--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I learned in the computer game business…" description: "\"I learned in the computer game business early on that all senses are not equal. The best example is, you're listening to a radio play and you're drivin..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f7/brenda-laurel-32791_basically_i-learned-in-the-computer-game-business_850489.jpg" --- # I learned in the computer game business early on that all… ![“I learned in the computer game business early on that all senses are not equal. The best example is, you're listening to a radio play and you're driving down the road, and suddenly you realize you haven't seen the road in five minutes. It's because your visual cortex has been partying with your…” quote by Brenda Laurel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f7/brenda-laurel-32791_basically_i-learned-in-the-computer-game-business_850489.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f7/brenda-laurel-32791_basically_i-learned-in-the-computer-game-business_850489.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f7/brenda-laurel-32791_basically_i-learned-in-the-computer-game-business_850489.jpg) > “I learned in the computer game business early on that all senses are not equal. The best example is, you're listening to a radio play and you're driving down the road, and suddenly you realize you haven't seen the road in five minutes. It's because your visual cortex has been partying with your imagination, basically.” [Brenda Laurel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-laurel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Sensory focus varies; visual attention can be hijacked by imagination, reducing awareness of surroundings. **In simple terms:** Your mind can distract you from what you see. Key Takeaway Balance attention across senses. Themes perception attention design Mood reflective cautious Type practical psychological When to use this quote - driving - gaming - multitasking - creative work Key Concepts Cognitive psychology human factors Questions to Reflect On - How do you stay present while multitasking? - What design can mitigate sensory overload? A Different Perspective May not apply to all individuals or contexts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Basically](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/basically/) [Because](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/because/) [Been](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/been/) [Best](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/best/) [Business](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/business/) [Computer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computer/) [Computers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computers/) [Down](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/down/) [Down the road](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/down-the-road/) [Driving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/driving/) [Early](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/early/) [Early Senses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/early-senses-743708/) [Equal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/equal/) [Example](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/example/) [Five](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/five/) [Game](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/game/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Learned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learned/) [Listening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/listening/) [Minutes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/minutes/) [Partying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/partying/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Radio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/radio/) [Realize](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realize/) [Road](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/road/) [Seen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seen/) [Senses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/senses/) [Senses Equal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/senses-equal-743707/) [Suddenly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suddenly/) [Visual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/visual/) [Visual Cortex](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/visual-cortex-369593/) [You](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/you/) [Your](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/your/) ## Related quotes > [In the early Sixties, having begun to describe the physiology of cells in the adult cat visual cortex, David Hubel and I decided to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/torsten-wiesel/in-the-early-sixties-having-begun-to-describe-the-physiology-of-cells/) [Torsten Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/torsten-wiesel/) > [“The sensory cortex and visual cortex are far away from each other. How do those tactile neurons “know” (a) that there’s vacant property in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-sapolsky/the-sensory-cortex-and-visual-cortex-are-far-away-from-each-other-how/) [Robert M. Sapolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-sapolsky/) > [“Yes. You see, the whole nature, shape and even the modern blue pigment of the TARDIS is so deeply unfamiliar to the primitive mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-sedgwick/yes-you-see-the-whole-nature-shape-and-even-the-modern-blue-pigment/) [Marcus Sedgwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-sedgwick/) > [Visual cortex is fundamentally a machine whose job is to generate a model of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-eagleman/visual-cortex-is-fundamentally-a-machine-whose-job-is-to-generate-a/) [David Eagleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-eagleman/) > [“The brain’s auditory cortex, for instance, processes an audio signal from your ear faster than a visual signal is processed in the visual cortex.