The sun, the moon and the stars would have disappeared long ago... had they happened to be within the reach of predatory human hands.
Havelock EllisRead
The greatest task before civilization at present is to make machines what they ought to be, the slaves, instead of the masters of men.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of controlling technology rather than being controlled by it.
Havelock Ellis's quote highlights the critical challenge society faces in ensuring that machines serve humanity rather than dominate it. As technology advances, it is crucial to maintain human oversight and ethical considerations to prevent becoming subservient to the very creations meant to enhance our lives.
In practice
In a debate on technology's role in our lives, this quote can help illustrate the need for responsible innovation.
The sun, the moon and the stars would have disappeared long ago... had they happened to be within the reach of predatory human hands.
Life is livable because we know that wherever we go most of the people we meet will be restrained in their actions towards us by an almost instinctive network of taboos.
To live remains an art which everyone must learn, and which no one can teach.
The absence of flaw in beauty is itself a flaw.
Every man of genius sees the world at a different angle from his fellows, and there is his tragedy.
It is on our failures that we base a new and different and better success.
Languages evolve; ideas blend together. In computer technology, we all stand on others' shoulders.
Today, the smartphone in your pocket has a high-quality digital camera. Everyone - not just artists - is a photographer, and the explosion of photos taken annually proves it.
I said the screen will kill the reader, and it has: the movie screen in the beginning, the television screen, and now the coup de grace, the computer screen.
Most people assume that once security software is installed, they're protected. This isn't the case. It's critical that companies be proactive in thinking about security on a long-term basis.
No matter how invasive the technologies at their disposal, marketers and pollsters never come to terms with the living process through which people choose products or candidates; they are looking at what people just bought or thought, and making calculations based on that after-the-fact data.
We cannot idealize technology. Technology is only and always the reflection of our own imagination, and its uses must be conditioned by our own values. Technology can help cure diseases, but we can prevent a lot of diseases by old-fashioned changes in behavior.
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