--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you come from mathematics, as I do…" description: "\"If you come from mathematics, as I do, you realize that there are many problems, even classical problems, which cannot be solved by computation alone.\"..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76b/roger-penrose-10729_alone_if-you-come-from-mathematics-as-i-do-you_1395741.jpg" --- # If you come from mathematics, as I do, you realize that… ![“If you come from mathematics, as I do, you realize that there are many problems, even classical problems, which cannot be solved by computation alone.” quote by Roger Penrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76b/roger-penrose-10729_alone_if-you-come-from-mathematics-as-i-do-you_1395741.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76b/roger-penrose-10729_alone_if-you-come-from-mathematics-as-i-do-you_1395741.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76b/roger-penrose-10729_alone_if-you-come-from-mathematics-as-i-do-you_1395741.jpg) > “If you come from mathematics, as I do, you realize that there are many problems, even classical problems, which cannot be solved by computation alone.” [Roger Penrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-penrose/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Mathematical problems exist that cannot be solved by algorithms alone, highlighting limits of computation. **In simple terms:** Some math problems need more than computers. Key Takeaway Explore non‑algorithmic reasoning. Themes philos limits of computation mathematics Mood thought‑provoking analytical Type academic philosophical When to use this quote - theoretical research - AI development - educational curricula Key Concepts undecidability intuition philosophy of mind Questions to Reflect On - What problems might require human insight? - Can AI ever replicate intuition? A Different Perspective Computational methods still valuable for many tasks. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alone/) [Classical Problems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/classical-problems-4877314/) [Come](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/come/) [Computation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computation/) [Many](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/many/) [Mathematics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematics/) [Mathematics Realize](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematics-realize-290272/) [Problems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problems/) [Problems Classical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problems-classical-4877315/) [Realize Problems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realize-problems-1117142/) ## Related quotes > [“A key ingredient in appreciating what mathematics is about is to realize that it is concerned with ideas, understanding, and communication more than it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-arnell-williams/a-key-ingredient-in-appreciating-what-mathematics-is-about-is-to/) [G. Arnell Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-arnell-williams/) > [Many entrepreneurs do not realize that many of the problems their businesses face today began yesterday, long before there was a business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/many-entrepreneurs-do-not-realize-that-many-of-the-problems-their/) [Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/) > [“you think you have enough to worry about, but then you think of a possibility you’d never imagined and you realize you have even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-think-you-have-enough-to-worry-about-but-then-you-think-of-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“People blame their lack of success on problems that they face. If they could only realize those problems are their opportunities to prove themselves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelley-lubben/people-blame-their-lack-of-success-on-problems-that-they-face-if-they/) [Shelley Lubben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelley-lubben/) > [Understanding is, after all, what science is all about — and science is a great deal more than mindless computation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-penrose/understanding-is-after-all-what-science-is-all-about-and-science-is-a/) [Roger Penrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-penrose/) > [To me quantum computation is a new and deeper and better way to understand the laws of physics, and hence understanding physical reality as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-deutsch/to-me-quantum-computation-is-a-new-and-deeper-and-better-way-to/) [David Deutsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-deutsch/) > [There is something going on in time and space, and beyond time and space, which, whether we like it or not, spells duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/there-is-something-going-on-in-time-and-space-and-beyond-time-and/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Some things, like the orbits of the planets, can be calculated far into the future. 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So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/if-you-roll-dice-you-know-that-the-odds-are-one-in-six-that-the-dice/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Can you make fancy patterns of water that actually have some computation power? I'm betting that fluids are complex enough to do this.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-tao/can-you-make-fancy-patterns-of-water-that-actually-have-some/) [Terence Tao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-tao/) > [ALGEBRA is a general Method of Computation by certain Signs and Symbols which have been contrived for this Purpose, and found convenient.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-maclaurin/algebra-is-a-general-method-of-computation-by-certain-signs-and/) [Colin Maclaurin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-maclaurin/) > [Calculators can only calculate - they cannot do mathematics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-a-van-de-walle/calculators-can-only-calculate-they-cannot-do-mathematics/) [John A. Van de Walle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-a-van-de-walle/) > [Fantastic truths perish slower... Sappho's moon will survive the moon of Armstrong. Different computations are necessary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/odysseas-elytis/fantastic-truths-perish-slower-sappho-s-moon-will-survive-the-moon-of/) [Odysseas Elytis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/odysseas-elytis/) ## More by Roger Penrose > [Ordinary photons do have spin, they have a notion of helicity so they spin around their direction on motion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-penrose/ordinary-photons-do-have-spin-they-have-a-notion-of-helicity-so-they/) [Roger Penrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-penrose/) > [My father himself was a human geneticist who was recognized for demonstrating that older mothers tend to get more Down syndrome children, but he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-penrose/my-father-himself-was-a-human-geneticist-who-was-recognized-for/) [Roger Penrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-penrose/) > [A computational device is incapable of developing a mind. 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I think that there is something much deeper, of which we have very little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-penrose/some-people-take-the-view-that-we-happen-by-accident-i-think-that/) [Roger Penrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-penrose/) > [I'm pretty tenacious when it comes to problems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-penrose/i-m-pretty-tenacious-when-it-comes-to-problems/) [Roger Penrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-penrose/) > [My older brother is a distinguished theoretical physicist, a fellow of the Royal Society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-penrose/my-older-brother-is-a-distinguished-theoretical-physicist-a-fellow-of/) [Roger Penrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-penrose/) > [If you didn't have any conscious beings in the world, there really wouldn't be morality but with consciousness that you have it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-penrose/if-you-didn-t-have-any-conscious-beings-in-the-world-there-really/) [Roger Penrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-penrose/) > [I believe there is something going on in a conscious being, which includes many animals, as well as ourselves, that is not a computational…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-penrose/i-believe-there-is-something-going-on-in-a-conscious-being-which/) [Roger Penrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-penrose/) > [What right do we have to claim, as some might, that human beings are the only inhabitants of our planet blessed with an actual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-penrose/what-right-do-we-have-to-claim-as-some-might-that-human-beings-are/) [Roger Penrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-penrose/) [Explore all 63 Roger Penrose quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-penrose/) ## More Alone quotes > [I can be taken away from myself quite easily, I kind of start betraying myself and compromising my integrity, to keep someone else happy.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-lou-wood/i-can-be-taken-away-from-myself-quite-easily-i-kind-of-start/) [Aimee Lou Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-lou-wood/) > [Perhaps our own opposition to even the level of European integration we have now, let alone any more, is well known.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-farage/perhaps-our-own-opposition-to-even-the-level-of-european-integration/) [Nigel Farage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-farage/) > [If your goal is to look different, you'll see results faster with strength training than with cardio alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-kaiser/if-your-goal-is-to-look-different-you-ll-see-results-faster-with/) [Anna Kaiser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-kaiser/) > [With my songs, the question is always, 'Can you pull it off live, alone on just an acoustic guitar?' 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