--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Unfortunately, we-especially in the…" description: "\"“Unfortunately, we-especially in the United States-have become increasingly mechanized, so that today we feel very strongly that if we can take anythin..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/576/ashley-montagu-9564_human-heart_unfortunately-we-especially-in-the-unite_1756563.jpg" --- # Unfortunately, we-especially in the United States-have… ![“Unfortunately, we-especially in the United States-have become increasingly mechanized, so that today we feel very strongly that if we can take anything out of human hands and especially out of the human heart and put it through a machine, we have made progress. Indeed, we flatter ourselves that we…” quote by Ashley Montagu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/576/ashley-montagu-9564_human-heart_unfortunately-we-especially-in-the-unite_1756563.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/576/ashley-montagu-9564_human-heart_unfortunately-we-especially-in-the-unite_1756563.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/576/ashley-montagu-9564_human-heart_unfortunately-we-especially-in-the-unite_1756563.jpg) > ““Unfortunately, we-especially in the United States-have become increasingly mechanized, so that today we feel very strongly that if we can take anything out of human hands and especially out of the human heart and put it through a machine, we have made progress. Indeed, we flatter ourselves that we can make machines that think like human beings, while not always pausing to reflect that in the process we have also succeeded in making millions of human beings who can feel and think like machines. It is a sorry reflection.”” [Ashley Montagu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-montagu/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote warns that over‑reliance on technology can dehumanize people, turning emotions and thoughts into mechanistic processes. **In simple terms:** Technology can strip humanity from us. Key Takeaway Beware of letting machines replace human judgment. Themes technology humanity automation ethics Mood concerned critical Type philosophical cautionary When to use this quote - education - policy making - personal relationships - media consumption Key Concepts dehumanization mechanization reflection Questions to Reflect On - How does technology affect your sense of self? - What boundaries should protect human intuition? A Different Perspective Machines cannot fully replicate human consciousness or moral nuance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Human beings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-beings/) [Human heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-heart/) [Human nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-nature/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Self-Awareness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-awareness-2/) [Society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society/) ## Related quotes > [In the increasingly mechanized, automated, cybernated environment of the modern world a cold, bodiless world of wheels, smooth plastic surfaces, tubes, pushbuttons, transistors, computers,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eldridge-cleaver/in-the-increasingly-mechanized-automated-cybernated-environment-of/) [Eldridge Cleaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eldridge-cleaver/) > [As machines get to be more and more like men, men will come to be more like machines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-wood-krutch/as-machines-get-to-be-more-and-more-like-men-men-will-come-to-be-more/) [Joseph Wood Krutch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-wood-krutch/) > [Education makes machines which act like men and produces men who act like machines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/education-makes-machines-which-act-like-men-and-produces-men-who-act/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [People are not machines, but in all situations where they are given the opportunity, they will act like machines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-bertalanffy/people-are-not-machines-but-in-all-situations-where-they-are-given/) [Ludwig von Bertalanffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-bertalanffy/) > [“All living things have energy. Our bodies are like machines in that it needs maintenance and care. - STRONG: Powerful Philosophy for Timeless Thoughts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kailin-gow/all-living-things-have-energy-our-bodies-are-like-machines-in-that-it/) [Kailin Gow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kailin-gow/) > [Work in the morning, evening, work, work in office, at home, work, life has become like the machines that, I want to go on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/work-in-the-morning-evening-work-work-in-office-at-home-work-life-has/) Mak\_786 > [Machines help us do things more quickly and efficiently, but they can also destroy some community activities. Machines can also throw the weakest people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-vanier/machines-help-us-do-things-more-quickly-and-efficiently-but-they-can/) [Jean Vanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-vanier/) > [“They found these men were not human. More like machines. An intra-species predator that lived amongst its prey. Undetected, unknown and unchangeable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-m-farrugia/they-found-these-men-were-not-human-more-like-machines-an-intra/) [Nathan M. Farrugia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-m-farrugia/) > [I am more concerned about a world led by people, who think like