Authors Quote by Jaron Lanier
““What these critics forget is that printing presses in themselves provide no guarantee of an enlightened outcome. People, not machines, made the Renaissance. The printing that takes place in North Korea today, for instance, is nothing more than propaganda for a personality cult. What is important about printing presses is not the mechanism, but the authors.””
About This Quote
Source Book: Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts, 2018
Technology alone does not ensure progress; human intent and content creators shape outcomes.
In simple terms: Machines are tools; people decide their impact.
Key Takeaway
Focus on responsible authorship.
Themes
technology
media
responsibility
culture
history
Mood
critical
reflective
Type
analytical
cautionary
When to use this quote
- education
- policy making
- media literacy
- creative publishing
Key Concepts
printing press
propaganda
human agency
Questions to Reflect On
- Who controls the narrative in your community?
- How can we ensure diverse voices are heard?
A Different Perspective
Even with good authors, distribution can be manipulated.
![“At the turn of the [21st] century it was really Sergey Brin at Google who just had the thought of, well, if we give away all the information services, but we make money from advertising, we can make information free and still have capitalism. But the problem with that is it reneges on the social…” quote by Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/10d/jaron-lanier-2241_21st-century_at-the-turn-of-the-21st-century-it-was-r_345382.jpg)
