--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Those who incline to very strictly…" description: "\"Those who incline to very strictly utilitarian views may perhaps feel that the peculiar powers of the Analytical Engine bear upon questions of abstract..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc7/ada-lovelace-10853_abstract_those-who-incline-to-very-strictly-utili_278392.png" --- # Those who incline to very strictly utilitarian views may… ![“Those who incline to very strictly utilitarian views may perhaps feel that the peculiar powers of the Analytical Engine bear upon questions of abstract and speculative science rather than upon those involving everyday and ordinary human interests.” quote by Ada Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc7/ada-lovelace-10853_abstract_those-who-incline-to-very-strictly-utili_278392.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc7/ada-lovelace-10853_abstract_those-who-incline-to-very-strictly-utili_278392.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc7/ada-lovelace-10853_abstract_those-who-incline-to-very-strictly-utili_278392.png) > “Those who incline to very strictly utilitarian views may perhaps feel that the peculiar powers of the Analytical Engine bear upon questions of abstract and speculative science rather than upon those involving everyday and ordinary human interests.” [Ada Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-lovelace/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She warns that focusing only on utilitarian goals may overlook the broader scientific and imaginative possibilities of technology. **In simple terms:** Utility focus can miss deeper scientific value. Key Takeaway Balance practical use with curiosity. Themes technology ethics innovation Mood thoughtful critical Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - engineering education - AI development - public policy - science communication Key Concepts utilitarianism speculative science human impact Questions to Reflect On - How can we encourage speculative research alongside practical applications? - What responsibilities do creators have to broader societal impact? A Different Perspective Practical demands often dominate funding and attention, limiting exploratory research. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstract](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/) [Abstract Speculative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract-speculative-2705609/) [Analytical Engine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/analytical-engine-875232/) [Human](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human/) [Questions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/questions/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Speculative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speculative/) [Speculative Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speculative-science-2705608/) [Utilitarian Views](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/utilitarian-views-2705610/) [Who](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/who/) ## Related quotes > [The Analytical Engine is an embodying of the science of operations, constructed with peculiar reference to abstract number as the subject of those operations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ada-lovelace/the-analytical-engine-is-an-embodying-of-the-science-of-operations/) [Ada Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-lovelace/) > [ The Analytical Engine\] might act upon other things besides number, were objects found whose mutual fundamental relations could be expressed by those of the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ada-lovelace/the-analytical-engine-might-act-upon-other-things-besides-number-were/) [Ada Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-lovelace/) > [I have written occasionally on links between my scientific work and political thinking, but not much, because the links seem to me abstract and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/i-have-written-occasionally-on-links-between-my-scientific-work-and/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [“The same trend is noticeable in the scientific realm: research here is for its own sake far more than for the partial and fragmentary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ren-gu-non/the-same-trend-is-noticeable-in-the-scientific-realm-research-here-is/) [René Guénon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ren-gu-non/) > [For it is necessary in every practical science to proceed in a composite (i.e. deductive) manner. On the contrary in speculative science, it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-aquinas/for-it-is-necessary-in-every-practical-science-to-proceed-in-a/) [Thomas Aquinas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-aquinas/) > [In the case of the Analytical Engine, we have undoubtedly to lay out a certain capital of analytical labour in one particular line, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ada-lovelace/in-the-case-of-the-analytical-engine-we-have-undoubtedly-to-lay-out-a/) [Ada Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-lovelace/) > [In studying the action of the Analytical Engine, we find that the peculiar and independent nature of the considerations which in all mathematical analysis…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ada-lovelace/in-studying-the-action-of-the-analytical-engine-we-find-that-the/) [Ada Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-lovelace/) > [The Analytical Engine does not occupy common ground with mere 'calculating machines.' It holds a position wholly its own, and the considerations it suggests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ada-lovelace/the-analytical-engine-does-not-occupy-common-ground-with-mere/) [Ada Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-lovelace/) > [The Analytical Engine has no pretensions whatever to originate anything. It can do whatever we know how to order it to perform. It can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ada-lovelace/the-analytical-engine-has-no-pretensions-whatever-to-originate-4/) [Ada Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-lovelace/) > [The Analytical Engine has no pretensions whatever to originate anything. It can do whatever we know how to order it to perform.