Whether in the intellectual pursuits of science or in the mystical pursuits of the spirit, the light beckons ahead, and the purpose surging in our nature responds.
Arthur EddingtonRead
Who will observe the observers?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote questions the nature of perception and who evaluates those who evaluate. It suggests a deeper layer of observation beyond the observable.
Arthur Eddington's quote, 'Who will observe the observers?', invites profound contemplation about the limits of perception and the role of the observer. It highlights the complexity of understanding reality, as it raises the question of who places judgment upon those who analyze or evaluate the world around them. This philosophical inquiry challenges us to think about the nature of knowledge and the layers of interpretation that exist in our understanding of the universe.
Themes
PerceptionObservationPhilosophyUnderstandingReality
In practice
Example use cases
In a philosophical debate about the nature of reality.
More from Arthur Eddington
All quotes βThe physical world is entirely abstract and without actuality apart from its linkage to consciousness.
Arthur EddingtonRead
It is one thing for the human mind to extract from the phenomena of nature the laws which it has itself put into them; it may be a far harder thing to extract laws over which it has no control. It is even possible that laws which have not their origin in the mind may be irrational, and we can never succeed in formulating them.
Arthur EddingtonRead
Whatever else there may be in our nature, responsibility toward truth is one of its attributes.
Arthur EddingtonRead
In the world of physics we watch a shadowgraph performance of the drama of familiar life. The shadow of my elbow rests on the shadow table as the shadow ink flows over the shadow paper. It is all symbolic, and as a symbol the physicist leaves it. ... The frank realisation that physical science is concerned with a world of shadows is one of the most significant of recent advances.
Arthur EddingtonRead
So far as physics is concerned, time's arrow is a property of entropy alone.
Arthur EddingtonRead
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