symbols

Civilization, comprising all the achievements of art and science, technology and industry, is the result of man's invention and manipulation of symbols -- of words, letters, numbers, formulas and concepts, and of such social institutions as universally accepted clocks and rulers, scales and timetables, schedules and laws. By these means, we measure, predict, and control the behavior of the human and natural worlds -- and with such startling apparent success that the trick goes to our heads. All too easily, we confuse the world as we symbolize it with the world as it is.

-- Alan Watts Does It Matter?