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ada-lovelace/the-analytical-engine-has-no-pretensions-whatever-to-originate-3/) [Ada Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-lovelace/) > [The Analytical Engine, on the contrary, can either add, subtract, multiply or divide with equal facility; and performs each of these four operations in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ada-lovelace/the-analytical-engine-on-the-contrary-can-either-add-subtract/) [Ada Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-lovelace/) > [The Analytical Engine has no pretensions whatever to originate anything. It can do whatever we know how to order it to perform... But it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ada-lovelace/the-analytical-engine-has-no-pretensions-whatever-to-originate/) [Ada Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-lovelace/) > [We may say most aptly that the Analytical Engine weaves algebraical patterns just as the Jacquard loom weaves flowers and leaves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ada-lovelace/we-may-say-most-aptly-that-the-analytical-engine-weaves-algebraical/) [Ada Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-lovelace/) > [“I find no flaw in your reasoning about the Analytical Engine; I admire it; but you are aware that it rests entirely on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-babbage/i-find-no-flaw-in-your-reasoning-about-the-analytical-engine-i-admire/) [Charles Babbage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-babbage/) > [The whole of the developments and operations of analysis are now capable of being executed by machinery ... As soon as an Analytical Engine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-babbage/the-whole-of-the-developments-and-operations-of-analysis-are-now/) [Charles Babbage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-babbage/) ## More by Ada Lovelace > [If you can't give me poetry, can't you give me poetical science?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ada-lovelace/if-you-can-t-give-me-poetry-can-t-you-give-me-poetical-science/) [Ada Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-lovelace/) > [The ideas which led to the Analytical Engine occurred in a manner wholly independent of any that were connected with the Difference Engine. These…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ada-lovelace/the-ideas-which-led-to-the-analytical-engine-occurred-in-a-manner/) [Ada Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-lovelace/) > [We may say most aptly that the Analytical Engine weaves algebraical patterns just as the Jacquard loom weaves flowers and leaves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ada-lovelace/we-may-say-most-aptly-that-the-analytical-engine-weaves-algebraical/) [Ada Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-lovelace/) > [Indeed we may consider the engine as the material and mechanical representative of analysis, and that our actual working powers in this department of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ada-lovelace/indeed-we-may-consider-the-engine-as-the-material-and-mechanical/) [Ada Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-lovelace/) > [This one fact implies everything; and it is scarcely necessary to point out, for instance, that while the Difference Engine can merely tabulate, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ada-lovelace/this-one-fact-implies-everything-and-it-is-scarcely-necessary-to/) [Ada Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-lovelace/) > [The Analytical Engine has no pretensions whatever to originate anything. It can do whatever we know how to order it to perform... But it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ada-lovelace/the-analytical-engine-has-no-pretensions-whatever-to-originate/) [Ada Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-lovelace/) > [In enabling mechanism to combine together general symbols in successions of unlimited variety and extent, a uniting link is established between the operations of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ada-lovelace/in-enabling-mechanism-to-combine-together-general-symbols-in/) [Ada Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-lovelace/) > [The object of the engine is in fact to give the utmost practical efficiency to the resources of numerical interpretations of the higher science…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ada-lovelace/the-object-of-the-engine-is-in-fact-to-give-the-utmost-practical/) [Ada Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-lovelace/) > [Secondly, figures, the symbols of numerical magnitude, are frequently also the symbols of operations, as when they are the indices of powers. Wherever