--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If those scientists could come up with…" description: "\"“If those scientists could come up with some way to turn off the jerk circuit in guys’ brains, I’d be all in favor of that.”\" — Ted Chiang" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b10/ted-chiang-11432_jerk_if-those-scientists-could-come-up-with-s_2845946.jpg" --- # If those scientists could come up with some way to turn… ![“If those scientists could come up with some way to turn off the jerk circuit in guys’ brains, I’d be all in favor of that.” quote by Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b10/ted-chiang-11432_jerk_if-those-scientists-could-come-up-with-s_2845946.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b10/ted-chiang-11432_jerk_if-those-scientists-could-come-up-with-s_2845946.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b10/ted-chiang-11432_jerk_if-those-scientists-could-come-up-with-s_2845946.jpg) > ““If those scientists could come up with some way to turn off the jerk circuit in guys’ brains, I’d be all in favor of that.”” [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A wish to eliminate impulsive aggression by disabling a brain circuit, reflecting on control over human nature. **In simple terms:** Want to stop brain impulses. Key Takeaway Consider ethical limits of neuro‑control. Themes ethics technology human nature control Mood thoughtful concerned Type philosophical speculative When to use this quote - mental health treatment - criminal justice reform - personal self‑regulation Key Concepts neuroscience free will moral responsibility Questions to Reflect On - Should we alter brain circuits to change behavior? - What defines a “jerk” in society? A Different Perspective Such interventions raise profound consent and identity issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) ## Related quotes > [They always try to play with our minds. But that won't work with our club. We've got 20 guys without brains.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobby-clarke/they-always-try-to-play-with-our-minds-but-that-won-t-work-with-our/) [Bobby Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobby-clarke/) > [“Did you recently turn into a jerk or have you been one since birth?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/priya-ardis/did-you-recently-turn-into-a-jerk-or-have-you-been-one-since-birth/) [Priya Ardis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/priya-ardis/) > [Trying to turn a jerk into a nice guy is a waste of time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slimphatty/trying-to-turn-a-jerk-into-a-nice-guy-is-a-waste-of-time/) [Slimphatty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slimphatty/) > [Love is bullshit. Emotion is bullshit. I am a rock. A jerk. I'm an uncaring asshole and proud of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/love-is-bullshit-emotion-is-bullshit-i-am-a-rock-a-jerk-i-m-an/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [I have tons of tunes, maybe 30 tunes that I still think are great, and only because some jerk at a record company didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-bozzio/i-have-tons-of-tunes-maybe-30-tunes-that-i-still-think-are-great-and/) [Terry Bozzio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-bozzio/) > [“A sadistic jerk?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-j-shen/a-sadistic-jerk/) [L.J. Shen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-j-shen/) > [If I'd had a great level of success early on, who knows how I would have responded. I might have been a complete jerk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-carell/if-i-d-had-a-great-level-of-success-early-on-who-knows-how-i-would/) [Steve Carell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-carell/) > [True success is figuring out your life and career so you never have to be around jerks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-waters/true-success-is-figuring-out-your-life-and-career-so-you-never-have/) [John Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-waters/) > [Even the jerks earn some of our affection. We can be glad they're gone and yet still mourn the good parts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-hale/even-the-jerks-earn-some-of-our-affection-we-can-be-glad-they-re-gone/) [Shannon Hale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-hale/) > [If you're working on better conditions for prisoners, if you make that a popular issue and you invite mainstream media to weigh in on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-maddow/if-you-re-working-on-better-conditions-for-prisoners-if-you-make-that/) [Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-maddow/) > [It's hard to know exactly how people develop the characters they do. There could be people from humble beginnings that turn into jerks. Some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-maraniss/it-s-hard-to-know-exactly-how-people-develop-the-characters-they-do/) [David Maraniss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-maraniss/) > [The word relationship best refers to the connection between parasite and host, or shark and remora. It's a biological term. I'd rather be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-shoales/the-word-relationship-best-refers-to-the-connection-between-parasite/) [Ian Shoales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-shoales/) > [Guys are like roller-coasters¦everytime you recover from the last one theres another JERK.