My fifth entry in this “30 Day Challenge” is my favorite quote.
My first favorite quote that stuck with me for the longest time is the following:
A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.
It’s from my favorite book.
But there’s one quote that has stuck with me since I first read it, and is also by the author of my favorite book, Douglas Adams. This one is from a book called “The Salmon of Doubt“, published posthumously in 2002:
I’ve come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies:
- Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works.
- Anything that’s invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it.
- Anything invented after you’re thirty-five is against the natural order of things.
Having been in the technology field for so long in my previous career, I found both axioms to be ever so true while observing those around me attempting to either create or to use technology.
And I hope I remain technologically open-minded enough to never fall in that last category.
Until next time...
Amen to that second quote and your thoughts about #3. I find that I’m not viewing new tech as against the order of things as much as just too annoying to bother figuring out. But then, I’m not in the demographic that advertisers even CARE about, so it doesn’t matter one way or another.
I’m hoping that since I’ve always been a “tinkerer” I will remain open to tech. I hope. I’m sure one day when the electricity runs out, I’ll have to find something else to keep my idle hands busy with.
those are good quotes indeed !
How old are you?
Yes, the “reaction to technologies” does hit a nerve. I just got a Blackberry for the first time, and I’m having a bit of trouble adapting to it. I’m 48. I feel old!
I’m 36.
Having come from the IT field though, I hope I can push that age boundary out for myself. I don’t want to be that problem user. 😉