George A. Miller

word surprise delight reflective mind

"Every word carries its own surprises and offers its own rewards to the reflective mind. Their amazing variety is a constant delight. I do not believe that I am alone in this—a fascination with words is shared by people in all countries and all walks of life."

—George A. Miller (1920-2012)

magical number seven

"What about the magical number seven? What about the seven wonders of the world, the seven seas, the seven deadly sins, the seven daughters of Atlas in the Pleiades, the seven ages of man, the seven levels of hell, the seven primary colors, the seven notes of the musical scale, and the seven days of the week? What about the seven-point rating scale, the seven categories for absolute judgment, the seven objects in the span of attention, and the seven digits in the span of immediate memory? For the present I propose to withhold judgment. Perhaps there is something deep and profound behind all these sevens, something just calling out for us to discover it. But I suspect that it is only a pernicious, Pythagorean coincidence."

—George A. Miller (1920-2012)

failure understanding heard intended inferred

"Most of our failures in understanding one another have less to do with what is heard than with what is intended and what is inferred."

—George A. Miller (1920-2012)

word surprise reward reflective mind

"Every word carries its own surprises and offers its own rewards to the reflective mind."

—George A. Miller (1920-2012)

integer persecute

"My problem is that I have been persecuted by an integer."

—George A. Miller (1920-2012)