--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The more we know, the less we can predict." description: "\"“The more we know, the less we can predict.”\" — Yuval Noah Harari" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d8/yuval-noah-harari-100_know_the-more-we-know-the-less-we-can-predict_392273.jpg" --- # The more we know, the less we can predict. ![“The more we know, the less we can predict.” quote by Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d8/yuval-noah-harari-100_know_the-more-we-know-the-less-we-can-predict_392273.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d8/yuval-noah-harari-100_know_the-more-we-know-the-less-we-can-predict_392273.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d8/yuval-noah-harari-100_know_the-more-we-know-the-less-we-can-predict_392273.jpg) > ““The more we know, the less we can predict.”” [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. More knowledge reduces certainty because it reveals complexity and unknown variables. **In simple terms:** Knowing more creates uncertainty. Key Takeaway Embrace uncertainty as a sign of deeper insight. Themes knowledge uncertainty prediction Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type philosophical scientific When to use this quote - scientific research - policy making - technology forecasting - education - personal growth Key Concepts epistemology complexity Questions to Reflect On - How do you act when predictions fail? - Can uncertainty be a catalyst for innovation? A Different Perspective Too much uncertainty can paralyze decision‑making. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know/) [Know Predict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-predict-3042299/) [Predict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/predict/) ## Related quotes > [But that's the great thing about MMA, you know, you can never predict what's going to happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimi-manuwa/but-that-s-the-great-thing-about-mma-you-know-you-can-never-predict/) [Jimi Manuwa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimi-manuwa/) > [“Our goal isn’t to predict something that will definitely happen.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-webb/our-goal-isn-t-to-predict-something-that-will-definitely-happen/) [Amy Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-webb/) > [You can never predict how something will land.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-kipnis/you-can-never-predict-how-something-will-land/) [Laura Kipnis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-kipnis/) > [You can predict a person?s future and divine his bank balance if you know two things: the books he reads, the people he associates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/you-can-predict-a-person-s-future-and-divine-his-bank-balance-if-you/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [We can predict the present without having to know everything about the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-barrow/we-can-predict-the-present-without-having-to-know-everything-about/) [John D. Barrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-barrow/) > [The greatest thing about 'New Girl' is that you never can predict what is next!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-simone/the-greatest-thing-about-new-girl-is-that-you-never-can-predict-what/) [Hannah Simone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-simone/) > [We are going to see a steady stream, I predict, of Nobel prizes coming out of chemistry and given to women.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-arnold/we-are-going-to-see-a-steady-stream-i-predict-of-nobel-prizes-coming/) [Frances Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-arnold/) > [“Someday soon, say predictive analytics experts, it will be possible for companies to know our tastes and predict our habits better than we know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-duhigg/someday-soon-say-predictive-analytics-experts-it-will-be-possible-for/) [Charles Duhigg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-duhigg/) > [Who knows how things will be years from now? Only time will tell. No need to try & predict the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/who-knows-how-things-will-be-years-from-now-only-time-will-tell-no/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Nobody can predict the future; the idea is to have a firm grasp of the present.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-drucker/nobody-can-predict-the-future-the-idea-is-to-have-a-firm-grasp-of-the/) [Peter Drucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-drucker/) > [I've learned that you can never predict what will happen to a film. You can never predict if people will love it, if they'll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gray/i-ve-learned-that-you-can-never-predict-what-will-happen-to-a-film/) [James Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gray/) > [“If you want to predict how a politician will act after winning an election, look at how he currently lives and how he has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haemin-sunim/if-you-want-to-predict-how-a-politician-will-act-after-winning-an/) [Haemin Sunim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haemin-sunim/) > [The key for scouting is trying to predict when the player is peaking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brendan-rodgers/the-key-for-scouting-is-trying-to-predict-when-the-player-is-peaking/) [Brendan Rodgers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brendan-rodgers/) > [... a fellow can't predict what he will pick up in the form of influence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/a-fellow-can-t-predict-what-he-will-pick-up-in-the-form-of-influence/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [People who try to predict the future by extrapolating in a line of more of what exists - they are always wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/people-who-try-to-predict-the-future-by-extrapolating-in-a-line-of/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) ## More by Yuval Noah Harari > [“For similar reasons, archaic humans did not initiate any revolutions. As far as we can tell, changes in social patterns, the invention of new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/for-similar-reasons-archaic-humans-did-not-initiate-any-revolutions/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Today the main source of wealth is knowledge. And whereas you can conquer oil fields through war, you cannot acquire knowledge that way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/today-the-main-source-of-wealth-is-knowledge-and-whereas-you-can/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“How do you cause people to believe in an imagined order such as Christianity, democracy or capitalism? First, you never admit that the order…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/how-do-you-cause-people-to-believe-in-an-imagined-order-such-as/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [I think the basic thing that happened is we have lost our story. Humans think in stories, and we try to make sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/i-think-the-basic-thing-that-happened-is-we-have-lost-our-story/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Whereas chimpanzees spend five hours a day chewing raw food, a single hour suffices for people eating cooked food. The advent of cooking enabled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/whereas-chimpanzees-spend-five-hours-a-day-chewing-raw-food-a-single/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“the Chinese air-purification market is booming.