--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Late twentieth-century machines have made…" description: "\"Late twentieth-century machines have made thoroughly ambiguous the difference between natural and artificial, mind and body, self-developing and extern..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fc/donna-j-haraway-25098_ambiguous_late-twentieth-century-machines-have-mad_1767131.jpg" --- # Late twentieth-century machines have made thoroughly… ![“Late twentieth-century machines have made thoroughly ambiguous the difference between natural and artificial, mind and body, self-developing and externally designed, and many other distinctions that used to apply to organisms and machines. Our machines are disturbingly lively, and we ourselves…” quote by Donna J. Haraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fc/donna-j-haraway-25098_ambiguous_late-twentieth-century-machines-have-mad_1767131.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fc/donna-j-haraway-25098_ambiguous_late-twentieth-century-machines-have-mad_1767131.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fc/donna-j-haraway-25098_ambiguous_late-twentieth-century-machines-have-mad_1767131.jpg) > “Late twentieth-century machines have made thoroughly ambiguous the difference between natural and artificial, mind and body, self-developing and externally designed, and many other distinctions that used to apply to organisms and machines. Our machines are disturbingly lively, and we ourselves frighteningly inert.” [Donna J. Haraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Technological advances blur lines between nature and artifact, mind and body, and self‑creation versus external design. **In simple terms:** Machines blur natural‑artificial boundaries. Key Takeaway Question what is truly natural. Themes technology philosophy identity Mood critical thoughtful Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - AI ethics - bioengineering - self‑identity - design philosophy Key Concepts posthumanism cyborg theory Questions to Reflect On - How do we maintain agency? - What ethical frameworks are needed? A Different Perspective Human agency may be underestimated. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Computers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computers/) [Differences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/) [Distinction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distinction/) [Machines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/machines/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Mind and body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind-and-body/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) ## Related quotes > [Our machines are disturbingly lively, and we ourselves frighteningly inert.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-j-haraway/our-machines-are-disturbingly-lively-and-we-ourselves-frighteningly/) [Donna J. Haraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/) > [My own suspicion is that a stand-alone artificial mind will be more a tool of narrow utility than something especially apocalyptic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamais-cascio/my-own-suspicion-is-that-a-stand-alone-artificial-mind-will-be-more-a/) [Jamais Cascio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamais-cascio/) > [“White magic or black, it doesn’t make a difference. Natural and artificial? Obsolete distinctions”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-porush/white-magic-or-black-it-doesn-t-make-a-difference-natural-and/) David Porush > [“We shall have to stop thinking of technology as something invulnerable that is merely used by humans, and view it as part of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-burgess/we-shall-have-to-stop-thinking-of-technology-as-something/) [Mark Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-burgess/) > [TV is providing such amazing possibilities - you have such lively characters, fantastic stories and ambiguous messages, and viewers feel very satisfied.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fedor-bondarchuk/tv-is-providing-such-amazing-possibilities-you-have-such-lively/) [Fedor Bondarchuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fedor-bondarchuk/) > [Wave particle duality is a core feature of our world. Or rather, we should say, it is a core feature of our mathematical descriptions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-wertheim/wave-particle-duality-is-a-core-feature-of-our-world-or-rather-we/) [Margaret Wertheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-wertheim/) > [Words are such gross machinery, so primitive and ambiguous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/words-are-such-gross-machinery-so-primitive-and-ambiguous/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [My drawings inspire, and are not to be defined. They place us, as does music, in the ambiguous realm of the undetermined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/odilon-redon/my-drawings-inspire-and-are-not-to-be-defined-they-place-us-as-does/) [Odilon Redon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/odilon-redon/) > [Photography appears to be an easy activity; in fact it is a varied and ambiguous process in which the only common denominator among its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/photography-appears-to-be-an-easy-activity-in-fact-it-is-a-varied-and/) [Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/) > [I want each poem to be ambiguous enough that its meaning can shift, depending on the reader's own frame of reference, and depending on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-arthur/i-want-each-poem-to-be-ambiguous-enough-that-its-meaning-can-shift/) [James Arthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-arthur/) > [“In general we are reminded that the word heimlich is not unambiguous, but belongs to two sets of ideas, which, without being contradictory, are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/in-general-we-are-reminded-that-the-word-heimlich-is-not-unambiguous/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [Redundancy is ambiguous because it seems like a waste if nothing unusual happens. Except that something unusual happens-usually .