If we can put a man on the moon and sequence the human genome, we should be able to devise something close to a universal digital public library.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the feasibility of creating a universal digital library, given our technological advancements.
Peter Singer highlights that with the incredible achievements in technology, such as space exploration and genetic sequencing, it is entirely reasonable to expect the creation of a universal digital library. This library would democratize access to knowledge, reflecting our capability to harness technological innovation for the public good.
In practice
In a speech about the future of education, I could use this quote to advocate for the creation of accessible online resources.
The belief that the animals exist because God created them - and that he created them so we can better meet our needs - is contrary to our scientific understanding of evolution and, of course, to the fossil record, which shows the existence of non-human primates and other animals millions of years before there were any human beings at all.
Pain and suffering are in themselves bad and should be prevented or minimized, irrespective of the race, sex, or species of the being that suffers. How bad a pain is depends on how intense it is and how long it lasts, but pain of the same intensity and duration are equally bad, whether felt by humans or animals.
What is faith? If you believe something because you have evidence for it, or rational argument, that is not faith. So faith seems to be believing something despite the absence of evidence or rational argument for it.
Almost everybody accepts that some people can be killed. 'The concept of 'brain death' - the belief that people on respirators can legitimately be killed - shows that.
If we all think only of our own interests, we are headed for collective disaster - just look at what we are doing to our planet's climate.
Even in the era of AIDS, sex raises no unique moral issues at all. Decisions about sex may involve considerations about honesty, concern for others, prudence, and so on, but there is nothing special about sex in this respect, for the same could be said of decisions about driving a car. (In fact, the moral issues raised by driving a car, both from an environmental and from a safety point of view, are much more serious than those raised by sex.)
With artificial intelligence, we are summoning the demon. In all those stories where there's the guy with the pentagram and the holy water, it's like, yeah, he's sure he can control the demon. Didn't work out.
... the Kindle is a "roach motel" device: its license terms and DRM ensure that books can check in, but they can't check out.
Technology should do the hard work, so you can get on and live your life. We're only at one percent of what's possible, and we're moving slow relative to the opportunity we have.
I confess that in 1901 I said to my brother Orville that man would not fly for fifty years.
Digital presentation is just television in public; we're all just getting together and watching TV without pointing the remote control at the screen.
Not only have computers changed the way we think, they've also discovered what makes humans think - or think we're thinking. At least enough to predict and even influence it.
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