# Precision Is Useless without Understanding by John von Neumann > "There's no sense in being precise when you don't even know what you're talking about." > **— John von Neumann**, *Widely attributed; primary source pending* Verification Status: Unverified — exact wording/source has not yet been independently confirmed against a primary source; source clue: Widely attributed; primary source pending. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Article:** [[articles/Information Persistence in Complex Systems|Information Persistence in Complex Systems]] - **Article:** [[articles/An Order of Operation|An Order of Operation]] - **Article:** [[articles/Mind Uploading and AI — The Host is Reusable and the Person is the Delta|Mind Uploading and AI — The Host is Reusable and the Person is the Delta]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Digital Continuity|Digital Continuity]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/John von Neumann|John von Neumann]] - [[wiki/Information Theory|Information Theory]] - [[wiki/Information Inheritance|Information Inheritance]] - [[wiki/Reference Information vs Individual State|Reference Information vs Individual State]] - [[wiki/Heritable Information|Heritable Information]] - [[wiki/Semantic Preservation|Semantic Preservation]] ## Share on Social Media ``` "There's no sense in being precise when you don't even know what you're talking about." — John von Neumann, Widely attributed; primary source pending https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-john-von-neumann-precision-useless-without-understanding ```