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/guys-are-like-roller-coasters-everytime-you-recover-from-the-last-one/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A jerk will keep hurting you then apologize to keep you from leaving them, and then do it all over again](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonya-parker/a-jerk-will-keep-hurting-you-then-apologize-to-keep-you-from-leaving/) [Sonya Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonya-parker/) > [“Even to be impaled by a happy fate makes you jerk against the knowledge of inevitability, of final commitment.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-reid-banks/even-to-be-impaled-by-a-happy-fate-makes-you-jerk-against-the/) [Lynne Reid Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-reid-banks/) ## More by Ted Chiang > [“The physical universe was a language with a perfectly ambiguous grammar. Every physical event was an utterance that could be parsed in two entirely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/the-physical-universe-was-a-language-with-a-perfectly-ambiguous/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) > [Women who work with animals hear this all the time: that their love for animals must arise out of a sublimated child-rearing urge. Ana's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/women-who-work-with-animals-hear-this-all-the-time-that-their-love/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) > [Contemplate the marvel that is existence, and rejoice that you are able to do so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/contemplate-the-marvel-that-is-existence-and-rejoice-that-you-are/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) > [“Perhaps men were not meant to live in such a place. If their own natures restrained them from approaching heaven too closely, then men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/perhaps-men-were-not-meant-to-live-in-such-a-place-if-their-own/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) > [It is a misconception to think that during evolution humans sacrificed physical skill in exchange for intelligence: wielding one's body is a mental activity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/it-is-a-misconception-to-think-that-during-evolution-humans/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) > [“And then there will be the times when I see you laughing. Like the time you’ll be playing with the neighbor’s puppy, poking your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/and-then-there-will-be-the-times-when-i-see-you-laughing-like-the/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) > [“When Arecibo is not listening to anything else, it hears the voice of creation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/when-arecibo-is-not-listening-to-anything-else-it-hears-the-voice-of/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) > [Similarly, knowledge of the future was incompatible with free will. What made it possible for me to exercise freedom of choice also made it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/similarly-knowledge-of-the-future-was-incompatible-with-free-will/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) > [“the ray of light has to know where it will ultimately end up before it can choose the direction to begin moving”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/the-ray-of-light-has-to-know-where-it-will-ultimately-end-up-before/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) > [“Yet through their endeavor, men would glimpse the unimaginable artistry of Yahweh's work, in seeing how ingeniously the world had been constructed. By this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/yet-through-their-endeavor-men-would-glimpse-the-unimaginable/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) > [Brain damage is never a good idea, no matter what your friends say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/brain-damage-is-never-a-good-idea-no-matter-what-your-friends-say/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) > [“I would have liked to experience more of the heptapods' worldview, to feel the way they feel. Then, perhaps I could immerse myself fully…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/i-would-have-liked-to-experience-more-of-the-heptapods-worldview-to/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) > [“Branches are generated by any quantum event, right? Even before we had prisms, branches were still splitting off constantly; we just didn’t have access…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/branches-are-generated-by-any-quantum-event-right-even-before-we-had/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) > [“Ease of learning isn’t the primary force in language evolution.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/ease-of-learning-isn-t-the-primary-force-in-language-evolution/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) > [“The hush of the night sky is the silence of a graveyard.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/the-hush-of-the-night-sky-is-the-silence-of-a-graveyard/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) [Explore all 58 Ted Chiang quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) ## More Jerk quotes > [“Even to be impaled by a happy fate makes you jerk against the knowledge of inevitability, of final commitment.