--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It used to be obvious that the world was…" description: "\"“It used to be obvious that the world was designed by some sort of intelligence. What else could account for fire and rain and lightning and earthquake..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23d/steven-weinberg-3159_human-mind_it-used-to-be-obvious-that-the-world-was_2721206.png" --- # It used to be obvious that the world was designed by some… ![“It used to be obvious that the world was designed by some sort of intelligence. What else could account for fire and rain and lightning and earthquakes? Above all, the wonderful abilities of living things seemed to point to a creator who had a special interest in life. Today we understand most of…” quote by Steven Weinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23d/steven-weinberg-3159_human-mind_it-used-to-be-obvious-that-the-world-was_2721206.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23d/steven-weinberg-3159_human-mind_it-used-to-be-obvious-that-the-world-was_2721206.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23d/steven-weinberg-3159_human-mind_it-used-to-be-obvious-that-the-world-was_2721206.png) > ““It used to be obvious that the world was designed by some sort of intelligence. What else could account for fire and rain and lightning and earthquakes? Above all, the wonderful abilities of living things seemed to point to a creator who had a special interest in life. Today we understand most of these things in terms of physical forces acting under impersonal laws. We don't yet know the most fundamental laws, and we can't work out all the consequences of the laws we do know. The human mind remains extraordinarily difficult to understand, but so is the weather. We can't predict whether it will rain one month from today, but we do know the rules that govern the rain, even though we can't always calculate their consequences. I see nothing about the human mind any more than about the weather that stands out as beyond the hope of understanding as a consequence of impersonal laws acting over billions of years.”” [Steven Weinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weinberg/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote argues that natural phenomena once seemed evidence of design, but modern science explains them via impersonal laws, and the mind, like weather, is complex but ultimately understandable through those laws. **In simple terms:** Science replaces supernatural explanations with natural laws. Key Takeaway Accept that complexity can be studied scientifically. Themes science philosophy cosmology Mood curious analytical Type explanatory philosophical When to use this quote - education - public outreach - policy making - personal reflection Key Concepts natural laws reductionism mind-body problem Questions to Reflect On - How does this view affect belief in purpose? - Can all aspects of consciousness be reduced to physics? A Different Perspective Scientific explanations may not capture subjective experience fully. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Difficult To Understand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/difficult-to-understand/) [Human mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-mind/) [Intelligence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligence/) [Interest in life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interest-in-life/) [Living things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/living-things/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) ## Related quotes > [When the weather is hot, keep a cool mind. When the weather is cold, keep a warm heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ajahn-brahm/when-the-weather-is-hot-keep-a-cool-mind-when-the-weather-is-cold/) [Ajahn Brahm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ajahn-brahm/) > [I'm like the weather, never really can predict when this rain cloud's gonna burst; when it's the high or it's the low, when you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-shihab-nye/i-m-like-the-weather-never-really-can-predict-when-this-rain-cloud-s/) [Naomi Shihab Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-shihab-nye/) > [“I remember the rain, the lightning across the sky and the thunder that followed, pounding against the glass windows of the inn. The smell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-s-villoso/i-remember-the-rain-the-lightning-across-the-sky-and-the-thunder-that/) [K.S. Villoso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-s-villoso/) > [I think of rivers, of tides. Forests and water gushing out. Rain and lightning. Rocks and shadows. All of these are in me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/i-think-of-rivers-of-tides-forests-and-water-gushing-out-rain-and/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“I guess you just have to trust your kids, trust that their innate interest in life will win out in the end, don’t you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/i-guess-you-just-have-to-trust-your-kids-trust-that-their-innate/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [“Toxically shamed people tend to become more and more stagnant as life goes on. They live in a guarded, secretive and defensive way. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bradshaw/toxically-shamed-people-tend-to-become-more-and-more-stagnant-as-life/) [John Bradshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bradshaw/) > [“We danced to John Michael Montgomery’s “I Swear.” We cut the seven-tiered cake, electing not to take the smear-it-on-our-faces route. 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Foucault”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-gutting/the-main-interest-in-life-and-work-is-to-become-someone-else-that-you/) [Gary Gutting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-gutting/) > [The family is the most important unit in time and in eternity and, as such, transcends every other interest in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-w-hunter/the-family-is-the-most-important-unit-in-time-and-in-eternity-and-as/) [Howard W. Hunter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-w-hunter/) > [I have, in fact, no interest in life outside racing cars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enzo-ferrari/i-have-in-fact-no-interest-in-life-outside-racing-cars/) [Enzo Ferrari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enzo-ferrari/) > [I think what we call the dullness of things is a disease in ourselves. Else how could anyone find an intense interest in life?