--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A man who says that men are machines may…" description: "\"A man who says that men are machines may be a great scientist. A man who says he is a machine is 'depersonalized' in psychiatric jargon.\" — R. D. Laing" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c08/r-d-laing-4861_body_a-man-who-says-that-men-are-machines-may_2561899.jpg" --- # A man who says that men are machines may be a great… ![“A man who says that men are machines may be a great scientist. A man who says he is a machine is 'depersonalized' in psychiatric jargon.” quote by R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c08/r-d-laing-4861_body_a-man-who-says-that-men-are-machines-may_2561899.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c08/r-d-laing-4861_body_a-man-who-says-that-men-are-machines-may_2561899.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c08/r-d-laing-4861_body_a-man-who-says-that-men-are-machines-may_2561899.jpg) > “A man who says that men are machines may be a great scientist. A man who says he is a machine is 'depersonalized' in psychiatric jargon.” [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Viewing humans as machines oversimplifies complexity; claiming to be a machine dehumanizes personal experience. **In simple terms:** Seeing people as machines erases humanity. Key Takeaway Recognize personal subjectivity beyond mechanistic views. Themes psychology humanity identity reductionism Mood reflective empathetic Type philosophical therapeutic When to use this quote - clinical practice - therapy - self‑reflection Key Concepts mechanical metaphor depersonalization selfhood Questions to Reflect On - Do you ever feel reduced to a role? - How does language shape self‑perception? A Different Perspective Reductive models can ignore emotional nuance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Computers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computers/) [Great scientist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-scientist/) [Jargon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jargon/) [Machines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/machines/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Scientist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientist/) ## Related quotes > [A scientist is a man who changes his beliefs according to reality; a theist is a man who changes reality to match his beliefs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-scientist-is-a-man-who-changes-his-beliefs-according-to-reality-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The physiologist is not a man of the world, he is a scientist, a man caught and absorbed by a scientific idea that he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/the-physiologist-is-not-a-man-of-the-world-he-is-a-scientist-a-man/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [It is high time that laymen abandoned the misleading belief that scientific enquiry is a cold dispassionate enterprise, bleached of imaginative qualities, and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-medawar/it-is-high-time-that-laymen-abandoned-the-misleading-belief-that/) [Peter Medawar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-medawar/) > [I'm not a scientist, man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-rubio/i-m-not-a-scientist-man/) [Marco Rubio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-rubio/) > [ Each worldview was a cultural product, but evolution is true and separate creation is not. \[...\] Worldviews are social constructions, and they channel the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/each-worldview-was-a-cultural-product-but-evolution-is-true-and/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/people-like-us-who-believe-in-physics-know-that-the-distinction/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [A great scientist is more open to a new idea than almost anybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joss-whedon/a-great-scientist-is-more-open-to-a-new-idea-than-almost-anybody/) [Joss Whedon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joss-whedon/) > [All the greatest men are maniacs. 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