Understand

by Ted Chiang

Leon is a former coma victim, who has gone experimental medical treatment to repair the massive trauma his brain received after he was trapped under ice for more than an hour. He’s regained consciousness, found he has all of his faculties back and a whole lot more. Originally published in Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine in 1991.


Approx. 2 Hours

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Short Stories, Philosophy, Audiobook, Science Fiction Fantasy, Thriller

46 pages, Audiobook

Published January 1, 2006

About the author

Ted Chiang is an American science fiction writer. His Chinese name is Chiang Feng-nan. He graduated from Brown University with a Computer Science degree. He currently works as a technical writer in the software industry and resides in Bellevue, near Seattle, Washington. He is a graduate of the noted Clarion Writers Workshop (1989) and has been an instructor for it (2012, 2016). Chiang is also a frequent non-fiction contributor to the New Yorker, where he writes on topics related to computing such as artificial intelligence.

Chiang has published 18 short stories, to date, and most of them have won prestigious speculative fiction awards - including multiple Nebula Awards, Locus Awards, Hugo Awards, and British Science Fiction Association Awards, among others. His short story "Story of Your Life" was the basis of the film Arrival (2016). He has never written a novel but is one of the most decorated science fiction writers currently working.

Chiang's first eight stories are collected in "Stories of Your Life, and Others" and the next nine, in "Exhalation: Stories".

Reviews

[Summer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I never want to read the word gestalt again.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reminded me of an updated version of Flowers for Algernon in many ways, the original short story or novella. It's free here:
https://web.archive.org/web/201405271...

Highly recommended.

[TheBookWarren · Rating 4 out of 5]

★★★¾☆

Sidenote: suddenly the word “Gestalt” has become forever entangled with my thoughts on humanity, one I desperately wish to shed! Ted Chiang’s “Understand” is a compelling exploration of intelligence and its potential extremes. The narrative follows Leon Greco, who, after a near-fatal accident, undergoes an experimental treatment that not only heals his brain damage but also exponentially enhances his cognitive abilities. As Leon’s intellect surges, he perceives intricate patterns in everything, from languages to human behavior, leading him to a profound understanding of the world. This metamorphosis, however, distances him from ordinary human experiences, raising questions about the essence of humanity and the ethical boundaries of knowledge.

Chiang masterfully delves into the psyche of a superintelligent being, portraying Leon’s journey with a blend of scientific precision and philosophical depth. The prose is both accessible and thought-provoking, making complex concepts digestible without oversimplification. The story’s pacing is deliberate, allowing readers to immerse themselves in Leon’s evolving consciousness.

However, the narrative’s focus on intellectual transformation may feel detached to some, potentially limiting emotional engagement. Additionally, the climax, involving a confrontation with another enhanced individual, while intellectually stimulating, might come across as abstract, leaving readers yearning for a more tangible resolution.

This is a fascinating — albeit a slightly heady — exploration of the human mind’s potential, blending science fiction with philosophical inquiry. While it may not resonate emotionally with all readers, its intellectual depth and narrative craftsmanship make it a noteworthy read.

[Netanella · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this short as part of the Stories of Your Life and Others, a collection which I am finding phenomenal. I hope all of Chiang's stories are as good as the first two I've read of his. This one, "Understand," reminds me of Flowers for Algernon, or the movie adaptation, which was called "Charley." Both of those stories made me bawl tears.

This story, also about a young man whose life is rearranged by an experimental treatment that brings him superintelligence, is just as tragic, but thankfully, not as emotional. Very well done.

[Anniekins18 · Rating 2 out of 5]

A decent 'holiday read'. A few of these reviews suggest it's an original idea, but anyone who has read Daniel Keyes' 1958 classic, 'Flowers For Algernon' will know it's been done before, and done better. Sorry to be a killjoy to those who enjoyed 'Understand', but I found I couldn't make myself care about the somewhat cold protagonist, and the story didn't really go anywhere.

