A good simulation, be it a religious myth or scientific theory, gives us a sense of mastery over experience. To represent something symbolically, as we do when we speak or write, is somehow to capture it, thus making it one's own. But with this appropriation comes the realization that we have denied the immediacy of reality and that in creating a substitute we have but spun another thread in the web of our grand illusion.
Heinz PagelsWhile we can prove that almost all numbers in the continuum are random, we cannot prove that any specific number is indeed random.
Heinz PagelsI like to browse in occult bookshops if for no other reason than to refresh my commitment to science.
Heinz PagelsInformation is just signs and numbers, while knowledge involves their meaning. What we want is knowledge, but what we get is information.
Heinz Pagels