--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A few years ago, Bill Gates was boasting…" description: "\"A few years ago, Bill Gates was boasting that we'll soon have sensors which will turn on the music that we like or show on the walls the paintings we l..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/159/denis-dutton-31778_bills_a-few-years-ago-bill-gates-was-boasting_684377.jpg" --- # A few years ago, Bill Gates was boasting that we'll soon… ![“A few years ago, Bill Gates was boasting that we'll soon have sensors which will turn on the music that we like or show on the walls the paintings we like when we walk into a room. How boring! The hell with our preexisting likes; let's expand ourselves intellectually.” quote by Denis Dutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/159/denis-dutton-31778_bills_a-few-years-ago-bill-gates-was-boasting_684377.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/159/denis-dutton-31778_bills_a-few-years-ago-bill-gates-was-boasting_684377.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/159/denis-dutton-31778_bills_a-few-years-ago-bill-gates-was-boasting_684377.jpg) > “A few years ago, Bill Gates was boasting that we'll soon have sensors which will turn on the music that we like or show on the walls the paintings we like when we walk into a room. How boring! The hell with our preexisting likes; let's expand ourselves intellectually.” [Denis Dutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-dutton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Criticizes reliance on preset preferences, urging proactive intellectual expansion beyond comfort zones. **In simple terms:** Don't let existing tastes limit your growth. Key Takeaway Seek new experiences beyond familiar preferences. Themes technology culture personal growth Mood inquisitive challenging Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - museum visits - music exploration - creative workshops Key Concepts consumerism intellectual curiosity innovation Questions to Reflect On - What new art forms could broaden your perspective? - How can you balance comfort with curiosity? A Different Perspective May underestimate the value of personal taste. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bills/) [Boast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boast/) [Boring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boring/) [Expand Intellectually](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expand-intellectually-5408844/) [Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gates/) [Hell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hell/) [Like Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-walls-394274/) [Likes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/likes/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) [Rooms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rooms/) [Sensors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sensors/) [Sensors Turn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sensors-turn-5408846/) [Shows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shows/) [Soon Sensors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soon-sensors-5408843/) [Technology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technology/) [Turn on](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/turn-on/) [Turns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/turns/) [Walks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/walks/) [Wall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wall/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) [Years ago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years-ago/) ## Related quotes > [“Wow." Lisa motioned for Keith to stop for a moment. "Look at this place. It's like the perfect family house. The porch and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-kingsbury/wow-lisa-motioned-for-keith-to-stop-for-a-moment-look-at-this-place/) [Karen Kingsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-kingsbury/) > [Feels like the walls are closing in on me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/framing-hanley/feels-like-the-walls-are-closing-in-on-me/) [Framing Hanley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/framing-hanley/) > [“No matter how good things are, there will always be solitary nights you spend in your bedroom or car or in a party full…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-campbell/no-matter-how-good-things-are-there-will-always-be-solitary-nights/) [Dan Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-campbell/) > [“No season lives here. This space has quite successfully shut out any such interference. The cunning designer saw to it that there is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-o-brien/no-season-lives-here-this-space-has-quite-successfully-shut-out-any/) [Geoffrey O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-o-brien/) > [Friends are like walls. Sometimes you lean on them and sometimes its good just knowing they are there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anurag-prakash-ray/friends-are-like-walls-sometimes-you-lean-on-them-and-sometimes-its/) [Anurag Prakash Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anurag-prakash-ray/) > [“Like all walls it was ambiguous, two faced. What was inside it and what was outside it depended upon which side you were on.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/like-all-walls-it-was-ambiguous-two-faced-what-was-inside-it-and-what/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [FRIENDS ARE LIKE WALLS SOMETIMES YOU LEAN ON THEM AND SOMETIMES IT'S JUST ENOUGH TO KNOW THEY'RE THERE.