FastSaying

My message to you is this: pretend that you have free will. It's essential that you behave as if your decisions matter, even though you know they don't. The reality isn't important: what's important is your belief, and believing the lie is the only way to avoid a waking coma. Civilization now depends on self-deception. Perhaps it always has.

Ted Chiang

behaviorbeliefcivilizationcomadecisionsfree-willliemattermessagerealityself-deception

Related Quotes

There have always been arguments showing that free will is an illusion: some based on hard physics, others based on pure logic.
— Ted Chiang
AlwaysArgumentBased
I suppose we all lie to ourselves sometimes.
— Cassandra Clare
lielyingself-deception
Usually when I can't see the truth about a thing its because I feel more comfortable with the lie...
— Daniel Gilman
LieSelf DeceptionTruth
The prospect of living without interference, living in a world where windfalls and misfortunes were never by design, held no terror for him.
— Ted Chiang
destinydivine-interventionfate
There's that horrible-beautiful moment, that bitter-sweet impasse where you know that somebody is bullshitting you but they're doing it with such panache and conviction...no, it's because they say exactly what you want to hear, at that point in time.
— Irvine Welsh
believebittersweetlie