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/redundancy-is-ambiguous-because-it-seems-like-a-waste-if-nothing/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Somehow, in the novel format, I don't really like to do upfront, ideological discussion. In my heart, literature remains a poetic and ambiguous medium.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/xiaolu-guo/somehow-in-the-novel-format-i-don-t-really-like-to-do-upfront/) [Xiaolu Guo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/xiaolu-guo/) > [Happiness can be bought with a bottle of wine and has become ambiguous through overuse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/happiness-can-be-bought-with-a-bottle-of-wine-and-has-become/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Virtually every major technological advance in the history of the human species- back to the invention of stone tools and the domestication of fire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-dennett/virtually-every-major-technological-advance-in-the-history-of-the/) [Daniel Dennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-dennett/) ## More by Donna J. Haraway > [Technology is not neutral. We're inside of what we make, and it's inside of us. We're living in a world of connections — and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-j-haraway/technology-is-not-neutral-we-re-inside-of-what-we-make-and-it-s/) [Donna J. Haraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/) > [A cyborg is a cybernetic organism, a hybrid of machine and organism, a creature of social reality as well as a creature of fiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-j-haraway/a-cyborg-is-a-cybernetic-organism-a-hybrid-of-machine-and-organism-a/) [Donna J. Haraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/) > [We have all been injured, profoundly. We require regeneration, not rebirth, and the possibilities for our reconstitution include the utopian dream of the hope…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-j-haraway/we-have-all-been-injured-profoundly-we-require-regeneration-not/) [Donna J. Haraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/) > [In language that is searing and lyrical, evocative and precise, this exceptional book thinks with the zombies, specters, felons, slaves, dogs, cadavers, and other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-j-haraway/in-language-that-is-searing-and-lyrical-evocative-and-precise-this/) [Donna J. Haraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/) > [Single vision produces worse illusions than double vision or many-headed monsters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-j-haraway/single-vision-produces-worse-illusions-than-double-vision-or-many/) [Donna J. Haraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/) > [The cyborg would not recognize the garden of Eden; it is not made of mud and cannot dream of returning to dust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-j-haraway/the-cyborg-would-not-recognize-the-garden-of-eden-it-is-not-made-of/) [Donna J. Haraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/) > [“The cyborg is a creature in a post-gender world; it has no truck with bisexuality, pre-oedipal symbiosis, unalienated labour, or other seductions to organic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-j-haraway/the-cyborg-is-a-creature-in-a-post-gender-world-it-has-no-truck-with/) [Donna J. Haraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/) > [Cyborgs are not reverent; they do not re-member the cosmos. They are wary of holism, but needy for connection- they seem to have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-j-haraway/cyborgs-are-not-reverent-they-do-not-re-member-the-cosmos-they-are/) [Donna J. Haraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/) > [Though both are bound in the spiral dance, I would rather be a cyborg than a goddess.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-j-haraway/though-both-are-bound-in-the-spiral-dance-i-would-rather-be-a-cyborg/) [Donna J. Haraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/) > [The boundary between science fiction and social reality is an optical illusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-j-haraway/the-boundary-between-science-fiction-and-social-reality-is-an-optical/) [Donna J. Haraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/) > [It is not just that science and technology are possible means of great human satisfaction, as well as a matrix of complex dominations. Cyborg…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-j-haraway/it-is-not-just-that-science-and-technology-are-possible-means-of/) [Donna J. Haraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/) > [Our machines are disturbingly lively, and we ourselves frighteningly inert.