# Every Mind-Clearing System Creates Some Garbage by John Horgan > “Every garbage-removal system—whether Zen, skepticism, or existentialism—generates garbage. If you want to clear your mind, the best you can hope for is to find a system, or anti-system, that removes more garbage than it generates.” > **— John Horgan**, *2004 Edge Annual Question, response passage* ## Sources and Context - **Direct publication and locator:** [Horgan's Law — John Horgan](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/11075) — 2004 Annual Question response, the full representative extract. - **Exact original excerpt:** “Every garbage-removal system—whether Zen, skepticism, or existentialism—generates garbage. If you want to clear your mind, the best you can hope for is to find a system, or anti-system, that removes more garbage than it generates.” - **Context and editing:** Horgan uses “garbage” metaphorically for the mental costs of each belief-clearing system; both sentences are retained. The poster is the complete archived sentence or passage. - **Local Edge archive:** [[research/Edge 2004 Full Quotation Curation|Edge 2004 Full Quotation Curation]], response EDGE2004-064. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Edge|Edge]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]] - **Article:** [[articles/Information Persistence in Complex Systems|Information Persistence in Complex Systems]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Greatest Transformation in Human History|The Greatest Transformation in Human History]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Science Ecosystem|Science Ecosystem]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Science Ecosystem|Science Ecosystem]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “Every garbage-removal system—whether Zen, skepticism, or existentialism—generates garbage. If you want to clear your mind, the best you can hope for is to find a system, or anti-system, that removes more garbage than it generates.” — John Horgan, 2004 Edge Annual Question, response passage https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-john-horgan-every-mind-clearing-system-creates-some ```