--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Most of the time, we live our lives…" description: "\"Most of the time, we live our lives within these invisible systems, blissfully unaware of the artificial life, the intensely designed infrastructures t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/729/bruce-mau-23828_artificial_most-of-the-time-we-live-our-lives-withi_960435.png" --- # Most of the time, we live our lives within these invisible… ![“Most of the time, we live our lives within these invisible systems, blissfully unaware of the artificial life, the intensely designed infrastructures that support them.” quote by Bruce Mau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/729/bruce-mau-23828_artificial_most-of-the-time-we-live-our-lives-withi_960435.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/729/bruce-mau-23828_artificial_most-of-the-time-we-live-our-lives-withi_960435.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/729/bruce-mau-23828_artificial_most-of-the-time-we-live-our-lives-withi_960435.png) > “Most of the time, we live our lives within these invisible systems, blissfully unaware of the artificial life, the intensely designed infrastructures that support them.” [Bruce Mau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-mau/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We live inside unseen structures that shape our lives, often without noticing their artificial design. **In simple terms:** Invisible systems control us without our awareness. Key Takeaway Become aware of hidden systems and question them. Themes systems awareness design invisibility Mood curious concerned Type analytical inspirational When to use this quote - urban planning - digital platforms - healthcare - education Key Concepts critical theory systems thinking architecture Questions to Reflect On - What invisible structures most affect you? - How can you uncover hidden influences? A Different Perspective Awareness alone may not change entrenched power. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Artificial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artificial/) [Artificial life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artificial-life/) [Blissfully Unaware](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blissfully-unaware-485427/) [Infrastructure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/infrastructure/) [Invisible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/invisible/) [Invisible Systems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/invisible-systems-1773608/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Lives Invisible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lives-invisible-1773610/) [Our lives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/our-lives/) [Support](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/support/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Unaware Artificial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unaware-artificial-1773609/) ## Related quotes > [The aim of every artist is to arrest motion, which is life, by artificial means.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/the-aim-of-every-artist-is-to-arrest-motion-which-is-life-by-3/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [Our examination of computer viruses leads us to the conclusion that they are very close to what we might define as "artificial life." Rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-spafford/our-examination-of-computer-viruses-leads-us-to-the-conclusion-that/) [Gene Spafford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-spafford/) > [How can a motion picture reflect real life when it is made by people who are living artificial lives?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miriam-hopkins/how-can-a-motion-picture-reflect-real-life-when-it-is-made-by-people/) [Miriam Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miriam-hopkins/) > [Nature (the Art whereby God hath made and governs the World) is by the Art of man, as in many other things, so in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/nature-the-art-whereby-god-hath-made-and-governs-the-world-is-by-the/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [Each of the essays in this volume ranges widely across technical and philosophical domains. They examine both familiar automatons from throughout history and delight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-brooks/each-of-the-essays-in-this-volume-ranges-widely-across-technical-and/) [Rodney Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-brooks/) > [How could she have believed such an artificial life as the theatre was suitable?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-mccaffrey/how-could-she-have-believed-such-an-artificial-life-as-the-theatre/) [Anne McCaffrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-mccaffrey/) > [Steve Grand is the creator of what I think is the nearest approach to artificial life so far, and his first book, Creation: Life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/steve-grand-is-the-creator-of-what-i-think-is-the-nearest-approach-to/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [You know, some people fall right through the hole in their lives. It's invisible, but they come to it after time, never knowing where.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-erdrich/you-know-some-people-fall-right-through-the-hole-in-their-lives-it-s/) [Louise Erdrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-erdrich/) > [An abiding preoccupation for me is how much of our lives are invisible and unknown by other people, like the Chekhov story 'The Lady…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-messud/an-abiding-preoccupation-for-me-is-how-much-of-our-lives-are/) [Claire Messud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-messud/) > [We overlook how much in our lives is invisible; love, for instance; thought, God, the future, time, faith, hope and even the electricity that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-gilman/we-overlook-how-much-in-our-lives-is-invisible-love-for-instance/) [Dorothy Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-gilman/) > [“Full of life and light; blissfully unaware of all the future had in store.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/full-of-life-and-light-blissfully-unaware-of-all-the-future-had-in/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [There must be a happy medium somewhere between being totally informed and blissfully unaware.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-larson/there-must-be-a-happy-medium-somewhere-between-being-totally-informed/) [Doug Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-larson/) > [Dumb people are just blissfully unaware of how dumb they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-star/dumb-people-are-just-blissfully-unaware-of-how-dumb-they-are/) [Patrick Star](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-star/) > [ The thing is, we \[celebrities are\] all just people living our lives, doing our thing. But, I honestly tend to live in my own… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-french/the-thing-is-we-celebrities-are-all-just-people-living-our-lives/) [Chris French](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-french/) > [“She was blissfully unaware of her peril.