--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The felt unreliability of human…" description: "\"The felt unreliability of human experience brought about by the inhuman acceleration of historical change has led every sensitive modern mind to the re..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c2/susan-sontag-332_acceleration_the-felt-unreliability-of-human-experien_1652328.jpg" --- # The felt unreliability of human experience brought about… ![“The felt unreliability of human experience brought about by the inhuman acceleration of historical change has led every sensitive modern mind to the recording of some kind of nausea, of intellectual vertigo.” quote by Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c2/susan-sontag-332_acceleration_the-felt-unreliability-of-human-experien_1652328.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c2/susan-sontag-332_acceleration_the-felt-unreliability-of-human-experien_1652328.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c2/susan-sontag-332_acceleration_the-felt-unreliability-of-human-experien_1652328.jpg) > “The felt unreliability of human experience brought about by the inhuman acceleration of historical change has led every sensitive modern mind to the recording of some kind of nausea, of intellectual vertigo.” [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Rapid historical change creates a sense of disorientation and nausea in sensitive minds. **In simple terms:** Fast change causes mental vertigo. Key Takeaway Pause to reflect amid rapid change. Themes modernity anxiety perception Mood reflective serious Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - news consumption - urban life - technological upheaval Key Concepts historical acceleration psychological impact Questions to Reflect On - How do you cope with fast change? - What grounds you? A Different Perspective Not everyone feels nausea; some thrive. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Acceleration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acceleration/) [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Felt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/felt/) [Felt Unreliability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/felt-unreliability-665963/) [Historical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/historical/) [Historical change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/historical-change-82983/) [Human experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-experience/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Inhuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inhuman/) [Intellectual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectual/) [Intellectual Vertigo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectual-vertigo-665960/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Modern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modern/) [Nausea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nausea/) [Nausea Intellectual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nausea-intellectual-665961/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Sensitive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sensitive/) [Unreliability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unreliability/) [Unreliability Human](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unreliability-human-665962/) [Vertigo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vertigo/) ## Related quotes > [The past itself, as historical change continues to accelerate, has become the most surreal of subjects - making it possible... to see a new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-past-itself-as-historical-change-continues-to-accelerate-has/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [It is one of my targets to show people that a lot of things that are part of their landscape - that people are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/it-is-one-of-my-targets-to-show-people-that-a-lot-of-things-that-are/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [It is clear that every civilization undergoes a process of historical change. We can see that a civilization comes into existence, passes through a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carroll-quigley/it-is-clear-that-every-civilization-undergoes-a-process-of-historical/) [Carroll Quigley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carroll-quigley/) > [Historical change is like an avalanche. The starting point is a snow-covered mountainside that looks solid. All changes take place under the surface and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-davies/historical-change-is-like-an-avalanche-the-starting-point-is-a-snow/) [Norman Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-davies/) > [Western civilization presents one of the most difficult tasks for historical analysis, because it is not yet finished, because we are a part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carroll-quigley/western-civilization-presents-one-of-the-most-difficult-tasks-for/) [Carroll Quigley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carroll-quigley/) > [“Drawing on the best modern scholarship, this book seeks to rescue the history of networks from the clutches of the conspiracy theorists, and to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/drawing-on-the-best-modern-scholarship-this-book-seeks-to-rescue-the/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [History teaches us that a given view has been abandoned in favor of another by all men, or by all competent men, or perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-strauss/history-teaches-us-that-a-given-view-has-been-abandoned-in-favor-of/) [Leo Strauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-strauss/) > [Hitherto the principle of causality was universally accepted as an indispensable postulate of scientific research, but now we are told by some physicists that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-planck/hitherto-the-principle-of-causality-was-universally-accepted-as-an/) [Max Planck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-planck/) > [I glance back in the mirror to the concrete bridge, the one I've boldly driven straight across without second thought, and I see truth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-voskamp/i-glance-back-in-the-mirror-to-the-concrete-bridge-the-one-i-ve/) [Ann Voskamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-voskamp/) > [“Cars typically become unreliable after a decade of use.