--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Ambient awareness is the experience of…" description: "\"Ambient awareness is the experience of knowing what's going on in the lives of other people - what they're thinking about, what they're doing, what the..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08b/clive-thompson-15484_about_ambient-awareness-is-the-experience-of-k_2539757.png" --- # Ambient awareness is the experience of knowing what's… ![“Ambient awareness is the experience of knowing what's going on in the lives of other people - what they're thinking about, what they're doing, what they're looking at - by paying attention to the small stray status messages that people are putting online.” quote by Clive Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08b/clive-thompson-15484_about_ambient-awareness-is-the-experience-of-k_2539757.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08b/clive-thompson-15484_about_ambient-awareness-is-the-experience-of-k_2539757.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08b/clive-thompson-15484_about_ambient-awareness-is-the-experience-of-k_2539757.png) > “Ambient awareness is the experience of knowing what's going on in the lives of other people - what they're thinking about, what they're doing, what they're looking at - by paying attention to the small stray status messages that people are putting online.” [Clive Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-thompson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Ambient awareness is the subtle sense of others’ lives gained from brief online updates. **In simple terms:** We sense others’ lives through tiny online posts. Key Takeaway Pay attention to small status cues. Themes technology communication social perception Mood observant curious Type analytical reflective When to use this quote - online interaction - marketing - friendship Key Concepts digital media social networks attention contextual awareness Questions to Reflect On - What cues do you trust most? - How does ambient awareness affect privacy? A Different Perspective Over‑reliance can cause misinterpretation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention/) [Awareness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/awareness/) [Consciousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consciousness/) [Experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience/) [Messages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/messages/) [Paying Attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paying-attention/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Status](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/status/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [Ambient awareness is the experience of knowing what's going on in the lives of other people - what they're thinking about, what they're doing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-thompson/ambient-awareness-is-the-experience-of-knowing-what-s-going-on-in-the/) [Clive Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-thompson/) > [“Now, draw your awareness to a time, circumstance, or place of experiencing your senses, engrossed in what you were seeing, feeling, smelling, or tasting.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-t-lusk/now-draw-your-awareness-to-a-time-circumstance-or-place-of-2/) [Julie T. Lusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-t-lusk/) > [The me that is me is not my body. It's an awareness and an experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rain-dove/the-me-that-is-me-is-not-my-body-it-s-an-awareness-and-an-experience/) [Rain Dove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rain-dove/) > [“This witnessing consciousness, this formless dimension of yourself, is the awareness in which your experience happens, yet it remains untouched by this experience at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-p-kauffman/this-witnessing-consciousness-this-formless-dimension-of-yourself-is/) [Joseph P. Kauffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-p-kauffman/) > [From paying off friends' tax bills to rescuing stray dogs and stuffing £20 notes into the hands of homeless people, I can't get rid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-burchill/from-paying-off-friends-tax-bills-to-rescuing-stray-dogs-and-stuffing/) [Julie Burchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-burchill/) > [The Congo is very wealthy from oil money but is not paying its debts and at the same time is applying for special status…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-singer/the-congo-is-very-wealthy-from-oil-money-but-is-not-paying-its-debts/) [Paul Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-singer/) > [It was the Faith which gradually and indirectly transformed the slave into the serf, and the serf into the free peasant. . . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaire-belloc/it-was-the-faith-which-gradually-and-indirectly-transformed-the-slave/) [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) > [“Reducing ambient environmental radiation to the lowest levels possible would be prudent during the global COVID-19 pandemic.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/reducing-ambient-environmental-radiation-to-the-lowest-levels/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [When I first started out, I was making really slow, psychedelic ambient music because it was all I could do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grimes/when-i-first-started-out-i-was-making-really-slow-psychedelic-ambient/) [Grimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grimes/) > [“First love is all sensation and ambient zooms, and letting the world ebb.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/durga-chew-bose/first-love-is-all-sensation-and-ambient-zooms-and-letting-the-world/) [Durga Chew-Bose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/durga-chew-bose/) > [Ambient music must be as ignorable as it is interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/ambient-music-must-be-as-ignorable-as-it-is-interesting/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [I like listening to ambient music, especially in very scenic places because I think it allows for the most freedom of thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-polachek/i-like-listening-to-ambient-music-especially-in-very-scenic-places/) [Caroline Polachek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-polachek/) > [Ambient means the natural center or atmosphere of a space. All music has that in it- a space or center. I think it just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-laswell/ambient-means-the-natural-center-or-atmosphere-of-a-space-all-music/) [Bill Laswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-laswell/) > [I am not a big fan of what I call 'ambient television,' which just washes through you in a very polite way. I like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-purefoy/i-am-not-a-big-fan-of-what-i-call-ambient-television-which-just/) [James Purefoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-purefoy/) > [Ambient music is intended to induce calm and a space to think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/ambient-music-is-intended-to-induce-calm-and-a-space-to-think/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) ## More by Clive Thompson > [The Internet lets thousands of total strangers collaborate to produce a truly hivelike result.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-thompson/the-internet-lets-thousands-of-total-strangers-collaborate-to-produce/) [Clive Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-thompson/) > [Novelists in particular love to rhapsodize about the glory of the solitary mind; this is natural, because their job requires them to sit in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-thompson/novelists-in-particular-love-to-rhapsodize-about-the-glory-of-the/) [Clive Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-thompson/) > [When you're an expert in a subject, you can retain new factoids on your favorite topic easily. This only works for the subjects you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-thompson/when-you-re-an-expert-in-a-subject-you-can-retain-new-factoids-on/) [Clive Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-thompson/) > [Why are online games so addictive? It's mostly the narcotic appeal of 'leveling.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-thompson/why-are-online-games-so-addictive-it-s-mostly-the-narcotic-appeal-of/) [Clive Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-thompson/) > [More than any other modern tool, computers are a total mystery to their users. 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Cities are dynamic - and deeply seductive for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-thompson/i-don-t-think-the-internet-has-replaced-cities-in-any-significant-way/) [Clive Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-thompson/) > [Railing at scientists for massaging tree-ring statistics won't stop the globe from warming if the globe is actually, you know, warming.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-thompson/railing-at-scientists-for-massaging-tree-ring-statistics-won-t-stop/) [Clive Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-thompson/) > [Transactive memory works best when you have a sense of how your partners' minds work - where they're strong, where they're weak, where their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-thompson/transactive-memory-works-best-when-you-have-a-sense-of-how-your/) [Clive Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-thompson/) > [The amount of writing that people do online is astonishing, and historically unprecedented.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-thompson/the-amount-of-writing-that-people-do-online-is-astonishing-and/) [Clive Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-thompson/) [Explore all 43 Clive Thompson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-thompson/) ## More About quotes > [If you ask an introvert a question, wait until she thinks about it. 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As soon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/magdalena-neuner/i-don-t-think-about-the-press-or-the-crowds-or-the-other-leaders-of/) [Magdalena Neuner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/magdalena-neuner/) > [Sport is not just about entertainment. It is equally about winning and losing, pooling and galvanising the energy of the youth, upgrading people's physical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nita-ambani/sport-is-not-just-about-entertainment-it-is-equally-about-winning-and/) [Nita Ambani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nita-ambani/) > [One of the ways that I discovered my confidence and my ability to overpower is becoming a mother. Suddenly, my world wasn't about myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lights/one-of-the-ways-that-i-discovered-my-confidence-and-my-ability-to/) [Lights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lights/) > [I didn't want to do 'Fashion Police' because I thought, 'This is stupid, this is beneath me, who wants to talk about fashion?' 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