Ted Chiang said this quote

“ From the beginning I knew my destination, and I chose my route accordingly. But am I working toward an extreme of joy, or of pain? Will I achieve a minimum, or a maximum? ”

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Science fiction is very well suited to asking philosophical questions; questions about the nature of reality, what it means to be human, how do we know the things that we think we know.

~ Ted Chiang

Ted Chiang Genre Knowledge Science Fiction Sf Writing

The ray of light has to know where it will ultimately end up before it can choose the direction to begin moving inFermat's principle sounds weird because it describes light's behavior in goal-oriented terms. It sounds like a commandment to a light beam: Thou shalt minimize or maximize the time taken to reach thy destination.

~ Ted Chiang

Ted Chiang Arrival Fermat S Principle Free Will Futurism Philosophy Physics Science Science Fiction Time

Living with you will be likeaiming for a moving target, you'll always be further along than I expect.

~ Ted Chiang

Ted Chiang Life Pain Parents And Children Science Fiction

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

Ted Chiang Behavior Belief Civilization Coma Decisions Free Will Lie Matter Message Reality Self Deception