Everyone finds justification for his or her views in logic and analysis, but a personal philosophy often emerges from some archaic part of the mind, an early idea of how the world should be.
George PackerRead
The next great technology revolution might be around the corner, but it won't automatically improve most people's lives. That will depend on politics, which is indeed ugly but also inescapable.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Technological advancements alone won't enhance lives; political actions will determine the outcome.
This quote highlights the critical intersection of technology and politics, suggesting that while new technologies may offer potential, their actual impact on society will be shaped by political decisions and their often contentious nature. It underscores the idea that innovation without supportive politics may not lead to meaningful improvements in people's lives.
Themes
TechnologyPoliticsInnovationSocietyChange
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion on the role of technology in education, you might say, 'Remember, the next great technology revolution might bring change, but as George Packer said, its impact will depend on politics.'
More from George Packer
All quotes βIdeology knows the answer before the question has been asked. Principles are something different: a set of values that have to be adapted to circumstances but not compromised away.
George PackerRead
At the heart of the matter is a battle between wish and fear. Fear generally proves stronger than a wish, but it leaves a taste of disappointment on the tongue.
George PackerRead
As America has grown less economically equal, a citizen's ability to move upward has fallen behind that of citizens in other Western democracies. We are no longer the country where anyone can become anything.
George PackerRead
The invisibility of work and workers in the digital age is as consequential as the rise of the assembly line and, later, the service economy.
George PackerRead
Abstract sympathy with the working class as an economic entity is easy, but the feeling can vanish on contact with actual members of the group, who often arrive with disturbing beliefs and powerful resentments - who might not sound or look like people urban progressives want to know.
George PackerRead
Similar quotes
Technological defeatism - a belief that, since a given technology is here to stay, there's nothing we can do about it other than get on with it and simply adjust our norms - is a persistent feature of social thought about technology. We'll come to pay for it very dearly.
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We did envision that some day the phone would be so small that you could hang it on your ear or even have it embedded under your skin.
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The social media platforms have taken over the distribution of news globally. They treat a lie the same way you would treat a fact.
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I may be just an empty flesh terminal reliant on technology for all my ideas, memories and relationships, but I am confident that all of that everything that makes me a unique human being is still out there somewhere, safe in a theoretical storage space owned by giant, multinational corporations.
Stephen ColbertRead
Machines are admirable and tyrannize only with the user's consent. Where, then, is the enemy? Not where the machine gives relief from drudgery but where human judgment abdicates. The smoothest machine-made product of the age is the organization man, for even the best organizing principle tends to corrupt, and the mechanical principle corrupts absolutely.
Jacques BarzunRead
We believe a truly new kind of game entertainment will not be realized unless there is a new way to connect a player to his game.
Satoru IwataRead