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/i-think-what-we-call-the-dullness-of-things-is-a-disease-in-ourselves/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Those men who live with the greatest intensity are often the ones who seem to take least interest in life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/remy-de-gourmont/those-men-who-live-with-the-greatest-intensity-are-often-the-ones-who/) [Remy de Gourmont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/remy-de-gourmont/) ## More by Steven Weinberg > [On balance the moral influence of religion has been awful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weinberg/on-balance-the-moral-influence-of-religion-has-been-awful/) [Steven Weinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weinberg/) > [“The apparent strengths of the forces in any field theory depend on two kinds of numerical parameter: the masses (if any) of the particles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weinberg/the-apparent-strengths-of-the-forces-in-any-field-theory-depend-on/) [Steven Weinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weinberg/) > [“Many people do simply awful things out of sincere religious belief, not using religion as a cover the way that Saddam Hussein may have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weinberg/many-people-do-simply-awful-things-out-of-sincere-religious-belief/) [Steven Weinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weinberg/) > [This is often the way it is in physics - our mistake is not that we take our theories too seriously, but that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weinberg/this-is-often-the-way-it-is-in-physics-our-mistake-is-not-that-we/) [Steven Weinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weinberg/) > [With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. 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As you learn more and more about the universe, you find you can understand more and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weinberg/its-a-consequence-of-the-experience-of-science-as-you-learn-more-and/) [Steven Weinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weinberg/) > [Our job in physics is to see things simply, to understand a great many complicated phenomena in a unified way, in terms of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weinberg/our-job-in-physics-is-to-see-things-simply-to-understand-a-great-many/) [Steven Weinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weinberg/) > [“Plato and the neo-Platonists taught that the beauty we see in nature is a reflection of the beauty of the ultimate, the nous. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weinberg/plato-and-the-neo-platonists-taught-that-the-beauty-we-see-in-nature/) [Steven Weinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weinberg/) > [An expert is a person who avoids the small errors while sweeping on to the grand fallacy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weinberg/an-expert-is-a-person-who-avoids-the-small-errors-while-sweeping-on/) [Steven Weinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weinberg/) > [If (the antiproton) had not been discovered, the foundations of physics really would have crumbled.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weinberg/if-the-antiproton-had-not-been-discovered-the-foundations-of-physics/) [Steven Weinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weinberg/) > [Even though I knew pretty early that I was going to be a scientist, it wasn't the science that interested me in science fiction;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weinberg/even-though-i-knew-pretty-early-that-i-was-going-to-be-a-scientist-it/) [Steven Weinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weinberg/) > [If history is any guide at all, it seems to me to suggest that there is a final theory. In this century we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weinberg/if-history-is-any-guide-at-all-it-seems-to-me-to-suggest-that-there/) [Steven Weinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weinberg/) [Explore all 137 Steven Weinberg quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weinberg/) ## More Human mind quotes > [Never underestimate the power of the human mind to believe what it wants to believe, no matter the conflicting evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-herbert/never-underestimate-the-power-of-the-human-mind-to-believe-what-it/) [Brian Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-herbert/) > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. My three \[great teachers\] did not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/teaching-might-even-be-the-greatest-of-the-arts-since-the-medium-is/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [Dogma is a powerful way of closing human mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-marley/dogma-is-a-powerful-way-of-closing-human-mind/) [Peter Marley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-marley/) > [“The more that the human mind is enlightened, the more desirous it becomes of farther acquisitions in knowledge. The”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-stewart/the-more-that-the-human-mind-is-enlightened-the-more-desirous-it/) Alexander Stewart > [“But I tell you, Winston, that reality is not external. Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else. Whatever the Party holds to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/but-i-tell-you-winston-that-reality-is-not-external-reality-exists-in/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [ It is certain that every class is interested in \[educational\] establishments which give to the human mind its highest improvements, and to every Country… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/it-is-certain-that-every-class-is-interested-in-educational/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [Just take one thing out and the whole palace, the whole edifice of the human mind collapses. Take effort out of it and desiring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/just-take-one-thing-out-and-the-whole-palace-the-whole-edifice-of-the/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Freedom is the very essence of our economy and society. Without freedom the human mind is prevented from unleashing its creative force. But what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-merkel/freedom-is-the-very-essence-of-our-economy-and-society-without/) [Angela Merkel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-merkel/) > [Charity is the filthiest invention of the human mind: first you steal what belongs to everyone; then you use the law and various other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/u-g-krishnamurti/charity-is-the-filthiest-invention-of-the-human-mind-first-you-steal/) [U.G. Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/u-g-krishnamurti/) > [“artificial intelligence is forcing human endeavor away from simple, algorithmic and repetitive tasks towards solving problems and incubating new ideas. 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