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-reid-banks/even-to-be-impaled-by-a-happy-fate-makes-you-jerk-against-the/) [Lynne Reid Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-reid-banks/) > [A jerk will keep hurting you then apologize to keep you from leaving them, and then do it all over again](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonya-parker/a-jerk-will-keep-hurting-you-then-apologize-to-keep-you-from-leaving/) [Sonya Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonya-parker/) > [Guys are like roller-coasters¦everytime you recover from the last one theres another JERK.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/guys-are-like-roller-coasters-everytime-you-recover-from-the-last-one/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The word relationship best refers to the connection between parasite and host, or shark and remora. It's a biological term. I'd rather be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-shoales/the-word-relationship-best-refers-to-the-connection-between-parasite/) [Ian Shoales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-shoales/) > [It's hard to know exactly how people develop the characters they do. There could be people from humble beginnings that turn into jerks. Some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-maraniss/it-s-hard-to-know-exactly-how-people-develop-the-characters-they-do/) [David Maraniss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-maraniss/) > [If you're working on better conditions for prisoners, if you make that a popular issue and you invite mainstream media to weigh in on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-maddow/if-you-re-working-on-better-conditions-for-prisoners-if-you-make-that/) [Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-maddow/) > [Even the jerks earn some of our affection. We can be glad they're gone and yet still mourn the good parts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-hale/even-the-jerks-earn-some-of-our-affection-we-can-be-glad-they-re-gone/) [Shannon Hale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-hale/) > [True success is figuring out your life and career so you never have to be around jerks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-waters/true-success-is-figuring-out-your-life-and-career-so-you-never-have/) [John Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-waters/) > [If I'd had a great level of success early on, who knows how I would have responded. I might have been a complete jerk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-carell/if-i-d-had-a-great-level-of-success-early-on-who-knows-how-i-would/) [Steve Carell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-carell/) > [“A sadistic jerk?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-j-shen/a-sadistic-jerk/) [L.J. Shen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-j-shen/) > [I have tons of tunes, maybe 30 tunes that I still think are great, and only because some jerk at a record company didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-bozzio/i-have-tons-of-tunes-maybe-30-tunes-that-i-still-think-are-great-and/) [Terry Bozzio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-bozzio/) > [Love is bullshit. Emotion is bullshit. I am a rock. A jerk. I'm an uncaring asshole and proud of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/love-is-bullshit-emotion-is-bullshit-i-am-a-rock-a-jerk-i-m-an/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [Sure it's bad when someone is a Jerk to you... But things could be worse... You could be that Jerk...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sure-it-s-bad-when-someone-is-a-jerk-to-you-but-things-could-be-worse/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What's success anyway? Is success about making the most money? No, money for the most part turns people into jerks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-sacca/what-s-success-anyway-is-success-about-making-the-most-money-no-money/) [Chris Sacca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-sacca/) > [Wah, wah, wah wah wah You're a jerk!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/new-boyz/wah-wah-wah-wah-wah-you-re-a-jerk/) [New Boyz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/new-boyz/) Browse all 513 Jerk quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“If those scientists could come up with some way to turn off the jerk circuit in guys’ brains, I’d be all in favor of that.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ted Chiang" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/if-those-scientists-could-come-up-with-some-way-to-turn-off-the-jerk/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Jerk" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/if-those-scientists-could-come-up-with-some-way-to-turn-off-the-jerk/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b10/ted-chiang-11432_jerk_if-those-scientists-could-come-up-with-s_2845946.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b10/ted-chiang-11432_jerk_if-those-scientists-could-come-up-with-s_2845946.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b10/ted-chiang-11432_jerk_if-those-scientists-could-come-up-with-s_2845946.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If those scientists could come up with some way to turn off the jerk circuit in guys’ brains, I’d be all in…” — Ted Chiang", "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": "Ted Chiang", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“If those scientists could come up...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/if-those-scientists-could-come-up-with-some-way-to-turn-off-the-jerk/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/if-those-scientists-could-come-up-with-some-way-to-turn-off-the-jerk/#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 } } ] } ```