--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Biology seems to be a chemical strategy…" description: "\"Biology seems to be a chemical strategy for amplifying quantum mechanical indeterminacy so that it leaves the subatomic realm and can be present in a h..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/854/terence-mckenna-287_biology_biology-seems-to-be-a-chemical-strategy_988989.png" --- # Biology seems to be a chemical strategy for amplifying… ![“Biology seems to be a chemical strategy for amplifying quantum mechanical indeterminacy so that it leaves the subatomic realm and can be present in a hundred and forty five pound block of meat.” quote by Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/854/terence-mckenna-287_biology_biology-seems-to-be-a-chemical-strategy_988989.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/854/terence-mckenna-287_biology_biology-seems-to-be-a-chemical-strategy_988989.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/854/terence-mckenna-287_biology_biology-seems-to-be-a-chemical-strategy_988989.png) > “Biology seems to be a chemical strategy for amplifying quantum mechanical indeterminacy so that it leaves the subatomic realm and can be present in a hundred and forty five pound block of meat.” [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Biology may amplify quantum randomness, making it macroscopic in living tissue. **In simple terms:** Biology could magnify quantum randomness. Key Takeaway Explore quantum effects in biology. Themes biology quantum physics philosophy Mood speculative inquisitive Type philosophical hypothetical When to use this quote - medical research - neuroscience - philosophical inquiry Key Concepts emergence determinism consciousness Questions to Reflect On - What experiments could test this hypothesis? - Is quantum randomness biologically relevant? A Different Perspective Evidence is speculative; quantum effects at macro scale remain unproven. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Biology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/) [Quantum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quantum/) [Quantum mechanics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quantum-mechanics/) [Realms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realms/) [Strategy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strategy/) ## Related quotes > [But I don't actually adopt the point of view that our subjective impression of free will, which is a kind of indeterminacy behavior, comes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-gell-mann/but-i-don-t-actually-adopt-the-point-of-view-that-our-subjective/) [Murray Gell-Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-gell-mann/) > [The movement of a single atom from one known position to another known position changes an experience from nothing to overwhelming. 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Feynman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-p-feynman/) > [The treatment of the indeterminacy principle as absolute and final can then be criticized as constituting an arbitrary restriction on scientific theories, since it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bohm/the-treatment-of-the-indeterminacy-principle-as-absolute-and-final/) [David Bohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bohm/) > [Now, what that means is that there is fundamental indeterminacy from quantum mechanics, but besides that there are other sources of effective indeterminacy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-gell-mann/now-what-that-means-is-that-there-is-fundamental-indeterminacy-from/) [Murray Gell-Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-gell-mann/) > [If we look at the way the universe behaves, quantum mechanics gives us fundamental, unavoidable indeterminacy, so that alternative histories of the universe can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-gell-mann/if-we-look-at-the-way-the-universe-behaves-quantum-mechanics-gives-us/) [Murray Gell-Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-gell-mann/) > [A further aspect I should like to discuss is what I call the practice of infinite escape clauses. I believe we developed this practice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sidney-w-fox/a-further-aspect-i-should-like-to-discuss-is-what-i-call-the-practice/) Sidney W. Fox > [“This question about the reason we do not observe any quantum mechanical uncertainty in the appearance of flies or stars was never tackled by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henning-genz/this-question-about-the-reason-we-do-not-observe-any-quantum/) [Henning Genz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henning-genz/) > [Quantum Mechanics is different. Its weirdness is evident without comparison. 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This does not mean that every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-isaacson/a-popular-feel-for-scientific-endeavors-should-if-possible-be/) [Walter Isaacson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-isaacson/) > [“in experimental quantum mechanics we have run right up against what was previously perceived to be a purely philosophical barrier. The experiments are telling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-baggott/in-experimental-quantum-mechanics-we-have-run-right-up-against-what/) Jim Baggott > [“The world of quantum mechanics is not a world of objects: it is a world of events.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlo-rovelli/the-world-of-quantum-mechanics-is-not-a-world-of-objects-it-is-a/) [Carlo Rovelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlo-rovelli/) ## More by Terence McKenna > [History was an incredibly damaging experience, and now it's over . . . in a sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/history-was-an-incredibly-damaging-experience-and-now-it-s-over-in-a/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [The history of man that you don't know is what your unconscious is made out of. 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All flows, nothing lasts.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/this-is-the-message-of-your-life-and-my-life-it-s-that-nothing-lasts/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [I often like to think that our map of the world is wrong, that where we have centered physics, we should actually place literature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/i-often-like-to-think-that-our-map-of-the-world-is-wrong-that-where/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Knowledge, or verbal facility, is no proof that you know what you're talking about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/knowledge-or-verbal-facility-is-no-proof-that-you-know-what-you-re/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [No culture on earth is as heavily narcotized as the industrial West in terms of being inured to the consequences of maladaptive behavior. 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