--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It’s we humans who introduce these…" description: "\"“It’s we humans who introduce these concepts and the words for them: in principle, everything could have been derived from the fundamental theory at th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/051/max-tegmark-3860_theory_it-s-we-humans-who-introduce-these-conce_2448181.jpg" --- # It’s we humans who introduce these concepts and the words… ![“It’s we humans who introduce these concepts and the words for them: in principle, everything could have been derived from the fundamental theory at the top of the tree, although such an extreme reductionist approach is often useless in practice. Crudely speaking, as we move down the tree, the…” quote by Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/051/max-tegmark-3860_theory_it-s-we-humans-who-introduce-these-conce_2448181.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/051/max-tegmark-3860_theory_it-s-we-humans-who-introduce-these-conce_2448181.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/051/max-tegmark-3860_theory_it-s-we-humans-who-introduce-these-conce_2448181.jpg) > ““It’s we humans who introduce these concepts and the words for them: in principle, everything could have been derived from the fundamental theory at the top of the tree, although such an extreme reductionist approach is often useless in practice. Crudely speaking, as we move down the tree, the number of words goes up while the number of equations goes down, dropping to near zero for highly applied fields such as medicine and sociology.”” [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Complex fields become less equation‑driven and more language‑driven as they move from fundamental theory to applied practice. **In simple terms:** Applied fields use many words, few equations. Key Takeaway Embrace interdisciplinary language. Themes complexity reductionism interdisciplinarity Mood analytical critical Type philosophical scientific When to use this quote - medicine - sociology - education - policy making Key Concepts theory application language Questions to Reflect On - Can simplicity hinder understanding? - How to balance theory and practice? A Different Perspective Reductionist view can overlook practical nuances. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Trees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trees/) ## Related quotes > [In the end, science as we know it has two basic types of practitioners. One is the educated man who still has a controlled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/in-the-end-science-as-we-know-it-has-two-basic-types-of-practitioners/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [“Part of this problem lies with how we do ‘science’. The paradigm of ‘modern science’ is that we isolate each individual factor and study…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-s-volek/part-of-this-problem-lies-with-how-we-do-science-the-paradigm-of/) [Jeff S. Volek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-s-volek/) > [“Science seeks to understand complex processes by reducing them to their essential actions and studying the interplay of those actions--and this reductionist approach extends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/science-seeks-to-understand-complex-processes-by-reducing-them-to/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [“Itwas one time when people thought the value of the fine structure constant wasimportant. Now of course it's still important, of course, as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weinberg/itwas-one-time-when-people-thought-the-value-of-the-fine-structure/) [Steven Weinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weinberg/) > [The concept of 'measurement' becomes so fuzzy on reflection that it is quite surprising to have it appearing in physical theory at the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stewart-bell/the-concept-of-measurement-becomes-so-fuzzy-on-reflection-that-it-is/) [John Stewart Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stewart-bell/) > [It was one time when people thought the value of the fine structure constant was important. Now of course it's still important, of course,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weinberg/it-was-one-time-when-people-thought-the-value-of-the-fine-structure/) [Steven Weinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weinberg/) > [“The use of spontaneous symmetry breaking in a fundamental theory was to have profound consequences, not just for the laws of nature but for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smolin/the-use-of-spontaneous-symmetry-breaking-in-a-fundamental-theory-was/) [Lee Smolin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smolin/) > [People deserve to have their experiences understood in a genuine bio-psycho-social approach. All too often, this is ignored in favor of what is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kinderman/people-deserve-to-have-their-experiences-understood-in-a-genuine-bio/) [Peter Kinderman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kinderman/) > [“Chaos is complexity viewed through a reductionist filter.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/silvia-hartmann/chaos-is-complexity-viewed-through-a-reductionist-filter/) [Silvia Hartmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/silvia-hartmann/) > [“‎"If our world is regulated by reductionist, narrow, sophomoric versions of Darwin; or reductionist, narrow, sophomoric versions of religious dogma; you end up being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/if-our-world-is-regulated-by-reductionist-narrow-sophomoric-versions/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [It is time to learn from the mistakes of monocultures of the mind and the essentialising violence of reductionist thought. It is time to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vandana-shiva/it-is-time-to-learn-from-the-mistakes-of-monocultures-of-the-mind-and/) [Vandana Shiva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vandana-shiva/) > [ In the past, \[medicalization\]has been portrayed as something that doctors inflict on a passive and un-suspecting world - an expansion of the Medical Empire.