Technology Quotes

It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity. ~Albert Einstein

When I did some studies of the anthropic cosmological principle when I was at Penn State, this idea came up. Much of the research I did was related to the theorized development of sentient societies throughout the known universe and whether they would be able to get through the discovery of atomic energy without self-destruction. In the grand scheme of things, there were something like 5 levels of theorized development and level 0 could be surpassed if the society didn't self-destruct. Level 1 was achieved by harnessing the mass of the inhabited planet to increase knowledge in the form of information bits, or data. Level 2 was achieved by using the mass of other available planets, asteroids, and moons. Level 3 was to use the mass of the galaxy. Level 4 was something crazy on the lines of being able to actually situate celestial bodies in the galaxy to one's will for the sake of art.

It's been a while. I could be wrong.


Technological progress has merely provided us with more efficient means for going backwards. ~Aldous Huxley

I had a professor of medieval philosophy who argued that we are actually not better off than we were in the Middle Ages simply because we have all of the modern conveniences that we enjoy. He felt that we're actually in worse shape spiritually than we ever have been because of these conveniences.


We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology. ~Carl Sagan

I've always admired Carl Sagan for making it cool to talk about the universe and all of its infinite elegance. I like this quote because it lends to what we've been talking about in class with regards to the fact that only a handful of people, mostly White and Asian men, are designing the world around us while we consume it without much knowledge or even curiosity about how or why it's being developed.


Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. ~Arthur C. Clarke

LOVE Arthur C. Clarke. He wrote one of my favorite books, "Childhood's End." Although I have yet to see the video of the guy on TED with the $350 necklace which can project images and give instant information to the wearer, I figure it's a perfect example of this quote from the reaction that many had in class.