) [Kurt Vonnegut Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut-jr/) > [“There is room enough for an awful lot of people to be right about things and still not agree. The”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut-jr/there-is-room-enough-for-an-awful-lot-of-people-to-be-right-about/) [Kurt Vonnegut Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut-jr/) > [“He often said he had to be a writer because he wasn't good at anything else. He was not good at being an employee.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut-jr/he-often-said-he-had-to-be-a-writer-because-he-wasn-t-good-at/) [Kurt Vonnegut Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut-jr/) > [“The zero in the telephone number he pronounced "naught." The number was: "2 B R 0 2 B.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut-jr/the-zero-in-the-telephone-number-he-pronounced-naught-the-number-was/) [Kurt Vonnegut Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut-jr/) > [“Jones wasn’t completely crazy. The dismaying thing about the classic totalitarian mind is that any given gear, though mutilated, will have at its circumference…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut-jr/jones-wasn-t-completely-crazy-the-dismaying-thing-about-the-classic/) [Kurt Vonnegut Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut-jr/) > [“I have never seen a more sublime demonstration of the totalitarian mind, a mind which might be likened unto a system of gears whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut-jr/i-have-never-seen-a-more-sublime-demonstration-of-the-totalitarian/) [Kurt Vonnegut Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut-jr/) > [“No respecter of evidence has ever found the least clue as to what life is all about, and what people should do with it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut-jr/no-respecter-of-evidence-has-ever-found-the-least-clue-as-to-what/) [Kurt Vonnegut Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut-jr/) > [“Life is nothing but high school.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut-jr/life-is-nothing-but-high-school/) [Kurt Vonnegut Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut-jr/) > [“And Halyard suddenly realized that, just as religion and government had been split into disparate entities centuries before, now, thanks to the machines, politics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut-jr/and-halyard-suddenly-realized-that-just-as-religion-and-government/) [Kurt Vonnegut Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut-jr/) > [“For once, after the great bloodbath of the war, the world really was cleared of unnatural terrors—mass starvation, mass imprisonment, mass torture, mass murder.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut-jr/for-once-after-the-great-bloodbath-of-the-war-the-world-really-was/) [Kurt Vonnegut Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut-jr/) > [“Him! Him! Captain Eliot Rosewater–Silver Star, Bronze Star, Soldier's Medal, and Purple Heart with Cluster! Sailing champion! Ski champion! Him! Him! My God–the number…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut-jr/him-him-captain-eliot-rosewater-silver-star-bronze-star-soldier-s/) [Kurt Vonnegut Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut-jr/) > [“No art is possible without a dance with death, he wrote. The”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut-jr/no-art-is-possible-without-a-dance-with-death-he-wrote-the/) [Kurt Vonnegut Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut-jr/) > [“No trouble. There really isn’t a heck of a lot to the job.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut-jr/no-trouble-there-really-isn-t-a-heck-of-a-lot-to-the-job/) [Kurt Vonnegut Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut-jr/) [Explore all 164 Kurt Vonnegut Jr quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut-jr/) ## More Alien quotes > [If you're going to immerse yourself in a project for three years, why not stake out a chunk of the world that is completely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-powers/if-you-re-going-to-immerse-yourself-in-a-project-for-three-years-why/) [Richard Powers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-powers/) > [“If you are an alien, how come you sound like you're from the north?' 'Lots of planets have a north!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-t-davies/if-you-are-an-alien-how-come-you-sound-like-you-re-from-the-north/) [Russell T Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-t-davies/) > [Some pundits have proposed that the aliens have come here to breed with us. Apparently, too much bike riding or something similar has rendered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/some-pundits-have-proposed-that-the-aliens-have-come-here-to-breed/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [North Korea is still my homeland, my country. I suffered on the outside because I was alien, without identity. I was nobody. I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-hyeon-seo/north-korea-is-still-my-homeland-my-country-i-suffered-on-the-outside/) [Lee Hyeon-seo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-hyeon-seo/) > [I don't want to be the embarrassment of the galaxy to have had the power to deflect an asteroid, and then not and end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/i-don-t-want-to-be-the-embarrassment-of-the-galaxy-to-have-had-the/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Whatever is not commonly seen is condemned as alien.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-chang/whatever-is-not-commonly-seen-is-condemned-as-alien/) [Iris Chang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-chang/) > [Alien's a great one. That's a scary movie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judd-nelson/alien-s-a-great-one-that-s-a-scary-movie/) [Judd Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judd-nelson/) > [As far as I can tell, the only unambiguous consequence of the claimed invasion of Earth by beings from another star system has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/as-far-as-i-can-tell-the-only-unambiguous-consequence-of-the-claimed/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [Rick stared at him. "Your brother is an alien." "Yeah, but he's a cute one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/rick-stared-at-him-your-brother-is-an-alien-yeah-but-he-s-a-cute-one/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [You tell me you love me, but Im not sure you know what love is, or how fast it flies, or how much it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hussein-nishah/you-tell-me-you-love-me-but-im-not-sure-you-know-what-love-is-or-how/) [Hussein Nishah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hussein-nishah/) > [Give consideration to the fact that alien astronomers could have scrutinized Earth for more than 4 billion years without detecting any radio signals, despite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/give-consideration-to-the-fact-that-alien-astronomers-could-have/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [“When I was a kid, I used to watch that show, sitting on the couch in my pajamas and wishing more than anything that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-thomas-ford/when-i-was-a-kid-i-used-to-watch-that-show-sitting-on-the-couch-in-my/) [Michael Thomas Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-thomas-ford/) > [We of alien looks or words must stick together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-j-sansom/we-of-alien-looks-or-words-must-stick-together/) [C.J. Sansom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-j-sansom/) > [One of the most interesting things for me in playing another species is that you want to make them different enough to be alien…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaime-murray/one-of-the-most-interesting-things-for-me-in-playing-another-species/) [Jaime Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaime-murray/) > [In a movie, it's often important to have aliens whose gestures and facial expressions can be 'read' by humans. And in the days before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/in-a-movie-it-s-often-important-to-have-aliens-whose-gestures-and/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) [Browse all 709 Alien quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alien/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The reason creatures wanted to use language instead of mental telepathy was that they found out they could get so much more done with language. 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