machines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haim-harari/i-am-more-concerned-about-a-world-led-by-people-who-think-like/) [Haim Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haim-harari/) > [You cannot love a car the way you love a horse. The horse brings out human feelings the way machines cannot do. Things like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/you-cannot-love-a-car-the-way-you-love-a-horse-the-horse-brings-out/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [“It is not my aim to surprise or shock you—but the simplest way I can summarize is to say that there are now in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-simon/it-is-not-my-aim-to-surprise-or-shock-you-but-the-simplest-way-i-can/) [Herbert Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-simon/) > [“We have built cities that scrape the sky, machines that think and a global network that allows people to yell at each other at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-kyriacou/we-have-built-cities-that-scrape-the-sky-machines-that-think-and-a/) [Natalie Kyriacou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-kyriacou/) > [“We are not thinking machines that feel, we are feeling machines that think”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ant-nio-r-dam-sio/we-are-not-thinking-machines-that-feel-we-are-feeling-machines-that/) [António R. Damásio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ant-nio-r-dam-sio/) > [“Our most important mechanical inventions are not machines that do what humans do better, but machines that can do things we can’t do at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/our-most-important-mechanical-inventions-are-not-machines-that-do/) [Kevin Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kelly/) > [We are not thinking machines that feel; rather, we are feeling machines that think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-damasio/we-are-not-thinking-machines-that-feel-rather-we-are-feeling-machines/) [Antonio Damasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-damasio/) ## More by Ashley Montagu > [Love is the supreme form of communication. In the hierarchy of needs, love stands as the supreme developing agent of the humanity of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-montagu/love-is-the-supreme-form-of-communication-in-the-hierarchy-of-needs/) [Ashley Montagu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-montagu/) > [The whole of life is a journey toward youthful old age, toward self-contemplation, love, gaiety, and, in a fundamental sense, the most gratifying time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-montagu/the-whole-of-life-is-a-journey-toward-youthful-old-age-toward-self/) [Ashley Montagu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-montagu/) > [Human beings are the only creatures who are able to behave irrationally in the name of reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-montagu/human-beings-are-the-only-creatures-who-are-able-to-behave/) [Ashley Montagu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-montagu/) > [Human communication, 'as the saying goes, is a clash of symbols' it covers a multitude of signs. But it is more than media and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-montagu/human-communication-as-the-saying-goes-is-a-clash-of-symbols-it/) [Ashley Montagu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-montagu/) > [There have been some medical schools in which somewhere along the assembly line, a faculty member has informed the students, not so much by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-montagu/there-have-been-some-medical-schools-in-which-somewhere-along-the/) [Ashley Montagu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-montagu/) > [An intelligence that is not humane is the most dangerous thing in the world .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-montagu/an-intelligence-that-is-not-humane-is-the-most-dangerous-thing-in-the/) [Ashley Montagu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-montagu/) > [“It neither kills outright nor inflicts apparent physical harm, yet the extent of its destructive toll is already greater than that of any war,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-montagu/it-neither-kills-outright-nor-inflicts-apparent-physical-harm-yet-the/) [Ashley Montagu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-montagu/) > [It is the mark of the cultured man that he is aware of the fact that equality is an ethical and not a biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-montagu/it-is-the-mark-of-the-cultured-man-that-he-is-aware-of-the-fact-that/) [Ashley Montagu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-montagu/) > [Girls marry for love. Boys marry because of a chronic irritation that causes them to gravitate in the direction of objects with certain curvilinear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-montagu/girls-marry-for-love-boys-marry-because-of-a-chronic-irritation-that/) [Ashley Montagu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-montagu/) > [The indications are that swearing preceded the development of cursing. That is, expletives, maledictions, exclamations, and imprecations of the immediately explosive or vituperative kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-montagu/the-indications-are-that-swearing-preceded-the-development-of-cursing/) [Ashley Montagu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-montagu/) > [The family is the basis of society. As the family is, so is the society, and it is human beings who make a family-not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-montagu/the-family-is-the-basis-of-society-as-the-family-is-so-is-the-society/) [Ashley Montagu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-montagu/) > [I want to die young at a ripe old