--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: At the most simplistic level physicists…" description: "\"At the most simplistic level physicists tell us that what we see as reality is not actually accurate. A rock looks solid to us but it's full of empty s..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92f/nicole-krauss-920_empty_at-the-most-simplistic-level-physicists_176963.png" --- # At the most simplistic level physicists tell us that what… ![“At the most simplistic level physicists tell us that what we see as reality is not actually accurate. A rock looks solid to us but it's full of empty space and atoms moving and we see it as solid because we need to because it helps us survive, right? Survival being our goal. You can extrapolate…” quote by Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92f/nicole-krauss-920_empty_at-the-most-simplistic-level-physicists_176963.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92f/nicole-krauss-920_empty_at-the-most-simplistic-level-physicists_176963.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92f/nicole-krauss-920_empty_at-the-most-simplistic-level-physicists_176963.png) > “At the most simplistic level physicists tell us that what we see as reality is not actually accurate. A rock looks solid to us but it's full of empty space and atoms moving and we see it as solid because we need to because it helps us survive, right? Survival being our goal. You can extrapolate that to many other things.” [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Our perceptions are simplified models shaped by survival needs, not exact reflections of underlying reality. **In simple terms:** We see simplified versions of truth to survive. Key Takeaway Question assumptions about what seems obvious. Themes perception reality survival science philosophy Mood curious thoughtful Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - everyday decision making - scientific research - personal belief systems Key Concepts constructivism quantum physics cognitive bias Questions to Reflect On - What assumptions do you accept without evidence? - How does survival instinct shape your worldview? A Different Perspective Simplifications can mislead when critical details are ignored. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accurate Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accurate-rock-1901791/) [Empty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empty/) [Empty space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empty-space/) [Goal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goal/) [Helping](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helping/) [Moving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moving/) [Physicist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physicist/) [Physicists Tell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physicists-tell-1901790/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Reality Actually](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality-actually-1229244/) [Survival](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/survival/) [Tell Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tell-reality-534684/) ## Related quotes > [“But here’s what physicists tell us. Things, in the quantum world, do not happen in steps. They happen immediately.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pam-grout/but-here-s-what-physicists-tell-us-things-in-the-quantum-world-do-not/) [Pam Grout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pam-grout/) > [Tell me the reality is better than the dream, but I found out the hard way - nothing is what it seems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slipknot/tell-me-the-reality-is-better-than-the-dream-but-i-found-out-the-hard/) [Slipknot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slipknot/) > [“I could never really manage to tell reality and my dream world apart, for the two of them co-existed together as they slid over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shvaugn-craig/i-could-never-really-manage-to-tell-reality-and-my-dream-world-apart/) [Shvaugn Craig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shvaugn-craig/) > [Let me tell you what, reality is better than any script you could ever write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-white/let-me-tell-you-what-reality-is-better-than-any-script-you-could-ever/) [Dana White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-white/) > [ ... \[L\]ess than at any time does a simple reproduction of reality tell us anything about reality. A photograph of the Krupp works or… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/l-ess-than-at-any-time-does-a-simple-reproduction-of-reality-tell-us/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [To a theoretical physicist, there is no greater joy than to see that this curious activity we call calculation - the depositing of ink…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-guth/to-a-theoretical-physicist-there-is-no-greater-joy-than-to-see-that/) [Alan Guth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-guth/) > [The worst part about being heart broken by someone is that knowing you thought it was just all a dream, but in reality it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maddie-powell-princess/the-worst-part-about-being-heart-broken-by-someone-is-that-knowing/) [Maddie Powell Princess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maddie-powell-princess/) > [The people who say you are not facing reality actually mean that you are not facing their idea of reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-halsey/the-people-who-say-you-are-not-facing-reality-actually-mean-that-you-2/) [Margaret Halsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-halsey/) > [I want my job to include a little adventure, a little more of a heightened reality than what I'm actually living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-fillion/i-want-my-job-to-include-a-little-adventure-a-little-more-of-a/) [Nathan Fillion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-fillion/) > [I am not interested in representing reality. Actually, I am interested in representing reality, but that doesn't mean a naturalistic approach, which I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yorgos-lanthimos/i-am-not-interested-in-representing-reality-actually-i-am-interested/) [Yorgos Lanthimos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yorgos-lanthimos/) > [“The people who say you are not facing reality actually mean that you are not facing their idea of reality. Reality is above all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-halsey/the-people-who-say-you-are-not-facing-reality-actually-mean-that-you/) [Margaret Halsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-halsey/) > [Reality has actually very little to do with truth; there is no necessary connection between the two.