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-clark/friends-are-like-walls-sometimes-you-lean-on-them-and-sometimes-it-s/) [Denise Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-clark/) > [When people - everyday people who watch the coverage on CNN of Anita Sarkeesian having to cancel a speaking engagement due to death threats - think of “gamers,”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kluwe/when-people-everyday-people-who-watch-the-coverage-on-cnn-of-anita/) [Chris Kluwe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kluwe/) > [All of a sudden, I don't have a leg. I'm in a wheelchair. I have half a foot; I can't even walk to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-wasser/all-of-a-sudden-i-don-t-have-a-leg-i-m-in-a-wheelchair-i-have-half-a/) [Lauren Wasser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-wasser/) > [“Detonations crash in from nearby like walls she's a void at the center of.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-risk-hallberg/detonations-crash-in-from-nearby-like-walls-she-s-a-void-at-the/) [Garth Risk Hallberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-risk-hallberg/) > [Seldom do these words ring true when I'm constantly failing you. Like walls that we just can't break through until we disappear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rise-against/seldom-do-these-words-ring-true-when-i-m-constantly-failing-you-like/) [Rise Against](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rise-against/) > [Friends are like the walls of a house. Sometimes they hold you up, sometimes you lean on them. But sometimes, it's enough to know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/friends-are-like-the-walls-of-a-house-sometimes-they-hold-you-up/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We have the Fine Guidance Sensors, one of which we will exchange out of three. Another one we changed on the last servicing mission,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-nicollier/we-have-the-fine-guidance-sensors-one-of-which-we-will-exchange-out/) [Claude Nicollier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-nicollier/) > [Most public bathrooms now have automatic toilet sensors. People can't even be trusted to flush.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dov-davidoff/most-public-bathrooms-now-have-automatic-toilet-sensors-people-can-t/) [Dov Davidoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dov-davidoff/) > [We haven't figured out a way to get sensors that can discriminate between decoys and warheads. The technology doesn't exist yet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-young/we-haven-t-figured-out-a-way-to-get-sensors-that-can-discriminate/) [Stephen Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-young/) ## More by Denis Dutton > [Salvador Dali has been called kitsch, but, although some of this work may be grotesque, its brazenly self-conscious bad taste saves it from being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-dutton/salvador-dali-has-been-called-kitsch-but-although-some-of-this-work/) [Denis Dutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-dutton/) > [The continuous capacity of genius to surpass understanding remains a human constant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-dutton/the-continuous-capacity-of-genius-to-surpass-understanding-remains-a/) [Denis Dutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-dutton/) > [I have seen journals with good financial backing and editorial support die because they looked so bad nobody wanted to publish them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-dutton/i-have-seen-journals-with-good-financial-backing-and-editorial/) [Denis Dutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-dutton/) > [The arts, like language, emerged spontaneously and universally in similar forms across cultures, employing imaginative and intellectual capacities that had clear survival value.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-dutton/the-arts-like-language-emerged-spontaneously-and-universally-in/) [Denis Dutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-dutton/) > [Beauty is nature’s way of acting at a distance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-dutton/beauty-is-nature-s-way-of-acting-at-a-distance/) [Denis Dutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-dutton/) > [Dumbing down takes many forms: art that is good for you, museums that flatter you, universities that increase your self-esteem. Culture, after all, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-dutton/dumbing-down-takes-many-forms-art-that-is-good-for-you-museums-that/) [Denis Dutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-dutton/) > [Why do humans make art? It's how we evolved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-dutton/why-do-humans-make-art-it-s-how-we-evolved/) [Denis Dutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-dutton/) > [I try to figure out - intellectually, philosophically, psychologically - what the experience of beauty is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-dutton/i-try-to-figure-out-intellectually-philosophically-psychologically/) [Denis Dutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-dutton/) > [It's a grave mistake in publishing, whether you're talking about Internet or print publication, to try to play to a limited repertoire of established…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-dutton/it-s-a-grave-mistake-in-publishing-whether-you-re-talking-about/) [Denis Dutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-dutton/) > [Solemnity and a complete absence of irony also mark kitsch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-dutton/solemnity-and-a-complete-absence-of-irony-also-mark-kitsch/) [Denis Dutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-dutton/) > [Once kitsch is interpreted ironically, it ceases to be kitsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-dutton/once-kitsch-is-interpreted-ironically-it-ceases-to-be-kitsch/) [Denis Dutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-dutton/) > [ \[Art\] would have helped us survive in the Pleistocene - in the period, say, 1.6 million years ago until fairly recently. The kind of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-dutton/art-would-have-helped-us-survive-in-the-pleistocene-in-the-period-say/) [Denis Dutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-dutton/) > [My parents were in the book business, my brothers