Democracy divides people into workers and loafers. It makes no provision for those who have no time to work.
Karl KrausRead
The mission of the press is to spread culture while destroying the attention span.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The press has a dual role of disseminating culture but may also diminish our ability to focus and engage deeply.
Karl Kraus critiques the role of the press in society by highlighting its paradoxical function. While the press is tasked with promoting culture and providing knowledge, its methods can often lead to a reduction in people's attention spans, making it harder for them to fully appreciate and engage with the content being presented. This tension calls into question the balance between information dissemination and the quality of engagement with that information.
Themes
PressCultureAttention SpanMediaDissemination
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture discussing media literacy, one might use this quote to emphasize the importance of critical thinking.
More from Karl Kraus
All quotes βWar: first, one hopes to win; then one expects the enemy to lose; then, one is satisfied that he too is suffering; in the end, one is surprised that everyone has lost.
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Stupidity is an elemental force for which no earthquake is a match.
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Experiences are savings which a miser puts aside. Wisdom is an inheritance which a wastrel cannot exhaust.
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Sexuality poorly repressed unsettles some families; well repressed, it unsettles the whole world.
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My unconscious knows more about the consciousness of the psychologist than his consciousness knows about my unconscious.
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