# We Are Not Stuff That Abides by Norbert Wiener > "We are not stuff that abides, but patterns that perpetuate themselves." > **— Norbert Wiener**, *1950, The Human Use of Human Beings* ## Sources and Context - **Full quotation and context:** [Patterns before recognition: the historical ascendance of an extractive empiricism of forms | Humanities and Social Sciences Communications](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-023-02574-1) — contains the quoted wording and identifies its publication, interview, testimony, or event context. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]] - **Article:** [[articles/Cyber-Physical Lessons from Imperial Beekeeping|Cyber-Physical Lessons from Imperial Beekeeping]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Next Interface Layer|The Next Interface Layer]] - **Article:** [[articles/A Systems-Diagnostic Framework for Planetary-Scale Computation|A Systems-Diagnostic Framework for Planetary-Scale Computation]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Norbert Wiener|Norbert Wiener]] - [[wiki/Cybernetics|Cybernetics]] - [[wiki/Cybernetic Control|Cybernetic Control]] - [[wiki/Control Loop|Control Loop]] - [[wiki/Control Theory|Control Theory]] - [[wiki/Neural Interface|Neural Interface]] ## Share on Social Media ``` "We are not stuff that abides, but patterns that perpetuate themselves." — Norbert Wiener, 1950, The Human Use of Human Beings https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-norbert-wiener-not-stuff-abides ```