still run the Dutton bookstores in Los Angeles, and I've been interested in editing books…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-dutton/my-parents-were-in-the-book-business-my-brothers-still-run-the-dutton/) [Denis Dutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-dutton/) > [I think the idea of the social construction of beauty - this idea that beauty is simply whatever culture or society says it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-dutton/i-think-the-idea-of-the-social-construction-of-beauty-this-idea-that/) [Denis Dutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-dutton/) > [It's clear on the one hand that an education enriches and informs a response to beauty, even makes it possible in esoteric cases. On…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-dutton/it-s-clear-on-the-one-hand-that-an-education-enriches-and-informs-a/) [Denis Dutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-dutton/) [Explore all 16 Denis Dutton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-dutton/) ## More Bills quotes > [If you’re a person struggling to eat and stay healthy you might have heard about Michael Jordan or Muhammad Ali, but you’ll never have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/if-you-re-a-person-struggling-to-eat-and-stay-healthy-you-might-have/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [Some of the folks on both sides might be sincere, but it does seem as if it is only the opposition that cares about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-bovard/some-of-the-folks-on-both-sides-might-be-sincere-but-it-does-seem-as/) [James Bovard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-bovard/) > [ \[Sport officials\] blocked their support of us. But those individuals \[ Muhammad Ali, the Jim Browns, the Bill Russells, Kareem Abdul Jabbar \] were… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-carlos/sport-officials-blocked-their-support-of-us-but-those-individuals/) [John Carlos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carlos/) > [Simple fairness dictates that government must not raise taxes on families struggling to pay their bills.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/simple-fairness-dictates-that-government-must-not-raise-taxes-on/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [ \[A\]s you partake of the world's bill of fare, that's darned good advice to follow. Do a lot of spitting out the hot air.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/a-s-you-partake-of-the-world-s-bill-of-fare-that-s-darned-good-advice/) [Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/) > [ I will not agree to have this bill \[to repeal DADT \] go forward, because our economy is in the tank. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mccain/i-will-not-agree-to-have-this-bill-to-repeal-dadt-go-forward-because/) [John McCain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mccain/) > [This is not really currency that circulates. It's like the old joke about expensive vintage wine. Wine prices will go up and once in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hudson/this-is-not-really-currency-that-circulates-it-s-like-the-old-joke/) [Michael Hudson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hudson/) > [If Bill Gates left Microsoft we wouldn't allow Donald Trump to run it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-i-am/if-bill-gates-left-microsoft-we-wouldn-t-allow-donald-trump-to-run-it/) [will.i.am](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-i-am/) > [Your goal should be to pay off your credit card bills in full at the end of each month and set aside money toward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suze-orman/your-goal-should-be-to-pay-off-your-credit-card-bills-in-full-at-the/) [Suze Orman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suze-orman/) > [He's fat and a clown, Bill, a fat clown for all to see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eamon-dunphy/he-s-fat-and-a-clown-bill-a-fat-clown-for-all-to-see/) [Eamon Dunphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eamon-dunphy/) > [There's nothing nice about Steve Jobs and there's nothing evil about Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-peddle/there-s-nothing-nice-about-steve-jobs-and-there-s-nothing-evil-about/) [Chuck Peddle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-peddle/) > [At first I thought, if I were Superman, a perfect secret identity would be "Clark Kent, Dentist," because you could save money on tooth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-handey/at-first-i-thought-if-i-were-superman-a-perfect-secret-identity-would/) [Jack Handey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-handey/) > [Whether it's people walking off 'The View' when Bill O'Reilly makes a statement about radical Islam or Juan Williams being fired for expressing his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-cantor/whether-it-s-people-walking-off-the-view-when-bill-o-reilly-makes-a/) [Eric Cantor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-cantor/) > [The one thing the police cannot protect us from is a politician like Bill de Blasio.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-o-reilly/the-one-thing-the-police-cannot-protect-us-from-is-a-politician-like/) [Bill O'Reilly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-o-reilly/) > [Bill Hicks - blowtorch, excavator, truthsayer, and brain specialist. He will correct your vision. Others will drive on the road he built.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/bill-hicks-blowtorch-excavator-truthsayer-and-brain-specialist-he/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) [Browse all 2,663 Bills quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bills/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A few years ago, Bill Gates was boasting that we'll soon have sensors which will turn on the music that we like or show on the walls the paintings we like when we walk into a room. How boring! 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