[Brennan Letkeman · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you liked the monologue explanation scenes of Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network, boy, here's an entire book of that.

But also... not much else.

A guy becomes super smart and describes for 80% of the book about the things he learns to do, like controlling his heart rate and seeing the patterns in every day life. He commits some minor crimes since they're so trivially easy. He makes money gambling and playing the stock market. It's all sort of faux edgy, or like that one kid in every class who's just a little too talkative to constantly demonstrate how smart he is, but comes off as merely annoying and socially unaware to everyone else - it's like that, but *more*.

And then the book ends. He meets an adversary in the last... five pages? It's resolved immediately. The End.

So I guess I'm pretty disappointed. This whole thing could be pared down for an introduction chapter to a much better book actually describing the implications of these things in the real world as he lives and grows beside humanity both using his intelligence and reflecting on what that power means for him and others. This entire novelette is a long-winded writing prompt.

[Paul Ataua · Rating 4 out of 5]

Totally engaging as all Ted Chiang’s stories are, and well worth the read, but it never reaches the level of the work we find in ‘Stories of Your Lives”. I actually felt a little disappointed with the ending, and that is a first with his work. A must read if you are following Ted Chiang’s work, as I am, but one that might be better engaged in later rather than sooner.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why did I, a cumpulsive overthinker that often gets trapped within my own mind, decide to read a book about someone who kills himself by thought?

[Δημήτρης Δελαρούδης · Rating 5 out of 5]

To me, one of his best! It creates a subconsciously changing puzzle. Can you kill only by thought?

[Stella · Rating 4 out of 5]

This js literally just Sheen from Jimmy Neutron on that episode where he got all purple and super smart.

[Janani · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great concept. Underwhelming ending.

[Frank Maccormack · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is included in the so-far-fantastic "Stories of Your Life and Others," which I picked up to quell a recently thirst for good speculative or science fiction. This is the second story of the book (behind the simple but enjoyable Tower of Babel) and is a great hook to get into Chiang's approach. The story does an incredible job of exploring what it would be like for a human to rather suddenly become aware of patterns, or gestalts, everywhere around them. We often think of mentally ill individuals as being disconnected from reality, causing them to feel distanced from the rest of us. This story describes the experience of distance arising from hyperconnection to reality; the narrator's mind connects patterns at such a furious rate that the only thing interesting to him is finding more about the nature of these patterns and, ultimately, the pattern of all reality. It is a topic that is exceptionally interesting to me, as someone who has thought a good deal about what other levels of intelligence/consciousness might look like. Of course, when talking about something like exponentially increasing intelligence, any human is hindered by their fundamental ceiling of comprehension, and this is where this story truly shines. Some see it as a flaw, but I believe Chiang has done a wonderful job here, in the face of those limitations. The way he describes the thought processes of the narrator are like Lego buildings; sure they're not perfect, but considering what they had to work with, it's pretty damn impressive. The only thing I wasn't crazy about was how the conflict was approached, it felt just a bit too comic-book-like for the seriousness of the story, but it did end on a very poignant note. Short and sweet, highly recommended.

[Jacques Bezuidenhout · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read as part of Stories of Your Life and Others.

Interesting idea. Seems like the movie Limitless took some ideas from this book.


Liked the ideas about current linguistics not being suitable to properly express oneself. And that he had to develop a whole new language.
It is weird that the super brains came up with the same language, and could talk to each other using this dialect though.

For the most part these super brains outsmarted everyone, and could do anything they want. There is no real conflict in the story.
Even with the two meeting up in the end to battle it out, it was a bit of an anti-climax.
The fact that they had control over everything, except the construction of their own thoughts by planted suggestions, seems a bit too convenient.

[Cecily · Rating 4 out of 5]

If your intelligence was exponentially enhanced, almost overnight, how would you feel, and what use would you make of your new abilities and awareness? Would you seek knowledge and understanding for its own sake, or would you save the world? Is intelligence a means, or an end in itself?