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/cars-typically-become-unreliable-after-a-decade-of-use/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [The only thing we can really count on in this uncertain world is human unreliability itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrett-hardin/the-only-thing-we-can-really-count-on-in-this-uncertain-world-is/) [Garrett Hardin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrett-hardin/) > [Citizendium is based on the failings and unreliability of Wikipedia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-sanger/citizendium-is-based-on-the-failings-and-unreliability-of-wikipedia/) [Larry Sanger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-sanger/) > [Every time I surrender to stress, aren’t I advertising the unreliability of God?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-voskamp/every-time-i-surrender-to-stress-aren-t-i-advertising-the/) [Ann Voskamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-voskamp/) > [The general unreliability of all information presents a special problem in war: all action takes place, so to speak, in the twilight, which, like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/the-general-unreliability-of-all-information-presents-a-special/) [Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/) > [What children, in fact all of us at any age, find frightening is unreliability and emotional coldness. The idea that you can't affect someone,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tilda-swinton/what-children-in-fact-all-of-us-at-any-age-find-frightening-is/) [Tilda Swinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tilda-swinton/) ## More by Susan Sontag > [the appetite for thinking must be regulated, as all sensible people know, for it may stifle one's life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-appetite-for-thinking-must-be-regulated-as-all-sensible-people/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [We are ruled by quotations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/we-are-ruled-by-quotations/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Unfortunately, moral beauty in art - like physical beauty in a person - is extremely perishable. It is nowhere so durable as artistic or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/unfortunately-moral-beauty-in-art-like-physical-beauty-in-a-person-is/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Like the collector, the photographer is animated by a passion that, even when it appears to be for the present, is linked to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/like-the-collector-the-photographer-is-animated-by-a-passion-that/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [ Anthropology has always struggled with an intense, fascinated repulsion towards its subject… \[The anthropologist\] submits himself to the exotic to confirm his own inner… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/anthropology-has-always-struggled-with-an-intense-fascinated/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [“Why not eliminate schooling between age 12-16? It’s biologically + psychologically too turbulent a time to be cooped up inside, made to sit all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/why-not-eliminate-schooling-between-age-12-16-it-s-biologically/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [To photograph people is to violate them, by seeing them as they never see themselves, by having knowledge of them that they can never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/to-photograph-people-is-to-violate-them-by-seeing-them-as-they-never/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [One set of messages of the society we live in is: Consume. Grow. Do what you want. Amuse yourselves. The very working of this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/one-set-of-messages-of-the-society-we-live-in-is-consume-grow-do-what/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Currently intellectuals in Western Europe and North America are extremely demoralized and shaken by the rise of a virulent conservative tendency (which some have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/currently-intellectuals-in-western-europe-and-north-america-are/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [With the modern diseases (once TB, now cancer) the romantic idea that the disease expresses the character is invariably extended to assert that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/with-the-modern-diseases-once-tb-now-cancer-the-romantic-idea-that/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [As objects of contemplation, images of the atrocious can answer to several different needs. To steel oneself against weakness. To make oneself more numb.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/as-objects-of-contemplation-images-of-the-atrocious-can-answer-to/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [The creative phase of an idea coincides with the period during which it insists, cantankerously, on its boundaries, on what makes it different; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-creative-phase-of-an-idea-coincides-with-the-period-during-which/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Photographs objectify: they turn an event or a person into something that can be possessed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/photographs-objectify-they-turn-an-event-or-a-person-into-something/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [I'm not interested in giving aid and comfort to the neo­-Conservatives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/i-m-not-interested-in-giving-aid-and-comfort-to-the-neo-conservatives/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [The feminist movement has been important to me because it's made me feel less odd and also because it has made me understand some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-feminist-movement-has-been-important-to-me-because-it-s-made-me/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) [Explore all 644 Susan Sontag quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) ## More Acceleration quotes > [Emphasis was usually put on the horizontal acceleration factor, for the simple reason that ordinary structures have a built-in safety factor for the