Grok means to understand so thoroughly that the observer becomes a part of the observed — to merge, blend, intermarry, lose identity in group experience. ~ Robert A. Heinlein

Grok /ˈɡrɒk/ is a word coined by Robert A. Heinlein for his 1961 science-fiction novel, Stranger in a Strange Land, to indicate a concept of self transcendent experience and emergent identification beyond those of many "subject-object" assumptions. It has since become a widely used word to indicate intense or profound understanding.

Quotes

"Grok" means "to drink." ~ Robert A. Heinlein

• Can you sniff/sense/feel/grok the very thing you covet‥and secretly fear?
  • David Brin, in Heaven's Reach (1998), p. 410

• Grok means to understand so thoroughly that the observer becomes a part of the observed — to merge, blend, intermarry, lose identity in group experience. It means almost everything that we mean by religion, philosophy, and science — and it means as little to us (because of our Earthling assumptions) as color means to a blind man.
  • Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land (1961)

• There was so much to grok, so little to grok from.
  • Robert A. Heinlein, in Stranger in a Strange Land (1961), Valentine Michael Smith, in "His Preposterous Heritage"

• "Grok" means "to drink."
  • Robert A. Heinlein, in Stranger in a Strange Land (1961), Valentine Michael Smith, in "His Preposterous Heritage"

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