--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If in fact the conservation and…" description: "\"If in fact the conservation and complexification of novelty is what the universe is striving for, then suddenly our own human enterprise, previously ma..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f5/terence-mckenna-287_conservation_if-in-fact-the-conservation-and-complexi_2274088.png" --- # If in fact the conservation and complexification of… ![“If in fact the conservation and complexification of novelty is what the universe is striving for, then suddenly our own human enterprise, previously marginalized, takes on an immense new importance.” quote by Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f5/terence-mckenna-287_conservation_if-in-fact-the-conservation-and-complexi_2274088.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f5/terence-mckenna-287_conservation_if-in-fact-the-conservation-and-complexi_2274088.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f5/terence-mckenna-287_conservation_if-in-fact-the-conservation-and-complexi_2274088.png) > “If in fact the conservation and complexification of novelty is what the universe is striving for, then suddenly our own human enterprise, previously marginalized, takes on an immense new importance.” [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. The universe seeks to preserve and increase novel complexity, giving human creativity profound significance. **In simple terms:** Human creativity matters because the cosmos values novelty. Key Takeaway Recognize and nurture innovative ideas. Themes creativity cosmos human purpose Mood wonder inspiration reflective Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - scientific research - artistic endeavors - entrepreneurship - education - policy making Key Concepts complexity evolution novelty Questions to Reflect On - How can we align personal goals with this cosmic drive? - What responsibilities arise from this perceived importance? A Different Perspective Assumes a teleological view of the universe, which is philosophically debated. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Complexification Novelty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complexification-novelty-5282643/) [Conservation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conservation/) [Enterprise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enterprise/) [Environment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environment/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Human Enterprise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-enterprise-1201535/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Immense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/immense/) [Importance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/importance/) [Marginalized](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marginalized/) [New Importance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-importance-3971323/) [Novelty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novelty/) [Novelty Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novelty-universe-5282642/) [Strive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strive/) [Suddenly Human](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suddenly-human-5282644/) [Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universe/) ## Related quotes > [On the other hand, in a society whose communication component is becoming more prominent day by day, both as a reality and as an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-francois-lyotard/on-the-other-hand-in-a-society-whose-communication-component-is/) [Jean-Francois Lyotard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-francois-lyotard/) > [We're far from perfect. 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And it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ban-ki-moon/building-sustainable-cities-and-a-sustainable-future-will-need-open/) [Ban Ki-moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ban-ki-moon/) > [If my life is any example, the work that youth workers are doing is very, very important. It tends to get marginalized in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/parker-j-palmer/if-my-life-is-any-example-the-work-that-youth-workers-are-doing-is/) [Parker J. Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/parker-j-palmer/) > [My parents were civil rights activists, and my mother was active in the feminist movement. Issues concerning marginalized people and especially women of color…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-holmes/my-parents-were-civil-rights-activists-and-my-mother-was-active-in/) [Anna Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-holmes/) > [If you do keep the faith and continue to be radical, very bad things can and do happen to you. At the very least…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-yates/if-you-do-keep-the-faith-and-continue-to-be-radical-very-bad-things/) [Michael Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-yates/) > [For me getting paid for art is a class issue. I don't have the luxury not to care. It's great if your parents buy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-georges/for-me-getting-paid-for-art-is-a-class-issue-i-don-t-have-the-luxury/) [Nicole Georges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-georges/) > [There are plenty of risks when we encourage "investment" or commoditization of natural resources, as power dynamics may mean that poor people (who are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helene-d-gayle/there-are-plenty-of-risks-when-we-encourage-investment-or/) [Helene D. Gayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helene-d-gayle/) > [I'm unequivocal about my belief in the rights of our marginalized communities, including our trans community, because I'm a minority myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/humza-yousaf/i-m-unequivocal-about-my-belief-in-the-rights-of-our-marginalized/) [Humza Yousaf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/humza-yousaf/) > [Robin Williams was an airman, a doctor, a genie, a nanny, a president, a professor, a bangarang Peter Pan, and everything in between. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/robin-williams-was-an-airman-a-doctor-a-genie-a-nanny-a-president-a/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) ## 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. Just as the history of yourself that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/the-history-of-man-that-you-don-t-know-is-what-your-unconscious-is/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [We are consciousness. We may not always be monkeys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-consciousness-we-may-not-always-be-monkeys/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [What is happening here is we are living past the age, by the millions, living past the age where cultural values make any sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/what-is-happening-here-is-we-are-living-past-the-age-by-the-millions/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [What history is, essentially, is a careening, out-of-control effort to find our way back to this state of primordial balance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/what-history-is-essentially-is-a-careening-out-of-control-effort-to/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [And what is the primary datum? It's the felt presence of immediate experience. In other words, being here now is the primary datum.