terms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ada-lovelace/secondly-figures-the-symbols-of-numerical-magnitude-are-frequently/) [Ada Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-lovelace/) > [“The Analytical Engine weaves algebraic patterns, just as the Jacquard loom weaves flowers and leaves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ada-lovelace/the-analytical-engine-weaves-algebraic-patterns-just-as-the-jacquard/) [Ada Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-lovelace/) > [In considering any new subject, there is frequently a tendency, first, to overrate what we find to be already interesting or remarkable; and, secondly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ada-lovelace/in-considering-any-new-subject-there-is-frequently-a-tendency-first/) [Ada Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-lovelace/) > [ Many persons who are not conversant with mathematical studies imagine that because the business of \[Babbage’s Analytical Engine\] is to give its results in… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ada-lovelace/many-persons-who-are-not-conversant-with-mathematical-studies-imagine/) [Ada Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-lovelace/) > [I have my hopes, & very distinct ones, too, of one day getting cerebral phenomena such that I can put them into mathematical equations:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ada-lovelace/i-have-my-hopes-very-distinct-ones-too-of-one-day-getting-cerebral/) [Ada Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-lovelace/) > [It is however pretty evident, on general principles, that in devising for mathematical truths a new form in which to record and throw themselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ada-lovelace/it-is-however-pretty-evident-on-general-principles-that-in-devising/) [Ada Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-lovelace/) > [Owing to some peculiarity in my nervous system, I have perception of some things, which no one else has; or at least very few,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ada-lovelace/owing-to-some-peculiarity-in-my-nervous-system-i-have-perception-of/) [Ada Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-lovelace/) [Explore all 63 Ada Lovelace quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-lovelace/) ## More Abstract quotes > [Love is like that, fragile and light. No wonder it rests upon our hearts in intangible moments, bids us follow fleeting thoughts and ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-is-like-that-fragile-and-light-no-wonder-it-rests-upon-our/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Wisdom is the abstract of the past, but beauty is the promise of the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/wisdom-is-the-abstract-of-the-past-but-beauty-is-the-promise-of-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Where human eyes have never seen, where human beings have never been, I build a world of abstract dreams, and I wait for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/where-human-eyes-have-never-seen-where-human-beings-have-never-been-i/) [Sun Ra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-ra/) > [A little too abstract, a little too wise, It is time for us to kiss the earth again, It is time to let the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robinson-jeffers/a-little-too-abstract-a-little-too-wise-it-is-time-for-us-to-kiss-the/) [Robinson Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robinson-jeffers/) > [“Happy is very abstract, you can't touch it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-veal/happy-is-very-abstract-you-can-t-touch-it/) [Julius Veal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-veal/) > [Abstract Expressionism was invented by New York drunks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-mitchell/abstract-expressionism-was-invented-by-new-york-drunks/) [Joni Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-mitchell/) > [The more horrible this world (as today, for instance), the more abstract our art, whereas a happy world brings forth an art of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/the-more-horrible-this-world-as-today-for-instance-the-more-abstract/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [Describing comic sensibility is near impossible. It's sort of an abstract silliness, that sometimes the joke isn't the star.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-carvey/describing-comic-sensibility-is-near-impossible-it-s-sort-of-an/) [Dana Carvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-carvey/) > [For people of color - especially African Americans - the idea that racist cops might frame members of their community is no abstract notion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/for-people-of-color-especially-african-americans-the-idea-that-racist/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [The word of the Lord never comes to us as an opinion, no attempt is made to support it by argument, it comes as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-w-ivins/the-word-of-the-lord-never-comes-to-us-as-an-opinion-no-attempt-is/) [Anthony W. Ivins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-w-ivins/) > [A mobile is an abstract sculpture made chiefly out of sheet metal, steel rods, wire and wood. Some or all of these elements move,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-calder/a-mobile-is-an-abstract-sculpture-made-chiefly-out-of-sheet-metal/) [Alexander Calder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-calder/) > [I'm this superphilosophical kind of person. 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