The reverse side of the coin in having this extraordinary ability to go anywhere, is that no one anywhere is remote any more.
Interpretation
Advancements in technology allow for global connectivity, reducing physical remoteness but also affecting privacy and solitude.
David Attenborough's quote reflects on the impact of modern communication technologies that allow individuals to connect effortlessly across vast distances. While this extraordinary ability fosters global relationships and understanding, it simultaneously erases the sense of remoteness, leading to implications for personal space and privacy that society must navigate.
In practice
In a seminar discussing digital communication, this quote can highlight the paradox of connectivity.
I don't think we are going to become extinct. We're very clever and extremely resourceful - and we will find ways of preserving ourselves, of that I'm sure. But whether our lives will be as rich as they are now is another question.
I'm against this huge globalisation on the basis of economic advantage.
I would be absolutely astounded if population growth and industrialisation and all the stuff we are pumping into the atmosphere hadn't changed the climatic balance. Of course it has. There is no valid argument for denial.
There's a small worm called Loa Loa Filariasis. This parasite can survive in one environment exclusively- namely, underneath the skin and inside the eyes of human beings. Children and the elderly in tropical regions (usually the poorest) are the most widely affected. A painful, slow death is virtually certain. The worm can actually live in the host for 17 years before the host finally dies.
The fundamental issue is the moral issue.
It is vital that there is a narrator figure whom people believe. That's why I never do commercials. If I started saying that margarine was the same as motherhood, people would think I was a liar.
I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them.
My number one piece of advice is: you should learn how to program.
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.
If you write a blog post, you've got something to say; you're not just creating words and synonyms. We'd like the computers to actually pick up on that semantic meaning.
Who wants a stylus. You have to get em and put em away, and you lose em. Yuck. Nobody wants a stylus.
We no longer think of chairs as technology; we just think of them as chairs. But there was a time when we hadn't worked out how many legs chairs should have, how tall they should be, and they would often 'crash' when we tried to use them.
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