vertical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-francis-richter/emphasis-was-usually-put-on-the-horizontal-acceleration-factor-for/) [Charles Francis Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-francis-richter/) > [Music. A meaningless acceleration in the rhythm of celestial experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/music-a-meaningless-acceleration-in-the-rhythm-of-celestial-experience/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Looking to the future I see in the further acceleration of science continuous jobs for our workers. Science will cure unemployment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-m-schwab/looking-to-the-future-i-see-in-the-further-acceleration-of-science/) [Charles M. Schwab](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-m-schwab/) > [Car love is the sound of a throaty V-8 rumbling and revving, the acceleration throwing you back in the seat - especially when you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lasseter/car-love-is-the-sound-of-a-throaty-v-8-rumbling-and-revving-the/) [John Lasseter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lasseter/) > [If you look at the whole package, with everything Henry has, I don't think you can find that anywhere else. You give him the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-bergkamp/if-you-look-at-the-whole-package-with-everything-henry-has-i-don-t/) [Dennis Bergkamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-bergkamp/) > [Things are both getting better and getting worse. The madness is accelerating but an acceleration of the new consciousness is also coming in. However,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/things-are-both-getting-better-and-getting-worse-the-madness-is/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Evolution usually occurs in response to a crisis situation, and we now are faced with such a crisis situation. This is why there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/evolution-usually-occurs-in-response-to-a-crisis-situation-and-we-now/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Satisfaction, for us, is only a brief thing. The man who acquires wealth does not reach a point where he has enough. Success for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-asher/satisfaction-for-us-is-only-a-brief-thing-the-man-who-acquires-wealth/) [Neal Asher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-asher/) > [It is not enough for theory to describe and analyze, it must itself be an event in the universe it describes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/it-is-not-enough-for-theory-to-describe-and-analyze-it-must-itself-be/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [As seismologists gained more experience from earthquake records, it became obvious that the problem could not be reduced to a single peak acceleration. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-francis-richter/as-seismologists-gained-more-experience-from-earthquake-records-it/) [Charles Francis Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-francis-richter/) > [To tell the truth, in Pacific 231 I was on the trail of a very abstract and quite ideal concept, by giving the impression…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-honegger/to-tell-the-truth-in-pacific-231-i-was-on-the-trail-of-a-very/) [Arthur Honegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-honegger/) > [Generating ideas is not a problem. Incubation is. Acceleration is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-gunther-mcgrath/generating-ideas-is-not-a-problem-incubation-is-acceleration-is/) [Rita Gunther McGrath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-gunther-mcgrath/) > [The Strandbeest is a self-replicating meme, a brain virus. It infects the student's brain. In fact, the Strandbeest abuse students for their reproduction. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theo-jansen/the-strandbeest-is-a-self-replicating-meme-a-brain-virus-it-infects/) [Theo Jansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theo-jansen/) > [“The same thrust, pushing against a greatly reduced burden, would then yield acceleration that Lio had cheerfully described as 'near-fatal.' 'But it's okay,' he'd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-stephenson/the-same-thrust-pushing-against-a-greatly-reduced-burden-would-then/) [Neal Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-stephenson/) > [Thematically, most of my work deals with transition, our culture's constant acceleration, and emotional connection and disconnection through technology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-brambilla/thematically-most-of-my-work-deals-with-transition-our-culture-s/) [Marco Brambilla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-brambilla/) [Browse all 73 Acceleration quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acceleration/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The felt unreliability of human experience brought about by the inhuman acceleration of historical change has led every sensitive modern mind to the recording of some kind of nausea, of intellectual vertigo.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Susan Sontag" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-felt-unreliability-of-human-experience-brought-about-by-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Acceleration" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-felt-unreliability-of-human-experience-brought-about-by-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c2/susan-sontag-332_acceleration_the-felt-unreliability-of-human-experien_1652328.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c2/susan-sontag-332_acceleration_the-felt-unreliability-of-human-experien_1652328.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c2/susan-sontag-332_acceleration_the-felt-unreliability-of-human-experien_1652328.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The felt unreliability of human experience brought about by the inhuman acceleration of historical change…” — Susan Sontag", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Susan Sontag", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The felt unreliability of human experience...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-felt-unreliability-of-human-experience-brought-about-by-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-felt-unreliability-of-human-experience-brought-about-by-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```