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-taintor/she-was-blissfully-unaware-of-her-peril/) [Anne Taintor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-taintor/) ## More by Bruce Mau > [What is the focus of the new image infrastructure? Attention. It's all designed for capturing, tracking, quantifying, manipulating, holding, buying, selling and controlling attention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-mau/what-is-the-focus-of-the-new-image-infrastructure-attention-it-s-all/) [Bruce Mau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-mau/) > [The fundamental idea of design is to make the world a better place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-mau/the-fundamental-idea-of-design-is-to-make-the-world-a-better-place/) [Bruce Mau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-mau/) > [The word ‘studio’ is derives from ‘study’. Our object is not to know the answers before we do the work. It’s to know them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-mau/the-word-studio-is-derives-from-study-our-object-is-not-to-know-the/) [Bruce Mau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-mau/) > [To invent something you have to be removed from the world. In order to have liberty to imagine something better, you need to step…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-mau/to-invent-something-you-have-to-be-removed-from-the-world-in-order-to/) [Bruce Mau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-mau/) > [For me, sensibility is the location of talent. Sensibility comes first because only with the right kind of sensibility is talent useful. I've met…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-mau/for-me-sensibility-is-the-location-of-talent-sensibility-comes-first/) [Bruce Mau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-mau/) > [When the outcome drives the process we will only ever go where we've already been. If process drives the outcome we may not know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-mau/when-the-outcome-drives-the-process-we-will-only-ever-go-where-we-ve/) [Bruce Mau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-mau/) > [When everything is connected to everything else, for better or for worse, everything matters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-mau/when-everything-is-connected-to-everything-else-for-better-or-for/) [Bruce Mau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-mau/) > [The wrong answer is the right answer in search of a different question.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-mau/the-wrong-answer-is-the-right-answer-in-search-of-a-different-question/) [Bruce Mau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-mau/) > [No longer associated simply with objects and appearances, design is increasingly understood in a much wider sense as the human capacity to plan and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-mau/no-longer-associated-simply-with-objects-and-appearances-design-is/) [Bruce Mau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-mau/) > [You have to be willing to grow. Growth is different from something that happens to you. You produce it. You live it. The prerequisites…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-mau/you-have-to-be-willing-to-grow-growth-is-different-from-something/) [Bruce Mau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-mau/) > [The deeper you go the more likely you will discover something of value](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-mau/the-deeper-you-go-the-more-likely-you-will-discover-something-of-value/) [Bruce Mau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-mau/) > [Forget about good. Good is a known quantity. Good is what we all agree on. As long as you stick to good, you'll never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-mau/forget-about-good-good-is-a-known-quantity-good-is-what-we-all-agree/) [Bruce Mau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-mau/) > [“Love your experiments (as you would an ugly child). Exploit the liberty in casting your work as beautiful experiments, iterations, attempts, trials, and errors.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-mau/love-your-experiments-as-you-would-an-ugly-child-exploit-the-liberty/) [Bruce Mau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-mau/) > [Imitate. Don’t be shy about it. Try to get as close as you can. You'll never get all the way, and the separation might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-mau/imitate-don-t-be-shy-about-it-try-to-get-as-close-as-you-can-you-ll/) [Bruce Mau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-mau/) > [Now that we can do anything what will we do?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-mau/now-that-we-can-do-anything-what-will-we-do/) [Bruce Mau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-mau/) [Explore all 25 Bruce Mau quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-mau/) ## More Artificial quotes > [One of our big goals in search is to make search that really understands exactly what you want, understands everything in the world. As…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-page/one-of-our-big-goals-in-search-is-to-make-search-that-really/) [Larry Page](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-page/) > [Baseball needs to put the steroids era behind it by having and enforcing tough rules against all kinds of artificial advantages, so that spring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-olasky/baseball-needs-to-put-the-steroids-era-behind-it-by-having-and/) [Marvin Olasky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-olasky/) > [People don't want to believe that technology is broken. Pharmaceuticals, robotics, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology - all these areas where the progress has been a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/people-don-t-want-to-believe-that-technology-is-broken/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [I find theater very lazy and artificial, and then when it's not, it lacks refinement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-tsakos/i-find-theater-very-lazy-and-artificial-and-then-when-it-s-not-it/) [Natasha Tsakos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-tsakos/) > [Conservative feminism is such an artificial term that doesn't mean much to me. For me conservatism means accepting reality. I acknowledge that there are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristina-schroder/conservative-feminism-is-such-an-artificial-term-that-doesn-t-mean/) [Kristina Schroder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristina-schroder/) > [There is... an artificial aristocracy founded on wealth and birth, without either virtue or talents... The artificial aristocracy is a mischievous ingredient in government,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/there-is-an-artificial-aristocracy-founded-on-wealth-and-birth/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [I think we should be very careful about artificial intelligence. If I had to guess at what our biggest existential threat is, it's probably…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/i-think-we-should-be-very-careful-about-artificial-intelligence-if-i/) [Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/) > [There is no society or conversation to be kept up in the world without good-nature, or something which must bear its appearance and supply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/there-is-no-society-or-conversation-to-be-kept-up-in-the-world/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Inflation is not caused by the actions of private citizens, but by the government: by an artificial expansion of the money supply required to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/inflation-is-not-caused-by-the-actions-of-private-citizens-but-by-the/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Of all evils of war the greatest is the purely spiritual evil: the hatred, the injustice, the repudiation of truth, the artificial conflict.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/of-all-evils-of-war-the-greatest-is-the-purely-spiritual-evil-the/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [Perspective, as its inventor remarked, is a beautiful thing. What horrors of damp huts, where human beings languish, may not become picturesque through aerial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/perspective-as-its-inventor-remarked-is-a-beautiful-thing-what/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [People always make this totally artificial distinction between what is commercial and what is good. They quote that maxim "Nobody ever lost money underestimating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/people-always-make-this-totally-artificial-distinction-between-what/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [We always want to live in an environment where there's no artificial block to good work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chiwetel-ejiofor/we-always-want-to-live-in-an-environment-where-there-s-no-artificial/) [Chiwetel Ejiofor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chiwetel-ejiofor/) > [What do you have to surrender? A drop has to dissolve into the ocean to become the ocean. 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