--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Nature is a hanging judge,\" goes an old…" description: "\"Nature is a hanging judge,\" goes an old saying. Many tragedies come from our physical and cognitive makeup. Our bodies are extraordinarily improbable a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db7/steven-pinker-526_adapted_nature-is-a-hanging-judge-goes-an-old-sa_2266147.jpg" --- # Nature is a hanging judge," goes an old saying. Many… ![“Nature is a hanging judge," goes an old saying. Many tragedies come from our physical and cognitive makeup. Our bodies are extraordinarily improbable arrangements of matter, with many ways for things to go wrong and only a few ways for things to go right. We are certain to die, and smart enough to…” quote by Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db7/steven-pinker-526_adapted_nature-is-a-hanging-judge-goes-an-old-sa_2266147.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db7/steven-pinker-526_adapted_nature-is-a-hanging-judge-goes-an-old-sa_2266147.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db7/steven-pinker-526_adapted_nature-is-a-hanging-judge-goes-an-old-sa_2266147.jpg) > “Nature is a hanging judge," goes an old saying. Many tragedies come from our physical and cognitive makeup. Our bodies are extraordinarily improbable arrangements of matter, with many ways for things to go wrong and only a few ways for things to go right. We are certain to die, and smart enough to know it. Our minds are adapted to a world that no longer exists, prone to misunderstandings correctable only by arduous education, and condemned to perplexity about the deepest questions we can ascertain.” [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human bodies and minds are fragile, evolved for past conditions, making us prone to errors and existential anxiety, yet our intelligence lets us confront these limits through education. **In simple terms:** Our design is fragile, but we can learn to cope. Key Takeaway Use education to mitigate cognitive and existential vulnerabilities. Themes biology psychology existentialism education fragility Mood reflective serious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - healthcare - policy making - personal development - philosophical counseling Key Concepts Evolutionary mismatch cognitive error mortality awareness Questions to Reflect On - What aspects of modern life clash most with our evolved instincts? - How can we redesign institutions to better fit human psychology? A Different Perspective Education alone cannot eliminate all misunderstandings; cultural factors also shape perception. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adapted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adapted/) [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Certain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certain/) [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [Judging](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judging/) [Makeup](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/makeup/) [Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Misunderstanding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misunderstanding/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Nature Hanging](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-hanging-2150773/) [Old saying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-saying/) [Physical Cognitive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physical-cognitive-765889/) [Saying Tragedies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saying-tragedies-5233579/) [Smart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smart/) [Tragedies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragedies/) [Tragedies Come](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragedies-come-2697186/) [Tragedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragedy/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Disastrous would have been the result if a fire or a death had suddenly demanded something heroic of human nature, but tragedies come in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/disastrous-would-have-been-the-result-if-a-fire-or-a-death-had/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [Tragedies come in the hungry hours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/tragedies-come-in-the-hungry-hours/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [Nature is a hanging judge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/nature-is-a-hanging-judge/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“Any pursuit—be it physical or cognitive—that supports high levels of skill can also generate a sense of sacredness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-newport/any-pursuit-be-it-physical-or-cognitive-that-supports-high-levels-of/) [Cal Newport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-newport/) > [Humans have two kinds of abilities: physical and cognitive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/humans-have-two-kinds-of-abilities-physical-and-cognitive/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Some of the greatest tragedies of life are unrecognized oppurtunities”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tonny-k-brown/some-of-the-greatest-tragedies-of-life-are-unrecognized-oppurtunities/) [Tonny K. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tonny-k-brown/) > [“That on any day you could pick there are thousands and thousands of little deaths, tiny tragedies, and that all of them matter.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-beard/that-on-any-day-you-could-pick-there-are-thousands-and-thousands-of/) [Philip Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-beard/) > [“It's a shame there has to be a tragedy before the best in people will finally shine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-s-a-shame-there-has-to-be-a-tragedy-before-the-best-in-people-will/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [All suffering goes just as it came. 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While you are inside this storm, let your mind stand upright like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/tragedies-of-this-world-behave-like-the-storms-of-the-vast-oceans/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [In Life Everyone Is Face With Tragedies,It's How We Respond That Defines Us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mzati-zapita/in-life-everyone-is-face-with-tragedies-it-s-how-we-respond-that/) [Mzati Zapita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mzati-zapita/) > [The greatest tragedies were written by the Greeks and Shakespeare...neither knew chocolate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-boynton/the-greatest-tragedies-were-written-by-the-greeks-and-shakespeare/) [Sandra Boynton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-boynton/) > [“Life flows swiftly by and sometimes through tragedies, but it keeps flowing on.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-henderson/life-flows-swiftly-by-and-sometimes-through-tragedies-but-it-keeps/) [Dee Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-henderson/) ## More by Steven Pinker > [Forcing modern speakers of English to not - whoops, not to split an infinitive because it isn't done in Latin makes about as much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/forcing-modern-speakers-of-english-to-not-whoops-not-to-split-an/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [Consistent style prevents presentation from getting in the way of content.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/consistent-style-prevents-presentation-from-getting-in-the-way-of/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [The supposedly immaterial soul, we now know, can be bisected with a knife, altered by chemicals, started or stopped by electricity, and extinguished by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/the-supposedly-immaterial-soul-we-now-know-can-be-bisected-with-a/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [I've never argued that humans are massively hot-wired. 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Moral goodness is what gives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/morality-is-not-just-any-old-topic-in-psychology-but-close-to-our/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [“The biblical story of the binding of Isaac shows that human sacrifice was far from unthinkable in the 1st millennium BCE. The Israelites boasted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/the-biblical-story-of-the-binding-of-isaac-shows-that-human-sacrifice/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [Part of the bargain of being alive is that one takes a chance at dying a premature or painful death, be it from violence,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/part-of-the-bargain-of-being-alive-is-that-one-takes-a-chance-at/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [In fact, without a specification of a creature's goals, the very idea of intelligence is meaningless. 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