--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are traps built into any kind of…" description: "\"“There are traps built into any kind of knowledge gained from observation.”\" — Nassim Nicholas Taleb" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b3/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_knowledge_there-are-traps-built-into-any-kind-of-k_3218406.png" --- # There are traps built into any kind of knowledge gained… ![“There are traps built into any kind of knowledge gained from observation.” quote by Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b3/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_knowledge_there-are-traps-built-into-any-kind-of-k_3218406.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b3/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_knowledge_there-are-traps-built-into-any-kind-of-k_3218406.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b3/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_knowledge_there-are-traps-built-into-any-kind-of-k_3218406.png) > ““There are traps built into any kind of knowledge gained from observation.”” [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Observational knowledge contains hidden biases and systematic errors that can mislead conclusions. **In simple terms:** Observation can be deceptive. Key Takeaway Question assumptions behind observed data. Themes knowledge bias critical thinking Mood skeptical analytical Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - research - investment decisions - policy making - education Key Concepts epistemology statistics cognitive bias Questions to Reflect On - What biases might you overlook? - How can you validate observational insights? A Different Perspective Overreliance on observation may ignore underlying complexities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Knowledge gained](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge-gained/) [Observation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/observation/) ## Related quotes > [Philosophical knowledge is the knowledge gained by reason from concepts ; mathematical knowledge is the knowledge gained by reason from the construction of concepts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/philosophical-knowledge-is-the-knowledge-gained-by-reason-from/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [The sucker's trap is when you focus on what you know and what others don't know, rather than the reverse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/the-sucker-s-trap-is-when-you-focus-on-what-you-know-and-what-others/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Let every dawn of the morning be to you as the beginning of life. And let every setting of the sun be to you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/let-every-dawn-of-the-morning-be-to-you-as-the-beginning-of-life-and/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [There are no shortcuts to knowledge, especially knowledge gained from personal experience. Following conventional wisdom and relying on shortcuts can be worse than knowing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-horowitz/there-are-no-shortcuts-to-knowledge-especially-knowledge-gained-from/) [Ben Horowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-horowitz/) > [Knowledge is not gained, it is there all the time. It is the "veils" which have to be dissolved in the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/knowledge-is-not-gained-it-is-there-all-the-time-it-is-the-veils/) [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) > [. . . provided that nothing like useful knowledge could be gained from them, provided they were all story and no reflection, she had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/provided-that-nothing-like-useful-knowledge-could-be-gained-from-them/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [Knowledge gained through experience is far superior and many times more useful than bookish knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/knowledge-gained-through-experience-is-far-superior-and-many-times/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Find a positive lesson and positive reason for all of your personal relationships. Accentuate the blessings and knowledge gained from each.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-waitley/find-a-positive-lesson-and-positive-reason-for-all-of-your-personal/) [Denis Waitley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-waitley/) > [Happiness exist when you don't know a thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-weeknd/happiness-exist-when-you-don-t-know-a-thing/) [The Weeknd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-weeknd/) > [Lessons learned are like bridges burned you only need to cross them but once. Is the knowledge gained worth the price of the pain,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-fogelberg/lessons-learned-are-like-bridges-burned-you-only-need-to-cross-them/) [Dan Fogelberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-fogelberg/) > [“IGNORANCE is without gaining Knowledge & Knowledge is gained without IGNORANCE”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charleston-parker/ignorance-is-without-gaining-knowledge-knowledge-is-gained-without/) [Charleston Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charleston-parker/) > [No matter how mistaken Communist ideas may be, the experience and knowledge gained by trying them out have given a tremendous impetus to thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/no-matter-how-mistaken-communist-ideas-may-be-the-experience-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [For some students, especially in the sciences, the knowledge gained in college may be directly relevant to graduate study. For almost all students, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-bok/for-some-students-especially-in-the-sciences-the-knowledge-gained-in/) [Derek Bok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-bok/) > [Amer savoir, celui qu'on tire du voyage! Bitter is the knowledge gained in travelling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/amer-savoir-celui-qu-on-tire-du-voyage-bitter-is-the-knowledge-gained/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Unless the knowledge gained from experience is reconditioned in each new situation, it is a rigid and a dangerous guide.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/unless-the-knowledge-gained-from-experience-is-reconditioned-in-each/) [Michel De Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) ## More by Nassim Nicholas Taleb > [To become a philosopher, start by walking very slowly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/to-become-a-philosopher-start-by-walking-very-slowly/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Wittgenstein's ruler: Unless you have confidence in the ruler's reliability, if you use a ruler to measure a table you may also be using…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/wittgenstein-s-ruler-unless-you-have-confidence-in-the-ruler-s/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [In politics we face the choice between warmongering, nation-state loving, big-business agents on one hand; and risk-blind, top-down, epistemic arrogant big servants of large…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/in-politics-we-face-the-choice-between-warmongering-nation-state/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [My nightmare scenario is that the government saves Citibank once again, as well as the other banks, and business resumes as usual. Then, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/my-nightmare-scenario-is-that-the-government-saves-citibank-once/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Using, as an excuse, others' failure of common sense is in itself a failure of common sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/using-as-an-excuse-others-failure-of-common-sense-is-in-itself-a/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [You know, children philosophize more than adults - and they are critical of adults.