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-goldacre/in-the-past-medicalization-has-been-portrayed-as-something-that/) [Ben Goldacre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-goldacre/) > [Short form media is reductionist by nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-krakauer/short-form-media-is-reductionist-by-nature/) [Jon Krakauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-krakauer/) > [The progress of science requires the growth of understanding in both directions, downward from the whole to the parts and upward from the parts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/the-progress-of-science-requires-the-growth-of-understanding-in-both/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [“Genetic medicine is the ultimate reductionist fantasy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-colin-campbell/genetic-medicine-is-the-ultimate-reductionist-fantasy/) [T. Colin Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-colin-campbell/) ## More by Max Tegmark > [“My personal analysis is that the media have made the AI-safety debate seem more controversial than it really is. After all, fear sells, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/my-personal-analysis-is-that-the-media-have-made-the-ai-safety-debate/) [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) > [“Chapter 2: How could an infinite space get created in a finite time? It sounds impossible. But as I mentioned, inflation is like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/chapter-2-how-could-an-infinite-space-get-created-in-a-finite-time-it/) [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) > [“I suspect that if we can build such ultra-intelligent machines, then the first one will be severely limited by the software we’ve written for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/i-suspect-that-if-we-can-build-such-ultra-intelligent-machines-then/) [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) > [“Aristarchos simply divided it by 3.7 and got the size of the Moon!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/aristarchos-simply-divided-it-by-3-7-and-got-the-size-of-the-moon/) [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) > [“I view the measure problem as the greatest crisis in physics today.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/i-view-the-measure-problem-as-the-greatest-crisis-in-physics-today/) [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) > [“the whole can contain less information than the sum of its parts—and sometimes even less than one of its parts!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/the-whole-can-contain-less-information-than-the-sum-of-its-parts-and/) [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) > [“In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not. —Albert Einstein”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/in-theory-theory-and-practice-are-the-same-in-practice-they-are-not/) [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) > [“Why do we perceive the world as stable and ourselves as local and unique? Here’s my guess: because it’s useful.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/why-do-we-perceive-the-world-as-stable-and-ourselves-as-local-and/) [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) > [“the neuron bundle comes from our eyes, ears, nose, mouth or skin. The key difference lies not in the neurons that carry this information,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/the-neuron-bundle-comes-from-our-eyes-ears-nose-mouth-or-skin-the-key/) [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) > [“In other words, even though an observer moment objectively occupies less than a liter of volume and a second of time, it subjectively feels…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/in-other-words-even-though-an-observer-moment-objectively-occupies/) [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) > [“Neural networks have now transformed both biological and artificial intelligence, and have recently started dominating the AI subfield known as machine learning (the study…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/neural-networks-have-now-transformed-both-biological-and-artificial/) [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) > [“Physics is the ultimate intellectual adventure, the quest to understand the deepest mysteries of our Universe. Physics doesn’t take something fascinating and make it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/physics-is-the-ultimate-intellectual-adventure-the-quest-to/) [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) > [Our external physical reality is a mathematical structure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/our-external-physical-reality-is-a-mathematical-structure/) [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) > [“it can start with something smaller than an atom and create an infinite space inside of it, containing infinitely many galaxies, without affecting the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/it-can-start-with-something-smaller-than-an-atom-and-create-an/) [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) > [“A perfectly obedient superintelligence whose goals automatically align with those of its human owner would be like Nazi SS-Obersturmbannführer Adolf Eichmann on steroids: lacking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/a-perfectly-obedient-superintelligence-whose-goals-automatically/) [Max Tegmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) [Explore all 120 Max Tegmark quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/) ## More Theory quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Quantum physics fluctuates all the time. But now the fluctuations are not just particles coming into and out of existence, which happens all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/quantum-physics-fluctuates-all-the-time-but-now-the-fluctuations-are/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [I have a