"The ability to perceive or think differently is more important than the knowledge gained"
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Bohm is quietly picking a fight with the most worshipped currency in modern life: accumulated information. Coming from a theoretical physicist who spent his career questioning the hidden assumptions of quantum mechanics, the line isn’t a feel-good ode to “creativity.” It’s a warning that knowledge, when treated as a finished product, can become a trap - a polished set of conclusions that keeps you from noticing what your framework can’t admit.
“The ability to perceive or think differently” points to a mental posture rather than a skillset: the capacity to reframe, to see patterns you were trained to ignore, to tolerate ambiguity long enough for a new model to form. Bohm’s own work on interpretation, order, and wholeness hinged on precisely this kind of cognitive flexibility. In that context, “more important” reads as method over inventory: the engine matters more than the fuel.
The subtext lands hardest on institutions that confuse expertise with insight. Schools, labs, media ecosystems, even politics reward the appearance of knowing - the confident recitation of established facts. Bohm suggests the opposite is what actually moves fields forward: the ability to notice where the “facts” are artifacts of the questions we chose, the instruments we built, the metaphors we inherited. Knowledge can be transferred; perception has to be rebuilt from inside.
It’s also a hedge against intellectual arrogance. If your identity is “what I know,” you defend it. If your identity is “how I can rethink,” you can afford to be wrong - which, in science, is often the price of discovering something real.
“The ability to perceive or think differently” points to a mental posture rather than a skillset: the capacity to reframe, to see patterns you were trained to ignore, to tolerate ambiguity long enough for a new model to form. Bohm’s own work on interpretation, order, and wholeness hinged on precisely this kind of cognitive flexibility. In that context, “more important” reads as method over inventory: the engine matters more than the fuel.
The subtext lands hardest on institutions that confuse expertise with insight. Schools, labs, media ecosystems, even politics reward the appearance of knowing - the confident recitation of established facts. Bohm suggests the opposite is what actually moves fields forward: the ability to notice where the “facts” are artifacts of the questions we chose, the instruments we built, the metaphors we inherited. Knowledge can be transferred; perception has to be rebuilt from inside.
It’s also a hedge against intellectual arrogance. If your identity is “what I know,” you defend it. If your identity is “how I can rethink,” you can afford to be wrong - which, in science, is often the price of discovering something real.
Quote Details
| Topic | Wisdom |
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