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/you-know-children-philosophize-more-than-adults-and-they-are-critical/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“Suckers think that you cure greed with money, addiction with substances, expert problems with experts, banking with bankers, economics with economists, and debt crises…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/suckers-think-that-you-cure-greed-with-money-addiction-with/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“One needs to go out and buy a lottery ticket in order to win. Does it mean that the work involved in the trip…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/one-needs-to-go-out-and-buy-a-lottery-ticket-in-order-to-win-does-it/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Individuals should think about the worst-case scenarios and plan for them. The world will be crazier than you think it will be. Put money…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/individuals-should-think-about-the-worst-case-scenarios-and-plan-for/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“If you are looking for your misplaced wallet in your living room, in a trial and error mode, you exercise rationality by not looking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/if-you-are-looking-for-your-misplaced-wallet-in-your-living-room-in-a/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“Most humans manage to squander their free time, as free time makes them dysfunctional, lazy, and unmotivated—the busier they get, the more active they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/most-humans-manage-to-squander-their-free-time-as-free-time-makes/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [We learn the most from fools ... yet we pay them back with the worst ingratitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/we-learn-the-most-from-fools-yet-we-pay-them-back-with-the-worst/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [We are victims of the post-Enlightenment view that the world functions like a sophisticated machine, to be understood like a textbook engineering problem and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/we-are-victims-of-the-post-enlightenment-view-that-the-world/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“loss of bone density and degradation of the health of the bones also causes aging, diabetes, and, for males, loss of fertility and sexual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/loss-of-bone-density-and-degradation-of-the-health-of-the-bones-also/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“It takes a huge investment in introspection to learn that the thirty or more hours spent “studying” the news last month neither had any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/it-takes-a-huge-investment-in-introspection-to-learn-that-the-thirty/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) [Explore all 635 Nassim Nicholas Taleb quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) ## More Knowledge quotes > [“Knowledge without conscience is but the ruin of the soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabelaise/knowledge-without-conscience-is-but-the-ruin-of-the-soul/) Rabelaise > [For successful education there must always be a certain freshness in the knowledge dealt with. It must be either new in itself or invested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/for-successful-education-there-must-always-be-a-certain-freshness-in/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/) [William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/) > [But I already saw no great difference between the psyche and spirituality. To amass knowledge without becoming wise is not my idea of progress…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-scott-peck/but-i-already-saw-no-great-difference-between-the-psyche-and/) [M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) > [If we will not interfere with our thought, but will act entirely, or see how the thing stands in God, we know the particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-we-will-not-interfere-with-our-thought-but-will-act-entirely-or/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [An enlightened awareness is within each one of us, right at this moment. This enlightened awareness is truly unborn and marvellously illuminating; and everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bankei-yotaku/an-enlightened-awareness-is-within-each-one-of-us-right-at-this/) [Bankei Yotaku](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bankei-yotaku/) > [One of the deepest and strangest of all human moods is the mood which will suddenly strike us perhaps in a garden at night,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-of-the-deepest-and-strangest-of-all-human-moods-is-the-mood-which/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I never knew any man who had once tasted the sweetness of experimental knowledge, that ever afterward fasted after ye Vapour garlick and onions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-zimmer/i-never-knew-any-man-who-had-once-tasted-the-sweetness-of/) [Carl Zimmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-zimmer/) > [I would rather excel others in the knowledge of what is excellent than in the extent of my powers and dominion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-the-great/i-would-rather-excel-others-in-the-knowledge-of-what-is-excellent/) [Alexander the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-the-great/) > [We know accurately only when we know little, with knowledge doubt increases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/we-know-accurately-only-when-we-know-little-with-knowledge-doubt/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [I've always been a believer in research. It's great to have an instinctual human reaction to a character, too, of course, but it has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chiwetel-ejiofor/i-ve-always-been-a-believer-in-research-it-s-great-to-have-an/) [Chiwetel Ejiofor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chiwetel-ejiofor/) > [I am an aware citizen, so I want my characters to be aware, too. They should be aware of what's happening in the society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-tripathi/i-am-an-aware-citizen-so-i-want-my-characters-to-be-aware-too-they/) [Pankaj Tripathi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-tripathi/) > [Technology means the systematic application of scientific or other organized knowledge to practical tasks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/technology-means-the-systematic-application-of-scientific-or-other/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [Love is a vision,love carry our vision,and love by-step our vision. we carry our love to our by-step. once love is vision love is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-is-a-vision-love-carry-our-vision-and-love-by-step-our-vision-we/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Man is an ignoramus athirst for knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-wagner/man-is-an-ignoramus-athirst-for-knowledge/) [Charles Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-wagner/) [Browse all 13,227 Knowledge quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“There are traps built into any kind of knowledge gained from observation.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nassim Nicholas Taleb" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/there-are-traps-built-into-any-kind-of-knowledge-gained-from/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Knowledge" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/there-are-traps-built-into-any-kind-of-knowledge-gained-from/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b3/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_knowledge_there-are-traps-built-into-any-kind-of-k_3218406.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b3/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_knowledge_there-are-traps-built-into-any-kind-of-k_3218406.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b3/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_knowledge_there-are-traps-built-into-any-kind-of-k_3218406.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There are traps built into any kind of knowledge gained from observation.” — Nassim Nicholas Taleb", "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": "Nassim Nicholas Taleb", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“There are traps built into any...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/there-are-traps-built-into-any-kind-of-knowledge-gained-from/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/there-are-traps-built-into-any-kind-of-knowledge-gained-from/#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 } } ] } ```