--- title: "3 Breakthrough Quotes By Steven Johnson" description: "3 Breakthrough quotes by Steven Johnson. Plus more from Steven Johnson and more Breakthrough sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7a/steven-johnson-9014_biased_we-are-strangely-biased-as-individuals-a_509116.png" --- > [We are strangely biased, as individuals and media institutions, to focus on big sudden changes, whether good or bad - amazing breakthroughs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/we-are-strangely-biased-as-individuals-and-media-institutions-to/) [Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7a/steven-johnson-9014_biased_we-are-strangely-biased-as-individuals-a_509116.png) > [This is how great intellectual breakthroughs usually happen in practice. It is rarely the isolated genius having a eureka moment alone in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/this-is-how-great-intellectual-breakthroughs-usually-happen-in/) [Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/538/steven-johnson-9014_age_this-is-how-great-intellectual-breakthro_2103179.jpg) > [What you end up seeing when you look at history is that people who have been good at pushing the boundaries of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/what-you-end-up-seeing-when-you-look-at-history-is-that-people-who/) [Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/890/steven-johnson-9014_boundaries_what-you-end-up-seeing-when-you-look-at_2927034.png) ## Other authors on Breakthrough - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b005/author-bill-gates-17911.jpg) Bill Gates 11 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breakthrough/bill-gates/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b010/author-germany-kent-38328.jpg) Germany Kent 10 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breakthrough/germany-kent/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b023/author-tony-robbins-91869.jpg) Tony Robbins 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breakthrough/tony-robbins/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b014/author-joyce-meyer-53800.jpg) Joyce Meyer 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breakthrough/joyce-meyer/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b019/author-peter-diamandis-74795.jpg) Peter Diamandis 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breakthrough/peter-diamandis/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b016/author-marc-andreessen-63123.jpg) Marc Andreessen 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breakthrough/marc-andreessen/) - [Alex Rivera 5 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breakthrough/alex-rivera/) ## More by Steven Johnson > [Most new movements start this way: hundreds or thousands of individuals and groups, working in different fields and different locations, start thinking about change…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/most-new-movements-start-this-way-hundreds-or-thousands-of/) [Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/) > [“Edison invented the lightbulb the way Steve Jobs invented the MP3 player: he wasn’t the first, but he was the first to make something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/edison-invented-the-lightbulb-the-way-steve-jobs-invented-the-mp3/) [Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/) > [“Early risers strolling along the Thames would see the toshers wading through the muck of low tide, dressed almost comically in flowing velveteen coats,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/early-risers-strolling-along-the-thames-would-see-the-toshers-wading/) [Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/) > [“Build a tangled bank.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/build-a-tangled-bank/) [Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/) > [If we didn't have genetic mutations, we wouldn't have us. You need error to open the door to the adjacent possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/if-we-didn-t-have-genetic-mutations-we-wouldn-t-have-us-you-need/) [Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/) > [The problem is, there are definitely some genuinely lame things on television, and there's more at the bottom of the barrel, because the barrel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/the-problem-is-there-are-definitely-some-genuinely-lame-things-on/) [Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/) > [Organizations that empower folks further down the chain or try to get rid of the big hierarchal chains and allow decision making to happen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/organizations-that-empower-folks-further-down-the-chain-or-try-to-get/) [Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/) > [“The birth of the civil rights movement was intimately bound up in the spread of jazz music throughout the United States. It was, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/the-birth-of-the-civil-rights-movement-was-intimately-bound-up-in-the/) [Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/) > [Popular culture, on average, has been growing more cognitively challenging over the past thirty years, not less. Despite everything you hear about declining standards…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/popular-culture-on-average-has-been-growing-more-cognitively/) [Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/) > [“From am overall eclsyste,s perspective, if you're going to have 10million human beings trying to share an environment with other life-forms, it's much better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/from-am-overall-eclsyste-s-perspective-if-you-re-going-to-have/) [Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/) > [Nothing really says ... interactivity - which was so exciting and captures the real, the Web Zeitgeist of 1995 - than 'Click here for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/nothing-really-says-interactivity-which-was-so-exciting-and-captures/) [Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/) > [“An innovation, or cluster of innovations, in one field ends up triggering changes that seem to belong to a different domain altogether.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/an-innovation-or-cluster-of-innovations-in-one-field-ends-up/) [Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/) > [Every childhood has its talismans, the sacred objects that look innocuous enough to the outside world, but that trigger an onslaught of vivid memories…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/every-childhood-has-its-talismans-the-sacred-objects-that-look/) [Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/) > [I suspect millions of people from my generation probably have comparable stories to tell: if not of sports simulations then of Dungeons & Dragons,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/i-suspect-millions-of-people-from-my-generation-probably-have/) [Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/) > [“It is a great testimony to the connectedness of life on earth that the fates of the largest and the tiniest life should be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/it-is-a-great-testimony-to-the-connectedness-of-life-on-earth-that/) [Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breakthrough/steven-johnson/#itemlist", "name": "3 Breakthrough Quotes By Steven Johnson", "numberOfItems": 3, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We are strangely biased, as individuals and media institutions, to focus on big sudden changes, whether good or bad - amazing breakthroughs, such as a new gadget that gets released, or catastrophic failures, like a plane crash.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Steven Johnson" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/we-are-strangely-biased-as-individuals-and-media-institutions-to/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7a/steven-johnson-9014_biased_we-are-strangely-biased-as-individuals-a_509116.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7a/steven-johnson-9014_biased_we-are-strangely-biased-as-individuals-a_509116.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7a/steven-johnson-9014_biased_we-are-strangely-biased-as-individuals-a_509116.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We are strangely biased, as individuals and media institutions, to focus on big sudden changes, whether good…” — Steven Johnson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "This is how great intellectual breakthroughs usually happen in practice. 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