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People assume that they perceive reality as it is, that our senses accurately record the outside world. Yet the science suggests that, in important ways, people experience reality not as it is, but as they expect it to be.

Jonah Lehrer

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Jonah Lehrer
Age: 43
Born: 1981
Born: June 25
Author
Journalist
Scientist
LA
California
Science
Assuming
Reality
Senses
Important
Expect
Way
Record
World
Outside
Accurately
People
Records
Suggests
Ways
Assume
Experience
Perceive

More quotes by Jonah Lehrer

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In fact, the only way to remain creative over time--to not be undone by our expertise--is to experiment with ignorance, to stare at things we don't fully understand.
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Just because an idea is true doesn't mean it can be proved. And just because an idea can be proved doesn't mean it's true.
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If you're trying to be more creative, one of the most important things you can do is increase the volume and diversity of the information to which you are exposed.
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When we venture beyond the edge of our knowledge, all we have is art.
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Knowledge can be a subtle curse. When we learn about the world, we also learn all the reasons why the world cannot be changed. We get used to our failures and imperfections. We become numb to the possibilities of something new
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Creativity is not a trait that we inherit in our genes or a blessing bestowed by the angels. It's a skill.
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What you discover when you look at creativity from the perspective of the brain is that it is universal. We're all creative all of the time, we can't help but be creative.
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I want to give people theories, I want to expose them to scientific stories that force them to re-evaluate the way they use these three pounds of meat inside their head.
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It's a hard thing to describe. It's just this sense that you got something to say.
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And so we keep on thinking, because the next thought might be the answer.
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While human nature largely determines how we hear the notes, it is nurture that lets us hear the music.
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there simply is no way to describe the past without lying. Our memories are not like fiction. They are fiction.
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It is ironic but true: the one reality science cannot reduce is the only reality we will ever know. This is why we need art. By expressing our actual experience, the artist reminds us that our science is incomplete, that no map of matter will ever explain the immateriality of our consciousness.
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Like a work of art, we exceed our materials. Science needs art to frame the mystery, but art needs science so that not everything is a mystery. Neither truth alone is our solution, for our reality exists in plural
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A lie told well is just as good as the truth.
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The one reality science cannot reduce is the only reality we will ever know.
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Children can't help but create: they need to put their mind on the page, they want to paint, to sculpt, to write short stories.
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Creativity is a catchall term for a variety of distinct thought processes.
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...new ideas are merely several old thoughts that occur at the exact same time.
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The answer will only arrive after we stop looking for it.
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