Leon recovers from near drowning and subsequent coma by being given the experimental Hormone K, which creates neural pathways to replace lost ones. More than he lost.

If Only

How many times have you wondered “If only I could do…”, but are hampered by lack of ability or knowledge, both of which are partly down to lack of time (cf Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 Hour Rule).


Leon’s superbrain learns phenomenally quickly and remembers faultlessly, so he can accomplish in hours what “normals” would struggle to achieve in weeks, months, or a lifetime. Everything is intuitive, without conscious learning, he’s never indecisive, and “No matter what I study, I see patterns”. It’s equivalent to time dilation.

When Leon realises his exceptional mind makes him of interest to others, he downplays his abilities in a test, just as gifted children often do. Selfish or self-preservation?

Mind, Body, Spirit

His powers are not purely intellectual - an aspect I hadn’t considered.

He doesn’t get physically stronger, but he is more co-ordinated and more aware and in control of his body - even heart rate, kidney function and nutrient absorption. His ability to read body language, tics, subtext, and pheromones seem telepathic. Observing strangers on the street, he notes, a young couple “the adoration of one bouncing off the tolerance of the other” and that “a woman wears a mantle of simulated sophistication, but it slips when it brushes past the genuine article”.

Leon’s quest is “enlightenment, not spiritual but rational”, and for understanding and self-awareness, he requires a new sort of language, written with ideograms. (It’s rather like semasiographic Heptapod B in The Story of Your Life aka Arrival, which I reviewed HERE.)

His emotions are more complex and multi-faceted and “I know precisely how I know, and my understanding is recursive”. The downside is no subconscious, so “I witness my own delusions” rather than having dreams. There is no downtime.

(Anti) Climax

The weakest part was how he survived on the run, how he tried to evade and trick those who sought him, and a final confrontation. Too clichéd. Up till then, it was… mind-enhancing.


Related Media

The starting point of this neuro-psychological thriller from 1991 is remarkably similar to that of the 2011 film, Limitless (which I saw a few years ago), which is based on a 2001 novel, The Dark Fields, by Alan Glyn (which I have not read).

For a different story about the effects of sudden increase in intelligence, see Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, which I reviewed HERE.

Image source for superbrain:
http://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t51....

For other stories in the collection, Stories of Your Life, see my review HERE.

[Anadi Vyas · Rating 5 out of 5]

GOJO VS SUKUNA, Just kidding
music to hear on loop while reading the last ten pages

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review of "Understand" is not actually of the audio book but rather of the story as it appeared in the August, 1991 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction. This review is excerpted from my review of that issue:

Whatever else they may be, stories by Ted Chiang are smart. "Understand" is about being smart, being, in fact, one of the smartest people who ever lived.

Leon Greco, the narrator, suffered extensive brain damage from oxygen deprivation. Doctors treated him with an experimental medication, hormone K, which regenerated damaged neurons, but then went on to do more, to continue to increase Greco's intelligence.

Greco agrees to take additional hormone K. He gets even more brilliant. Then things begin to change between Greco and the doctors working with him:

I realize who Clausen is: he's a government psychologist, perhaps military, probably part of the CIA's Office of Research and Development. This test is meant to guage hormone K's potential for producing strategists.

Greco, now certain that the government wants to use him, decides that his best course is "to downplay my skills and get [questions] wrong." Then he withdraws from the study.

Greco is sure that the government wants to take him into custody. He goes into hiding; he also steals another ampule of hormone K.

At this point, I think that it would be reasonable to wonder if Greco's suspicions are deserved or if he is suffering some mental instability, possibly as a consequence of hormone K. I don't know if that is what Chiang intended, though. Perhaps the reader is simply supposed to trust Greco's feelings.

Greco says that he gets increasing control over his body, using biofeedback techniques. Also, he says:

I acquire years of education each week, assembling ever larger patterns. I view the tapestry of human knowledge from a broader perspective than anyone ever has before; I can fill gaps in the design where scholars never even noticed a lack, and enrich the texture in places that they felt were complete.

