Quote by Jacques Attali
For twenty-five centuries, Western knowledge has tried to look upon the world. It has failed to understand that the world is not for the beholding. It is for hearing. It is not legible, but audible. Our science has always desired to monitor, measure, abstract, and castrate meaning, forgetting that life is full of noise and that death alone is silent: work noise, noise of man, and noise of beast. Noise bought, sold, or prohibited. Nothing essential happens in the absence of noise.
Summary
This quote highlights the limitations of Western knowledge in comprehending the world. It emphasizes that simply observing and visually understanding the world is insufficient. Instead, the world should be experienced through listening. The quote suggests that life is characterized by noise, which is often overlooked by Western science's focus on quantifying and analyzing information. The importance of noise in our existence is underscored, with the lack of noise representing death and the absence of essential experiences. This quote challenges the notion that meaning can be fully understood without considering the audible aspects of life.