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-j-haraway/our-machines-are-disturbingly-lively-and-we-ourselves-frighteningly/) [Donna J. Haraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/) > [Blasphemy has always seemed to require taking things very seriously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-j-haraway/blasphemy-has-always-seemed-to-require-taking-things-very-seriously/) [Donna J. Haraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/) > [Scientific practice is above all a story-telling practice. ... Biology is inherently historical, and its form of discourse is inherently narrative. ... Biology as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-j-haraway/scientific-practice-is-above-all-a-story-telling-practice-biology-is/) [Donna J. Haraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/) > [I’d rather be a Cyborg than a Goddess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-j-haraway/i-d-rather-be-a-cyborg-than-a-goddess/) [Donna J. Haraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/) [Explore all 23 Donna J. Haraway quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/) ## More Ambiguous quotes > [Virtually every major technological advance in the history of the human species- back to the invention of stone tools and the domestication of fire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-dennett/virtually-every-major-technological-advance-in-the-history-of-the/) [Daniel Dennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-dennett/) > [Happiness can be bought with a bottle of wine and has become ambiguous through overuse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/happiness-can-be-bought-with-a-bottle-of-wine-and-has-become/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Somehow, in the novel format, I don't really like to do upfront, ideological discussion. In my heart, literature remains a poetic and ambiguous medium.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/xiaolu-guo/somehow-in-the-novel-format-i-don-t-really-like-to-do-upfront/) [Xiaolu Guo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/xiaolu-guo/) > [Redundancy is ambiguous because it seems like a waste if nothing unusual happens. Except that something unusual happens-usually .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/redundancy-is-ambiguous-because-it-seems-like-a-waste-if-nothing/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“In general we are reminded that the word heimlich is not unambiguous, but belongs to two sets of ideas, which, without being contradictory, are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/in-general-we-are-reminded-that-the-word-heimlich-is-not-unambiguous/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [I want each poem to be ambiguous enough that its meaning can shift, depending on the reader's own frame of reference, and depending on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-arthur/i-want-each-poem-to-be-ambiguous-enough-that-its-meaning-can-shift/) [James Arthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-arthur/) > [Photography appears to be an easy activity; in fact it is a varied and ambiguous process in which the only common denominator among its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/photography-appears-to-be-an-easy-activity-in-fact-it-is-a-varied-and/) [Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/) > [My drawings inspire, and are not to be defined. They place us, as does music, in the ambiguous realm of the undetermined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/odilon-redon/my-drawings-inspire-and-are-not-to-be-defined-they-place-us-as-does/) [Odilon Redon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/odilon-redon/) > [Words are such gross machinery, so primitive and ambiguous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/words-are-such-gross-machinery-so-primitive-and-ambiguous/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [Wave particle duality is a core feature of our world. Or rather, we should say, it is a core feature of our mathematical descriptions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-wertheim/wave-particle-duality-is-a-core-feature-of-our-world-or-rather-we/) [Margaret Wertheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-wertheim/) > [Humor is really one of the hardest things to define, very hard. And it's very ambiguous. You have it or you don't. You can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-b-ll/humor-is-really-one-of-the-hardest-things-to-define-very-hard-and-it/) [Heinrich Böll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-b-ll/) > [I was perceiving myself as good as a man or equal to a man and as powerful and I wanted to look ambiguous because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-lennox/i-was-perceiving-myself-as-good-as-a-man-or-equal-to-a-man-and-as/) [Annie Lennox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-lennox/) > [I was always, like, ambiguous. Is that how you say it? When I was turning 16 I talked to my mom about transitioning and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adore-delano/i-was-always-like-ambiguous-is-that-how-you-say-it-when-i-was-turning/) [Adore Delano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adore-delano/) > [I am Indian-American, but I often play ethnically ambiguous roles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiya-sircar/i-am-indian-american-but-i-often-play-ethnically-ambiguous-roles/) [Tiya Sircar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiya-sircar/) > [Humor is really one of the hardest things to define, very hard. And it's very ambiguous. You have it, or you don't. You can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-b-ll/humor-is-really-one-of-the-hardest-things-to-define-very-hard-and-it-2/) [Heinrich Boll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-b-ll/) Browse all 271 Ambiguous quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Late twentieth-century machines have made thoroughly ambiguous the difference between natural and artificial, mind and body, self-developing and externally designed, and many other distinctions that used to apply to organisms and machines. Our machines are disturbingly lively, and we ourselves frighteningly inert.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Donna J. 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