Isaac Asimov? Leonard Nimoy? Allen Ginsberg? Jane Kramer? Donald A. Wollheim? Chester Whitehorn? Ric Ocasek? Greg Hawkes? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Nowadays technological changes are occurring with vertiginous rapidity, and I am reminded of statements like these: We live in a science-fiction age. Yesterday’s fantasy is already today’s fact. There’s nothing to be learned …
Category Archives: Isaac Asimov
Science Gathers Knowledge Faster Than Society Gathers Wisdom
Isaac Asimov? Michio Kaku? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Science has been extraordinarily successful in making impressive discoveries. Yet, humankind’s thoughtfulness and judgement have been severely tested by the new insights and capabilities that have emerged. A prominent science fiction author said: Science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom. Would you please help me to …
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Milli-Helen: The Quantity of Beauty Required To Launch Exactly One Ship
Isaac Asimov? W. A. H. Rushton? R. C. Winton? Edgar J. Westbury? Christopher Marlowe? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Standards of beauty are notoriously subjective and variable. Different qualities are prized over time, and distinct cultures value divergent attributes. In the domain of Greek mythology, Helen of Troy was the most beautiful woman in the world. …
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“Only Six Months To Live. What Would You Do Then?” “Type Faster”
Isaac Asimov? Barbara Walters? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: An interviewer decided to challenge a popular and prolific author with the specter of mortality. What would the energetic scribbler do when given a prognosis of death within a year asked the interviewer. The preternaturally fixated author replied, “Type faster”. Would you please help me to identify …
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It Is Easy To Predict an Automobile in 1880; It Is Very Hard To Predict a Traffic Problem
Frederik Pohl? Robert Heinlein? Isaac Asimov? Connie Willis? Ed Bryant? George Zebrowski? Ben Bova? Robert J. Sawyer? Sam Moskowitz? Dear Quote Investigator: Predicting the primary effects of a new technology is difficult but feasible. Anticipating all the secondary effects is nearly impossible. Here are two statements of a viewpoint that has achieved popularity amongst science …
The Fellow Who Thinks He Knows It All Is Especially Annoying To Those of Us Who Do
Isaac Asimov? Harold Coffin? Unitarian Church Bulletin? Robert Reisner? Joey Adams? Milton Berle? Robert K. Mueller? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Know-it-alls are eager to assert their expertise on all subjects. I love the following comical reaction to grandiose egotism: Those who believe they know everything are a great nuisance to those of us who do. …
Your Assumptions Are Your Windows On the World. Scrub Them Off Every Once In a While, Or the Light Won’t Come In
Isaac Asimov? Alan Alda? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The assumptions we make about the world transform the way we perceive it; hence, we should periodically challenge our own assumptions. A quotation that makes this point and uses windows metaphorically was crafted by either science fiction writer Isaac Asimov or actor Alan Alda. Would you please …
Part of the Inhumanity of the Computer Is That Once It Is Competently Programmed and Working Smoothly—It Is Completely Honest
Quotation: Part of the inhumanity of the computer is that once it is competently programmed and working smoothly—it is completely honest. Creator: Isaac Asimov, bestselling author of science fiction and science books Context: The book “Change! Seventy-One Glimpses of the Future” contained a series of short speculative essays detailing Isaac Asimov’s visions of the future. …
If We’re Lucky, Robots Might Decide To Keep Us as Pets
Isaac Asimov? Marvin Minsky? Paul Saffo? Edward Fredkin? Bruce Sterling? Dear Quote Investigator: Reportedly, a top researcher in artificial intelligence once said something like: Humans will be lucky if superintelligent robots treat them as pets. At some point a grim elaboration was appended: If humans are unlucky, they will be treated as food. Would you …
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Never Think That You’re Not Good Enough
Anthony Trollope? Isaac Asimov? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Recently, I saw a tweet ascribing the following words to the popular Victorian era English novelist Anthony Trollope: Above all else, never think you’re not good enough. Curiously, when I searched for a citation I found that it was also ascribed to the science fiction master Isaac …