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/and-what-is-the-primary-datum-it-s-the-felt-presence-of-immediate/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Our culture difinitely takes an egocentric dominator view. The fear of the psychedelic experience is quite literally the fear of losing control. Dominator types…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/our-culture-difinitely-takes-an-egocentric-dominator-view-the-fear-of/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Every step into freedom contains within it the potential for greater bondage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/every-step-into-freedom-contains-within-it-the-potential-for-greater/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [This is the message of your life and my life - it’s that nothing lasts. Heraclitus said it: Panta Rhei. 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. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/no-culture-on-earth-is-as-heavily-narcotized-as-the-industrial-west/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Man was not put on this planet to toil in the mud. Or the god who put us on this planet to toil in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/man-was-not-put-on-this-planet-to-toil-in-the-mud-or-the-god-who-put/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [If you take psychedelics and the Internet and music and put all of that together you have the basis for a new community that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/if-you-take-psychedelics-and-the-internet-and-music-and-put-all-of/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) [Explore all 745 Terence McKenna quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) ## More Conservation quotes > [“In the United States law, federally designated wilderness is famously defined as 'an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-marris/in-the-united-states-law-federally-designated-wilderness-is-famously/) [Emma Marris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-marris/) > [I believe humans have souls, and I believe in the conservation of souls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-believe-humans-have-souls-and-i-believe-in-the-conservation-of-souls/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Conservation and rural-life policies are really two sides of the same policy; and down at the bottom this policy rests upon the fundamental law…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/conservation-and-rural-life-policies-are-really-two-sides-of-the-same/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [Soft fantasy worlds have a much looser cause-and-effect relationship. Alchemists can turn lead into gold and nobody wonders about how it will impact the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/soft-fantasy-worlds-have-a-much-looser-cause-and-effect-relationship/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [I am optimistic globally. So many scientists are working frantically on the reparation of our planet. Unfortunately there are countries who are still destroying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-irwin/i-am-optimistic-globally-so-many-scientists-are-working-frantically/) [Steve Irwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-irwin/) > [We must commit ourselves to an 'all of the above' energy approach, with a major focus on increasing domestic production and expanding alternatives fuels,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-roskam/we-must-commit-ourselves-to-an-all-of-the-above-energy-approach-with/) [Peter Roskam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-roskam/) > [Listing the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act could harm bear conservation efforts by eliminating revenues from the carefully-regulated sport hunting of polar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-ridenour/listing-the-polar-bear-under-the-endangered-species-act-could-harm/) [Amy Ridenour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-ridenour/) > [Conservation is humanity caring for the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-newhall/conservation-is-humanity-caring-for-the-future/) [Nancy Newhall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-newhall/) > [In our attempt to make conservation easy, we have made it trivial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldo-leopold/in-our-attempt-to-make-conservation-easy-we-have-made-it-trivial/) [Aldo Leopold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldo-leopold/) > [When you defile the pleasant streams, And the wild bird's abiding place, You massacre a million dreams, And cast your spittle in God's face](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-drinkwater/when-you-defile-the-pleasant-streams-and-the-wild-bird-s-abiding/) [John Drinkwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-drinkwater/) > [It's clear that it is in the best interest of business to be part of the conservation, along with governments and civil society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/it-s-clear-that-it-is-in-the-best-interest-of-business-to-be-part-of/) [Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/) > [To Jane Jacob’s three traditional urban values of civic space, human scale and diversity, the current environmental imperative adds two more: conservation and regionalism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-calthorpe/to-jane-jacob-s-three-traditional-urban-values-of-civic-space-human/) [Peter Calthorpe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-calthorpe/) > [Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed; if we permit the last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/something-will-have-gone-out-of-us-as-a-people-if-we-ever-let-the/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [There is no domestic issue more important to America in the long run than the conservation and proper use of our natural resources, including…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaylord-nelson/there-is-no-domestic-issue-more-important-to-america-in-the-long-run/) [Gaylord Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaylord-nelson/) > [The conservation of natural resources is the fundamental problem. Unless we solve that problem it will avail us little to solve all others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/the-conservation-of-natural-resources-is-the-fundamental-problem/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) [Browse all 579 Conservation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conservation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If in fact the conservation and complexification of novelty is what the universe is striving for, then suddenly our own human enterprise, previously marginalized, takes on an immense new importance.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Terence McKenna" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/if-in-fact-the-conservation-and-complexification-of-novelty-is-what/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Conservation" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/if-in-fact-the-conservation-and-complexification-of-novelty-is-what/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f5/terence-mckenna-287_conservation_if-in-fact-the-conservation-and-complexi_2274088.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f5/terence-mckenna-287_conservation_if-in-fact-the-conservation-and-complexi_2274088.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f5/terence-mckenna-287_conservation_if-in-fact-the-conservation-and-complexi_2274088.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If in fact the conservation and complexification of novelty is what the universe is striving for, then…” — Terence McKenna", "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": "Terence McKenna", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If in fact the conservation and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/if-in-fact-the-conservation-and-complexification-of-novelty-is-what/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/if-in-fact-the-conservation-and-complexification-of-novelty-is-what/#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 } } ] } ```