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-hamilton/reality-has-actually-very-little-to-do-with-truth-there-is-no/) [Edith Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-hamilton/) > [They must remember that they are constantly on the run, and that the world's reality is actually expressed by their escape.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/they-must-remember-that-they-are-constantly-on-the-run-and-that-the/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [I think I spend most of my time not living in reality, actually.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-serkis/i-think-i-spend-most-of-my-time-not-living-in-reality-actually/) [Andy Serkis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-serkis/) > [How much of what we call 'reality' is actually out there or rather within our own head?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-dick/how-much-of-what-we-call-reality-is-actually-out-there-or-rather/) [Philip K. Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-dick/) ## More by Nicole Krauss > [“Narrative cannot sustain formlessness any more than light can sustain darkness - it is the antithesis of formlessness, and so it can never truly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/narrative-cannot-sustain-formlessness-any-more-than-light-can-sustain/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [I think of novels as houses. You live in them over the course of a long period, both as a reader and as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/i-think-of-novels-as-houses-you-live-in-them-over-the-course-of-a/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [When we went into the ocean, I watched his body as he dove into the waves, and it gave me a feeling in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/when-we-went-into-the-ocean-i-watched-his-body-as-he-dove-into-the/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“There are times when the kindness of strangers only makes matter worse because one realizes how badly one is in need of kindness and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/there-are-times-when-the-kindness-of-strangers-only-makes-matter/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [She was gone, and all that was left was the space where you'd grown around her, like a tree that grows around a fence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/she-was-gone-and-all-that-was-left-was-the-space-where-you-d-grown/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“The air felt different in my lungs. The world no longer looked the same. You change and then you change again. You become a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/the-air-felt-different-in-my-lungs-the-world-no-longer-looked-the/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“The first language humans had was gestures. There was nothing primitive about this language that flowed from people’s hands, nothing we say now that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/the-first-language-humans-had-was-gestures-there-was-nothing/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [I feel really strongly about not wanting to overly guide the reader about what he or she should think. I really trust the reader…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/i-feel-really-strongly-about-not-wanting-to-overly-guide-the-reader/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [Mom?" I said. She turned. "Can I talk to you about something?" "Of course, darling. Come here." I took a few steps into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/mom-i-said-she-turned-can-i-talk-to-you-about-something-of-course/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [In one's youth, one has tremendous access to one's feelings. And as one gets older, some of those feelings kind of drift away. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/in-one-s-youth-one-has-tremendous-access-to-one-s-feelings-and-as-one/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [Obviously I've been reading Kafka for a long long time, since I was really young, and even before I ever read him I knew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/obviously-i-ve-been-reading-kafka-for-a-long-long-time-since-i-was/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“She's kept her love for him as alive as the summer they first met. In order to do this, she's turned life away. 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Good ol’ Joe!” “Captain, you’re drunk!” Lofflin said, stating the obvious while trying to keep his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-engela/joe-he-groaned-attempting-to-speak-clearly-joe-good-ol-joe-captain/) [Christina Engela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-engela/) > [Why chase after thoughts, which are superficial ripples of present awareness? Rather look directly into the naked, empty nature of thoughts; then there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamgon-kongtrul/why-chase-after-thoughts-which-are-superficial-ripples-of-present/) [Jamgon Kongtrul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamgon-kongtrul/) > [Education turns an empty mind into an open mind. It turns information into behavioural transformation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shiv-khera/education-turns-an-empty-mind-into-an-open-mind-it-turns-information/) [Shiv Khera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shiv-khera/) > [He that humbles himself shall be preserved entire. 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Our true nature is vast, all-comprehensive, and intangible as empty space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anagarika-govinda/our-real-nature-is-not-our-imaginary-limited-ego-our-true-nature-is/) [Anagarika Govinda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anagarika-govinda/) > [Adults look upon a child as something empty that is to be filled through their own efforts, as something inert and helpless for which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/adults-look-upon-a-child-as-something-empty-that-is-to-be-filled/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [Man preys on man; and you mourn for the idle tapestry that decorated a gothic pillar, and the dronish bell that summoned the fat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/man-preys-on-man-and-you-mourn-for-the-idle-tapestry-that-decorated-a/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [I don't see the future as bright, language-wise. 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