--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Western society has many flaws, and it is…" description: "\"Western society has many flaws, and it is good for an educated person to have thought some of these through, even at the expense of losing a lecture or..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/407/robert-b-laughlin-24580_educated_western-society-has-many-flaws-and-it-is_1788649.jpg" --- # Western society has many flaws, and it is good for an… ![“Western society has many flaws, and it is good for an educated person to have thought some of these through, even at the expense of losing a lecture or two to tear gas.” quote by Robert B. Laughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/407/robert-b-laughlin-24580_educated_western-society-has-many-flaws-and-it-is_1788649.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/407/robert-b-laughlin-24580_educated_western-society-has-many-flaws-and-it-is_1788649.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/407/robert-b-laughlin-24580_educated_western-society-has-many-flaws-and-it-is_1788649.jpg) > “Western society has many flaws, and it is good for an educated person to have thought some of these through, even at the expense of losing a lecture or two to tear gas.” [Robert B. Laughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-b-laughlin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Critical examination of society’s flaws sharp personal growth, even if it provokes controversy. **In simple terms:** Question society to grow, even if controversial. Key Takeaway Embrace uncomfortable learning. Themes critical thinking social critique personal development Mood provocative reflective Type philosophical political When to use this quote - academic debate - activist meetings - public policy discussions - personal reflection Key Concepts philosophy political science ethics Questions to Reflect On - How does discomfort fuel learning? - When is it worth risking backlash? A Different Perspective May alienate audiences resistant to criticism. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Flaws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flaws/) [Lectures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lectures/) [Tears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tears/) [Western](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/western/) [Western society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/western-society/) ## Related quotes > [Fiction has always been a way of examining society and its flaws and trying to expose them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-joy/fiction-has-always-been-a-way-of-examining-society-and-its-flaws-and/) [Lisa Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-joy/) > [A good and educated man will not trash talk or insult a woman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-good-and-educated-man-will-not-trash-talk-or-insult-a-woman/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“If you could only tell them that living and spending isn't the same thing! 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This has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/western-society-has-in-the-past-few-decades-taken-a-great-step/) [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) > [“Also, a large swath of our intellectual culture is loath to admit that there could be anything good about civilization, modernity, and Western society.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/also-a-large-swath-of-our-intellectual-culture-is-loath-to-admit-that/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [“The shallow social and political alternatives bequeathed to contemporary western society by the Enlightenment and its aftermath, in which every issue stands either to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-t-wright/the-shallow-social-and-political-alternatives-bequeathed-to/) [N.T. 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Contemporary Western society spends in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lesslie-newbigin/a-society-which-believes-in-a-worthwhile-future-saves-in-the-present/) [Lesslie Newbigin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lesslie-newbigin/) > [Thinking, or more precisely identification with thinking, gives rise to and maintains the ego, which, in our Western society in particular, is out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/thinking-or-more-precisely-identification-with-thinking-gives-rise-to/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) ## More by Robert B. Laughlin > [Over the course of time this gave us a deep respect for ideas, both our own and those of others, and an understanding that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-b-laughlin/over-the-course-of-time-this-gave-us-a-deep-respect-for-ideas-both/) [Robert B. 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Laughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-b-laughlin/) > [The modern concept of the vacuum of space, confirmed every day by experiment, is a relativistic ether.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-b-laughlin/the-modern-concept-of-the-vacuum-of-space-confirmed-every-day-by/) [Robert B. Laughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-b-laughlin/) > [My mother also had us take piano lessons, and this had a similar effect. I hated those lessons, but I now play regularly for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-b-laughlin/my-mother-also-had-us-take-piano-lessons-and-this-had-a-similar/) [Robert B. Laughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-b-laughlin/) > [It is ironic that Einsteins most creative work, the general theory of relativity, should boil down to conceptualizing space as a medium when his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-b-laughlin/it-is-ironic-that-einsteins-most-creative-work-the-general-theory-of/) [Robert B. 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Laughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-b-laughlin/) > [In parallel with the development of my interests in technical gadgetry I began to acquire a profound love of and respect for the natural…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-b-laughlin/in-parallel-with-the-development-of-my-interests-in-technical/) [Robert B. Laughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-b-laughlin/) > [At Berkeley I had my first encounter with real professional scientists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-b-laughlin/at-berkeley-i-had-my-first-encounter-with-real-professional-scientists/) [Robert B. Laughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-b-laughlin/) > [But the need for conflict to expose prejudice and unclear reasoning, which is deeply embedded in my philosophy of science, has its origin in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-b-laughlin/but-the-need-for-conflict-to-expose-prejudice-and-unclear-reasoning/) [Robert B. Laughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-b-laughlin/) > [My childhood home backed onto wheat and cotton fields.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-b-laughlin/my-childhood-home-backed-onto-wheat-and-cotton-fields/) [Robert B. Laughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-b-laughlin/) > [My mother, who was professional schoolteacher, was particularly concerned about our formal education and even went so far as to start a private school…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-b-laughlin/my-mother-who-was-professional-schoolteacher-was-particularly/) [Robert B. Laughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-b-laughlin/) [Explore all 24 Robert B. Laughlin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-b-laughlin/) ## More Educated quotes > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. 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