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/the-chinese-air-purification-market-is-booming/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Whereas liberalism merged with the milder versions of nationalism to protect the unique experiences of each human community, evolutionary humanists such as Hitler identified…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/whereas-liberalism-merged-with-the-milder-versions-of-nationalism-to/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Corporations, money and nations exist only in our imagination. We invented them to serve us; why do we find ourselves sacrificing our lives in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/corporations-money-and-nations-exist-only-in-our-imagination-we/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Small children in affluent societies often dislike showering, and it takes them years of education and parental discipline to adopt this supposedly attractive custom.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/small-children-in-affluent-societies-often-dislike-showering-and-it/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Ever more scholars see cultures as a kind of mental infection or parasite, with humans as its unwitting host. Organic parasites, such as viruses,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/ever-more-scholars-see-cultures-as-a-kind-of-mental-infection-or/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Soviet Communism was a fanatical and missionary religion. A devout Communist could not be a Christian or a Buddhist, and was expected to spread…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/soviet-communism-was-a-fanatical-and-missionary-religion-a-devout/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Whereas religion asks us to believe in something, money asks us to believe that other people believe in something”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/whereas-religion-asks-us-to-believe-in-something-money-asks-us-to/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Terrorists are like a fly that tries to destroy a china shop. The fly is so weak that it cannot budge even a single…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/terrorists-are-like-a-fly-that-tries-to-destroy-a-china-shop-the-fly/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Yet what happens if the greedy shoemaker increases his profits by paying employees less and increasing their work hours? The standard answer is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/yet-what-happens-if-the-greedy-shoemaker-increases-his-profits-by/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“A natural order is a stable order. There is no chance that gravity will cease to function tomorrow, even if people stop believing in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/a-natural-order-is-a-stable-order-there-is-no-chance-that-gravity/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) [Explore all 1,200 Yuval Noah Harari quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) ## More Know quotes > [I actually think acting is a form of self-hypnosis. You have to be hyper, hyper aware of what's going on around you. You have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianne-moore/i-actually-think-acting-is-a-form-of-self-hypnosis-you-have-to-be/) [Julianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianne-moore/) > [“To know someone, to be known. That matters more than he'd ever thought it would.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianna-baggott/to-know-someone-to-be-known-that-matters-more-than-he-d-ever-thought/) [Julianna Baggott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianna-baggott/) > [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [The one thing that I keep learning over and over again is that I don't know nothing. I mean, that's my life lesson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-johnson/the-one-thing-that-i-keep-learning-over-and-over-again-is-that-i-don/) [Dwayne Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-johnson/) > [If we will not interfere with our thought, but will act entirely, or see how the thing stands in God, we know the particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-we-will-not-interfere-with-our-thought-but-will-act-entirely-or/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [It's very easy to fool yourself that you're working, you know, when you're really not working very hard. I mean, I'm very lazy. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-caro/it-s-very-easy-to-fool-yourself-that-you-re-working-you-know-when-you/) [Robert Caro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-caro/) > [That's something a lot of folks don't know about me - I'm pretty darn funny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-jai-white/that-s-something-a-lot-of-folks-don-t-know-about-me-i-m-pretty-darn/) [Michael Jai White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-jai-white/) > [Don't get too attached to someone you know you can't be together with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anurag-prakash-ray/don-t-get-too-attached-to-someone-you-know-you-can-t-be-together-with/) [Anurag Prakash Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anurag-prakash-ray/) > [I know what you're thinking... and you oughtta be ashamed of yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-preston/i-know-what-you-re-thinking-and-you-oughtta-be-ashamed-of-yourself/) [Robert Preston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-preston/) > [I would have done well as a gypsy child, I think. A circus baby. I coulda played a great street urchin or ragamuffin. Or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-lyonne/i-would-have-done-well-as-a-gypsy-child-i-think-a-circus-baby-i/) [Natasha Lyonne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-lyonne/) > [You will never know just how beautiful you are to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-will-never-know-just-how-beautiful-you-are-to-me/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I know how hard it is to be a woman, especially a black woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-tyson/i-know-how-hard-it-is-to-be-a-woman-especially-a-black-woman/) [Mike Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-tyson/) > [I have always been a big meta guy because I think the way journalism is practiced in Washington, and the way everyone sort of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-leibovich/i-have-always-been-a-big-meta-guy-because-i-think-the-way-journalism/) [Mark Leibovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-leibovich/) > [“Take your time to find and understand what you don’t know and in the end, you shall know that it is not all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-agyemang-yeboah/take-your-time-to-find-and-understand-what-you-don-t-know-and-in-the/) [Ernest Agyemang Yeboah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-agyemang-yeboah/) > [What we're supposed to do as actors is be able to portray real human beings and emotions. And if you grow up in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-browning/what-we-re-supposed-to-do-as-actors-is-be-able-to-portray-real-human/) [Emily Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-browning/) [Browse all 22,299 Know quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The more we know, the less we can predict.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Yuval Noah Harari" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/the-more-we-know-the-less-we-can-predict/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Know" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/the-more-we-know-the-less-we-can-predict/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d8/yuval-noah-harari-100_know_the-more-we-know-the-less-we-can-predict_392273.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d8/yuval-noah-harari-100_know_the-more-we-know-the-less-we-can-predict_392273.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d8/yuval-noah-harari-100_know_the-more-we-know-the-less-we-can-predict_392273.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The more we know, the less we can predict.” — Yuval Noah Harari", "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": "Yuval Noah Harari", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The more we know, the less...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/the-more-we-know-the-less-we-can-predict/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/the-more-we-know-the-less-we-can-predict/#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 } } ] } ```