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-zogby/the-brain-s-auditory-cortex-for-instance-processes-an-audio-signal/) [Jean Paul Zogby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-zogby/) > [“midline. The back of the brain is the visual cortex. The parietal cortex between the sensory and visual cortex stores motor memories for playing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-koob/midline-the-back-of-the-brain-is-the-visual-cortex-the-parietal/) [Andrew Koob](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-koob/) > [“Our visual field, the entire view of what we can see when we look out into the world, is divided into billions of tiny…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-bolte-taylor/our-visual-field-the-entire-view-of-what-we-can-see-when-we-look-out/) [Jill Bolte Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-bolte-taylor/) > [“Piano Man put up a fight but his resistance was futile. Hell hath no fury like a drunken girl at her bachelorette party in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vicki-lesage/piano-man-put-up-a-fight-but-his-resistance-was-futile-hell-hath-no/) [Vicki Lesage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vicki-lesage/) > [This is how I swag if I was partying hard with a bunch of amazing good looking rock stars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalya-johnson/this-is-how-i-swag-if-i-was-partying-hard-with-a-bunch-of-amazing/) [Natalya Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalya-johnson/) > [When a guy breaks up with you, make sure you show him that you are having a f\*ckin' good time without him and with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-parkin/when-a-guy-breaks-up-with-you-make-sure-you-show-him-that-you-are/) [Sophie Parkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-parkin/) > [Los Angeles is great for partying and also for its sights and sounds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prabhas/los-angeles-is-great-for-partying-and-also-for-its-sights-and-sounds/) [Prabhas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prabhas/) > [“If I show up on your doorstep don't worry I'm just there to party.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-d-eichenberg/if-i-show-up-on-your-doorstep-don-t-worry-i-m-just-there-to-party/) [Kenny D. Eichenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-d-eichenberg/) > [Partying means drinking. It also means playing records by Lou Reed and Chicago, which I thought was a city but is also a band…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-currie-jr/partying-means-drinking-it-also-means-playing-records-by-lou-reed-and/) [Ron Currie Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-currie-jr/) > [I was totally sober in college and really, really focused. I just took the time when other people might be partying and just made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-flay/i-was-totally-sober-in-college-and-really-really-focused-i-just-took/) [K. Flay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-flay/) > [Reading counts as partying, even if you're not enjoying it! Even if someone's forcing you to read, you can find a way to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-w-k/reading-counts-as-partying-even-if-you-re-not-enjoying-it-even-if/) [Andrew W.K](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-w-k/) ## More by Brenda Laurel > [The game business arose from computer programs that were written by and for young men in the late 1960s and early 1970s. They worked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-laurel/the-game-business-arose-from-computer-programs-that-were-written-by/) [Brenda Laurel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-laurel/) > [When you work with web design companies in San Francisco, you end up with a bunch of twenty-somethings who have their own cultural peculiarities,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-laurel/when-you-work-with-web-design-companies-in-san-francisco-you-end-up/) [Brenda Laurel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-laurel/) > [Reality has always been too small for the human imagination. We're always trying to transcend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-laurel/reality-has-always-been-too-small-for-the-human-imagination-we-re/) [Brenda Laurel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-laurel/) > [Girls enjoy complex social interaction. Their verbal skills - and their delight in using them - develop earlier than boys'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-laurel/girls-enjoy-complex-social-interaction-their-verbal-skills-and-their/) [Brenda Laurel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-laurel/) > [When artists and philosophers talk only amongst themselves, they ignore the potential of popular culture to become a variety of dialogues with and between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-laurel/when-artists-and-philosophers-talk-only-amongst-themselves-they/) [Brenda Laurel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-laurel/) > [I fervently believe in research as a necessity for good design, and I teach it that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-laurel/i-fervently-believe-in-research-as-a-necessity-for-good-design-and-i/) [Brenda Laurel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-laurel/) > [When I got started, I was a sideshow. At my first Consumer Electronics Show, in 1977 in Chicago, people came from all over the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-laurel/when-i-got-started-i-was-a-sideshow-at-my-first-consumer-electronics/) [Brenda Laurel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-laurel/) > [I don't understand computers. I've been unable to construct a working mental model of how they do what they do. I can break software…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-laurel/i-don-t-understand-computers-i-ve-been-unable-to-construct-a-working/) [Brenda Laurel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-laurel/) > [I think interactive television is doomed. It's a dead end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-laurel/i-think-interactive-television-is-doomed-it-s-a-dead-end/) [Brenda