Tor Norretranders Quotes

It is not what we say to each other every day that establishes all the meaning and beauty and truth, it is everything we think before we speak

Civilization is about removing information about our surroundings; discarding information about nature so our senses are not burdened with all that information and our consciousness can concentrate on other matters.

To be aware of an experience means that it has passed

The least interesting aspect of good conversation is what is actually said. What is more interesting is all the deliberations and emotions that take place simultaneously

The words are merely references to something not present

A thing not structured and organized contains more information, because it is more difficult to describe

You sense far more than you are conscious of. Whether you want to or not

Consciousness is not about information but about its opposite: order. Consciousness is not a complex phenomenon; it is what consciousness is _about_ that is complex. It is presumably this fact that is the reason many scientists over the decades have tended to perceive information as something involving order and organization. Because consciousness is about an experience of order and organization. Because consciousness is a state that does not process much information - consciously. Consciousness consists of information no more than a person who consumes large amounts of food can be said to consist of food. Consciousness is nourished by information the same way the body is nourished by food. But human beings do not consist of hot dogs; they consist of hot dogs that have been eaten. Consciousness does not consist of hots dogs but consists of hot dogs that have been apprehended. That is far less complex.

The intricate details of this saga have been collected and collated into an astonishing 1991 book entitled THE USER ILLUSION: CUTTING CONSCIOUSNESS DOWN TO SIZE, by Tor Norretranders, Denmark’s leading science writer. The book is something of a challenge to read, but a few of its main highlights can usefully be pointed up.

(For more details about all of this, see THE USER ILLUSION: CUTTING CONSCIOUSNESS DOWN TO SIZE published by Tor Norretranders