Absolutely nothing Quote by Tom Stoppard
“The causes we know everything about depend on causes we know very little about, which depend on causes we know absolutely nothing about.”
About This Quote
Source Play: "The Hard Problem", 2015, dialogue on causality and knowledge
Our understanding of causes is limited; deeper causes are often unknown, leading to endless uncertainty
In simple terms: We rarely grasp the full chain of cause and effect
Key Takeaway
Accept uncertainty in complex systems
Themes
philosophy
science
epistemology
Mood
thoughtful
inquisitive
Type
philosophical
analytical
When to use this quote
- research design
- policy making
- risk assessment
Key Concepts
causality
unknown unknowns
complexity
Questions to Reflect On
- What unknowns most affect your field?
- How can we act despite incomplete knowledge?
A Different Perspective
Overemphasis on unknowns can paralyze decision‑making
![“By profession a biologist, [Thomas Henry Huxley] covered in fact the whole field of the exact sciences, and then bulged through its four fences. Absolutely nothing was uninteresting to him. His curiosity ranged from music to theology and from philosophy to history. He didn't simply know something…” quote by H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f46/h-l-mencken-245_absolutely-nothing_by-profession-a-biologist-thomas-henry-h_5368.jpg)