Laurel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-laurel/) > [A design isn't finished until someone is using it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-laurel/a-design-isn-t-finished-until-someone-is-using-it/) [Brenda Laurel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-laurel/) > [Every intelligent being enjoys complexity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-laurel/every-intelligent-being-enjoys-complexity/) [Brenda Laurel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-laurel/) > [Culture and technology exist in a dynamic reciprocal relationship. Culture comprehends technology through the means of narratives or myths, and those narratives influence the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-laurel/culture-and-technology-exist-in-a-dynamic-reciprocal-relationship/) [Brenda Laurel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-laurel/) > [You don't have to please everyone-you have to please the user.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-laurel/you-don-t-have-to-please-everyone-you-have-to-please-the-user/) [Brenda Laurel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-laurel/) > [The airplane I usually fly has 450 horse power, and it's all made out of carbon fibre - you can't break it; your body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-laurel/the-airplane-i-usually-fly-has-450-horse-power-and-it-s-all-made-out/) [Brenda Laurel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-laurel/) [Explore all 15 Brenda Laurel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-laurel/) ## More Basically quotes > [When I graduated from Brown, I had a very limited conception of jobs, careers, and what I wanted to do. Basically, I figured I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-yang/when-i-graduated-from-brown-i-had-a-very-limited-conception-of-jobs/) [Andrew Yang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-yang/) > [You basically have a group of four spies who are chosen for a mission they feel for the fact of how competent they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-leblanc/you-basically-have-a-group-of-four-spies-who-are-chosen-for-a-mission/) [Matt LeBlanc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-leblanc/) > [I think we should have basically the same tax policy that Germany, Japan, the U.K., everybody else has, which is a tax rate in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-r-immelt/i-think-we-should-have-basically-the-same-tax-policy-that-germany/) [Jeffrey R. 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Basically, everyone's equal, but you, my children, are a bit better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-freeman/my-mum-was-labour-voting-but-wanted-us-to-know-we-were-important/) [Martin Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-freeman/) > [When I heard that the bees were in trouble, the fact that they're disappearing and not coming back to the hive, which is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louie-schwartzberg/when-i-heard-that-the-bees-were-in-trouble-the-fact-that-they-re/) [Louie Schwartzberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louie-schwartzberg/) > [It would be amazing if we were just basically judged on the merits of what we do, but we're not. That's not part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aspen-ladd/it-would-be-amazing-if-we-were-just-basically-judged-on-the-merits-of/) [Aspen Ladd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aspen-ladd/) > [In my own case, I'm an artist, and I'm really interested in expanding the vocabulary of human action, and basically empowering people through interactivity.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/golan-levin/in-my-own-case-i-m-an-artist-and-i-m-really-interested-in-expanding/) [Golan Levin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/golan-levin/) > [Civilian law around aviation is much looser than those governing military. Civilian planes can basically fly wherever they want in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trevor-paglen/civilian-law-around-aviation-is-much-looser-than-those-governing/) [Trevor Paglen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trevor-paglen/) > [Nuclear DNA encodes all the proteins and enzymes that make you you, basically.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hendrik-poinar/nuclear-dna-encodes-all-the-proteins-and-enzymes-that-make-you-you/) [Hendrik Poinar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hendrik-poinar/) > [“I basically have nothing to offer to others. If you think about it, I don’t even have anything to offer myself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/i-basically-have-nothing-to-offer-to-others-if-you-think-about-it-i/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [I have been performing in the street for more than 50 years: magic for basically 60 years, and the high wire 45 years. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philippe-petit/i-have-been-performing-in-the-street-for-more-than-50-years-magic-for/) [Philippe Petit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philippe-petit/) > [Basically, I listen to voices. If they write good songs and they can sing, I'll probably like it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/india-arie/basically-i-listen-to-voices-if-they-write-good-songs-and-they-can/) [India Arie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/india-arie/) > [There's something about the air and the sky and the atmosphere in the South of France that must be very conducive to work, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-collins/there-s-something-about-the-air-and-the-sky-and-the-atmosphere-in-the/) [Joan Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-collins/) [Browse all 1,129 Basically quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/basically/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I learned in the computer game business early on that all senses are not equal. The best example is, you're listening to a radio play and you're driving down the road, and suddenly you realize you haven't seen the road in five minutes. 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