And more:

I'm designing a new language. I've reached the limits of conventional languages, and now they frustrate my arrests to progress further.

Greco injects the stolen ampule of hormone K. Undreamed-of changes continue. Then Greco becomes aware that there is another being like him, a man named Reynolds. "I am a lover of beauty, he of humanity," says Greco. "Each feels that the other has ignored great possibilities." Could they work together or must they compete?

A fine story. In addition to being chosen by Asimov's readers as their favorite novelette to appear in the magazine in 1991, it was also nominated for a "Best Novelette" Hugo Award. When I first read it some years ago, I loved it. I still like it very much, but now I believe there are flaws. The first is intrinsic; to be consistent, the last section of the story should be in Greco's "new language." Obviously, this is not possible. Also, I honestly don't know whether Greco is intended to be sane or not, or whether that is even relevant.

Many of the people posting comments about "Understand" here on Goodreads mention this story's resemblance to a much earlier tale of greatly increased intelligence, "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes. I believe that "Algernon" is a somewhat better, more moving story than "Understand."

And a quote from the story "It Opens the Sky" by Theodore Sturgeon:

You don't, you just don't increase intelligence by a factor of five and fail to see that people must be kind to one another.

I would like to believe that statement is true.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short story in Stories of your life and others

This story revolves around a person who receives an experimental drug to regenerate his brain function while in a coma. However, instead of just fixing his brain damage, the drug increases his mental capabilities to extraordinary levels.

I enjoyed this little story. The concept isn't especially new, but the extreme, sci-fi levels the author took the idea to were interesting. While believability flys out the window in the second half of the story, the ideas that the author explored from there on were thought-provoking. Also especially enjoyed the ending.

[Rakesh M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ted Chiang at his best again, here he plays around the human mind. This short story is brilliant and quickpaced to read. Elements from his other stories such as The Arrival(Story of your life), Exhalation, ... can be seen. Although this is one of his first works it is quite mature and well thought out.

[Sascha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the evolution of the language as the story and his abilities progressed. Thus it's only natural that his thoughts get a bit too convoluted in the end but still, could've had a better ending. Still really good though.

[Alberto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read immediately after "Godel,Escher,Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid" to see what a genius can do with the concepts expounded in that book. Mindblowing.

[Dato Samniashvili · Rating 5 out of 5]

"მხსნელს პრაგმატიზმი უფრო შეეფერება ვიდრე ესთეტიზმი"

[Agoue · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most interesting things I ever read. It is what "The Dark Fields"/(limitless) could have been. 6/5 stars highly recommended

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too much like Flowers for Algernon. But the ending was totally satisfying! I just wish that one of the 'uplifted' had been a woman, because, why not? And then it would be different from the classic. I read the copy preserved on the wayback machine.

[Alice Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

i did not in fact understand.

this was pretty cool though. i could never write something this clever.

[Issy · Rating 2 out of 5]

for someone who is trying to achieve total self awareness, he failed to recognised his twatish personality (2.75)

[Sonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a trip. Neurología y política para mis neuronas nuevas.

[Colm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whadya know?

[Varnavas Flourentzou · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.8

[Drew Meisel · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this short story, it tells the story of a man who undergoes experimental brain healing drugs after nearly dying from oxygen deprivation. Following this, he mentally ascends to heights never imaged.

This book was fantastic! From the first two pages I was hooked and I felt as though things got more interesting with each turn of the page. It has elements of mystery and then ends with a battle of the minds. I have some bias because I enjoy things that are battle of intellects such as Breaking Bad and Death Note. However, this book took the idea of that and put it on steroids.

This concept was so well done and I truly hope they can make this into a Black Mirror episode or something someday. I think anyone would enjoy this book

[Lavi · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half is just like Flowers for Algernon but gets weirder as it progresses, the second half was so beyond the realm of normal that it started to remind me a lot of Dune, the "Enhanced" people reading a lot like Dunes mentats.

Engaging, but the ending was kind of meh