age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-montagu/i-want-to-die-young-at-a-ripe-old-age/) [Ashley Montagu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-montagu/) > [The idea of "race" represents one of the most dangerous myths of our time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-montagu/the-idea-of-race-represents-one-of-the-most-dangerous-myths-of-our/) [Ashley Montagu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-montagu/) > [The measure of man's humanity is the extent and intensity of his love for mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-montagu/the-measure-of-man-s-humanity-is-the-extent-and-intensity-of-his-love/) [Ashley Montagu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-montagu/) > [To admit ignorance is to exhibit wisdom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-montagu/to-admit-ignorance-is-to-exhibit-wisdom/) [Ashley Montagu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-montagu/) [Explore all 71 Ashley Montagu quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-montagu/) ## More Human beings quotes > [Houses are like the human beings that inhabit them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/houses-are-like-the-human-beings-that-inhabit-them/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Humans are, as Sartre put it, 'condemned to be free'. To insist that science, or God, objectively defines moral values is to abandon our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenan-malik/humans-are-as-sartre-put-it-condemned-to-be-free-to-insist-that/) Kenan Malik > [Human beings have an innate inner drive to be autonomous, self-determined, and connected to one another. And when that drive is liberated, people achieve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-h-pink/human-beings-have-an-innate-inner-drive-to-be-autonomous-self/) [Daniel H. Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-h-pink/) > [Gambling has held human beings in thrall for millennia. It has been engaged in everywhere, from the dregs of society to the most respectable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-l-bernstein/gambling-has-held-human-beings-in-thrall-for-millennia-it-has-been/) [Peter L. Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-l-bernstein/) > [Here's the reality. The image of a white Jesus has been used to justify enslavement, conquest, colonialism, the genocide of indigenous peoples. There are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/here-s-the-reality-the-image-of-a-white-jesus-has-been-used-to/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [What is music? Music is language. A human being wants to express ideas in this language, but not ideas that can be translated into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-webern/what-is-music-music-is-language-a-human-being-wants-to-express-ideas/) [Anton Webern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-webern/) > [What we're supposed to do as actors is be able to portray real human beings and emotions. And if you grow up in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-browning/what-we-re-supposed-to-do-as-actors-is-be-able-to-portray-real-human/) [Emily Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-browning/) > [I think everybody, or the great majority of human beings, have this aspiration to become other: to live a different identity, at least for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/i-think-everybody-or-the-great-majority-of-human-beings-have-this/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [“Is there any holy beings like human beings?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/is-there-any-holy-beings-like-human-beings/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [A human being can only absorb a small amount of the mystical kundalini, you can be exposed again and again to it, but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/a-human-being-can-only-absorb-a-small-amount-of-the-mystical/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I recognize I am essentially a failed human being in the sense that I can't possibly live up to the expectations of an Almighty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/i-recognize-i-am-essentially-a-failed-human-being-in-the-sense-that-i/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [A composer knows that music is written by human beings for human beings and that music is a continuation of life, not something separated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanns-eisler/a-composer-knows-that-music-is-written-by-human-beings-for-human/) Hanns Eisler > [“According to this model, human beings are, at least in one aspect, sensation-receiving machines; and although our receptory apparatus is competent to select and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cruce-stark/according-to-this-model-human-beings-are-at-least-in-one-aspect/) Cruce Stark > [For our purposes as human beings, the mind is the center of everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/for-our-purposes-as-human-beings-the-mind-is-the-center-of-everything/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [Human beings seek community, and permanent openness is hard to sustain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/human-beings-seek-community-and-permanent-openness-is-hard-to-sustain/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) [Browse all 6,948 Human beings quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-beings/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Unfortunately, we-especially in the United States-have become increasingly mechanized, so that today we feel very strongly that if we can take anything out of human hands and especially out of the human heart and put it through a machine, we have made progress. 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