We used to have lots of questions to which there were no answers. Now, with the computer, there are lots of answers to which we haven't thought up questions.
Interpretation
The advent of computers has shifted our curiosity from seeking answers to generating insightful questions.
Peter Ustinov's quote reflects on the transformative impact of computers on human inquiry. In the past, many questions remained unanswered, indicating a gap in knowledge and understanding. However, with the vast information available through computers, we now have an abundance of answers, yet this has led to a new challenge: the necessity to formulate meaningful questions that can harness this wealth of information effectively.
In practice
In a technology seminar, one could use this quote to emphasize the importance of asking the right questions in the age of information.
Marriage is like a three-speed gearbox - affection, friendship, love. It is not advisable to crash your gears and go right through to love straightaway. You need to ease your way through. The basis of love is respect, and that needs to be learned from affection and friendship.
I'm convinced there's a small room in the attic of the Foreign Office where future diplomats are taught to stammer.
I imagine hell like this: Italian punctuality, German humour and English wine.
Parents are the bones on which children cut their teeth.
Because they have been in love they have survived everything that life could throw at them, even their own failures.
Corruption is nature's way of restoring our faith in democracy.
I've said some stupid things and some wrong things, but not that. No one involved in computers would ever say that a certain amount of memory is enough for all time.
People are so bad at driving cars that computers don't have to be that good to be much better. Any time you stand in line at the D.M.V. and look around, you're like, Oh, my God, I wish all these people were replaced by computer drivers.
The first man-made satellite to orbit the earth was named Sputnik. The first living creature in space was Laika. The first rocket to the Moon carried a red flag. The first photograph of the far side of the Moon was made with a Soviet camera. If a man orbits the earth this year his name will be Ivan.
If I had time and a hammer, I'd track down every bootleg copy and smash it.
What we are finding out now is that there are not only limits to growth but also to technology and that we cannot allow technology to go on without public consent.
These days, you have the option of staying home, blogging in your underwear, and not having your words mangled. I think I like the direction things are headed.
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