Comment Quote by Danny Hillis
![“If you hear an expert talking about the Internet and saying it [does] this, or it will do that, you should treat it with the same skepticism that you might treat the comments of an economist about the economy or a weatherman about the weather.” quote by Danny Hillis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/8d0/danny-hillis-33289_comment_if-you-hear-an-expert-talking-about-the_2591732.jpg)
“If you hear an expert talking about the Internet and saying it [does] this, or it will do that, you should treat it with the same skepticism that you might treat the comments of an economist about the economy or a weatherman about the weather.”
About This Quote
Source Talk: MIT Technology Review, 2008
Advocates treating internet predictions with the same skepticism as other expert forecasts.
In simple terms: Internet claims need critical scrutiny.
Key Takeaway
Question expert predictions.
Themes
technology
skepticism
information
Mood
cautious
analytical
Type
critical
educational
When to use this quote
- policy making
- investment decisions
- public discourse
Key Concepts
critical analysis
media literacy
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you differentiate credible from hype?
- What sources help verify tech claims?
A Different Perspective
Skepticism may hinder innovation adoption.
![“What we need is a plan B ... independent of the Internet. [It] doesn't necessarily have to have the performance of the Internet, but the police department has to be able to call up the fire department.” quote by Danny Hillis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/da9/danny-hillis-33289_able_what-we-need-is-a-plan-b-independent-of_324847.jpg)
![“People are mostly focused on defending the computers on the Internet, and there's been surprisingly little attention to defending the Internet itself as a communications medium. [We] need to pay some more attention to that, because it's actually kind of fragile.” quote by Danny Hillis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/2ea/danny-hillis-33289_attention_people-are-mostly-focused-on-defending-t_582455.jpg)
![“[Language is] really a pretty amazing invention if you think about it. Here I have a very complicated, messy, confused idea in my head. I'm sitting here making grunting sounds and hopefully constructing a similar messy, confused idea in your head that bears some analogy to it.” quote by Danny Hillis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/bee/danny-hillis-33289_analogies_language-is-really-a-pretty-amazing-inve_753389.jpg)
