# Quote — Ted Chiang, Stories of Your Life and Others

> We’ve reached a point where we can begin to adjust our minds. The question is, when is it appropriate for us to do so? We shouldn’t automatically accept that natural is better, nor should we automatically presume that we can improve on nature. It’s up to us to decide which qualities we value, and what’s the best way to achieve those.

- Author: [Ted Chiang](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ted-chiang.md)
- Book: [Stories of Your Life and Others](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ted-chiang/stories-of-your-life-and-others.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ted_Chiang#Stories_of_Your_Life_and_Others_(2002)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/ted-chiang/stories-of-your-life-and-others/weve-reached-a-point

## More from this book

> Technology is being used to manipulate us through our emotional reactions, so it’s only fair that we use it to protect ourselves too.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ted-chiang/stories-of-your-life-and-others/technology-is-being.md)

> God is not just, God is not kind, God is not merciful, and understanding that is essential to true devotion.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ted-chiang/stories-of-your-life-and-others/god-is-not.md)

> Anyone who says the calli movement is good for women is spreading the propaganda of all oppressors: the claim that subjugation is actually protection. Calli supporters want to demonize those women who possess beauty. Beauty can provide just as much pleasure for those who have it as for those who perceive it, but the calli movement makes women feel guilty about taking pleasure in their appearance. It’s yet another patriarchal strategy for suppressing female sexuality, and once again, too many women have bought into it.
>
> Of course beauty has been used as a tool of oppression, but eliminating beauty is not the answer; you can’t liberate people by narrowing the scope of their experiences. That’s positively Orwellian. What’s needed is a woman-centered concept of beauty, one that lets all women feel good about themselves instead of making most of them feel bad.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ted-chiang/stories-of-your-life-and-others/anyone-who-says.md)