tendency to often share the point of view of the conspiracy theory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-cotillard/i-have-a-tendency-to-often-share-the-point-of-view-of-the-conspiracy/) [Marion Cotillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-cotillard/) > [The fact -- not theory -- that evolution has occurred and the Darwinian theory as to how it occurred have become so confused in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-gaylord-simpson/the-fact-not-theory-that-evolution-has-occurred-and-the-darwinian/) [George Gaylord Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-gaylord-simpson/) > [“The generalized theory of relativity has furnished still more remarkable results. This considers not only uniform but also accelerated motion. In particular, it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-a-michelson/the-generalized-theory-of-relativity-has-furnished-still-more/) A.A. Michelson > [“Quantum Technology Is No Longer Theoretical The quantum revolution is not the discovery of quantum physics. It is the transition from understanding quantum reality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludmila-morozova-buss/quantum-technology-is-no-longer-theoretical-the-quantum-revolution-is/) [Ludmila Morozova-Buss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludmila-morozova-buss/) > [It is human to search for the theory of everything and it is superhuman to find it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kedar-joshi/it-is-human-to-search-for-the-theory-of-everything-and-it-is/) [Kedar Joshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kedar-joshi/) > [Physicist Isador Isaac Rabi, who won a Nobel Prize for inventing a technique that permitted scientists to probe the structure of atoms and molecules…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-saul-wurman/physicist-isador-isaac-rabi-who-won-a-nobel-prize-for-inventing-a/) [Richard Saul Wurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-saul-wurman/) > [Throughout my work, I have assumed that the standard model is correct, and hence, the Higgs boson should be found. Although this is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashoke-sen/throughout-my-work-i-have-assumed-that-the-standard-model-is-correct/) [Ashoke Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashoke-sen/) > [The shelves of many evangelicals are full of books that point out the flaws in evolution, discuss it only as a theory, and almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-collins/the-shelves-of-many-evangelicals-are-full-of-books-that-point-out-the/) [Francis Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-collins/) > [Observation and theory get on best when they are mixed together, both helping one another in the pursuit of truth. It is a good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-eddington/observation-and-theory-get-on-best-when-they-are-mixed-together-both/) [Arthur Eddington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-eddington/) > [All theory is against free will; all experience is for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/all-theory-is-against-free-will-all-experience-is-for-it/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [I'm a fan of supersymmetry, largely because it seems to be the only route by which gravity can be brought into the scheme. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-higgs/i-m-a-fan-of-supersymmetry-largely-because-it-seems-to-be-the-only/) [Peter Higgs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-higgs/) > [The laws of thermodynamics, as empirically determined, express the approximate and probable behavior of systems of a great number of particles, or, more precisely,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-willard-gibbs/the-laws-of-thermodynamics-as-empirically-determined-express-the/) J. Willard Gibbs > [For a physicist mathematics is not just a tool by means of which phenomena can be calculated, it is the main source of concepts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/for-a-physicist-mathematics-is-not-just-a-tool-by-means-of-which/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) Browse all 6,338 Theory quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It’s we humans who introduce these concepts and the words for them: in principle, everything could have been derived from the fundamental theory at the top of the tree, although such an extreme reductionist approach is often useless in practice. Crudely speaking, as we move down the tree, the number of words goes up while the number of equations goes down, dropping to near zero for highly applied fields such as medicine and sociology.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Max Tegmark" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/it-s-we-humans-who-introduce-these-concepts-and-the-words-for-them-in/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Theory" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/it-s-we-humans-who-introduce-these-concepts-and-the-words-for-them-in/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/051/max-tegmark-3860_theory_it-s-we-humans-who-introduce-these-conce_2448181.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/051/max-tegmark-3860_theory_it-s-we-humans-who-introduce-these-conce_2448181.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/051/max-tegmark-3860_theory_it-s-we-humans-who-introduce-these-conce_2448181.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It’s we humans who introduce these concepts and the words for them: in principle, everything could have been…” — Max Tegmark", "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": "Max Tegmark", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-tegmark/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“It’s we humans who introduce these...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/it-s-we-humans-who-introduce-these-concepts-and-the-words-for-them-in/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-tegmark/it-s-we-humans-who-introduce-these-concepts-and-the-words-for-them-in/#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 } } ] } ```