--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Back in the 1980s, when the internet was…" description: "\"Back in the 1980s, when the internet was only available to a small number of pioneers, I was often confronted by people who feared that the strange tec..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd9/jaron-lanier-2241_available_back-in-the-1980s-when-the-internet-was_2420532.png" --- # Back in the 1980s, when the internet was only available to… ![“Back in the 1980s, when the internet was only available to a small number of pioneers, I was often confronted by people who feared that the strange technologies I was working on, like virtual reality, might unleash the demons of human nature. For instance, would people become addicted to virtual…” quote by Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd9/jaron-lanier-2241_available_back-in-the-1980s-when-the-internet-was_2420532.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd9/jaron-lanier-2241_available_back-in-the-1980s-when-the-internet-was_2420532.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd9/jaron-lanier-2241_available_back-in-the-1980s-when-the-internet-was_2420532.png) > “Back in the 1980s, when the internet was only available to a small number of pioneers, I was often confronted by people who feared that the strange technologies I was working on, like virtual reality, might unleash the demons of human nature. For instance, would people become addicted to virtual reality as if it were a drug? Would they become trapped in it, unable to escape back to the physical world where the rest of us live? Some of the questions were silly, and others were prescient.” [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Early internet pioneers feared VR could trap users, reflecting anxieties about technology’s impact on humanity. **In simple terms:** Tech can isolate or harm. Key Takeaway Consider ethical implications of new tech. Themes technology ethics future Mood cautious analytical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - product design - digital wellbeing - policy making Key Concepts virtual reality human nature addiction Questions to Reflect On - How should society balance innovation with caution? - What safeguards can prevent tech addiction? A Different Perspective Predictions can be exaggerated, overlooking benefits. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Demon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demon/) [Drug](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drug/) [Human nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-nature/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Internet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/internet/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Pioneers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pioneers/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Silly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silly/) [Small numbers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/small-numbers/) [Technology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technology/) [Virtual reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtual-reality/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“Immersive tech like virtual reality inspires such rich emotions that it’s ripe for abuse. It’s still in its infancy, though, so it’s too soon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-alter/immersive-tech-like-virtual-reality-inspires-such-rich-emotions-that/) [Adam Alter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-alter/) > [We think of them as mobile phones, but the personal computer, mobile phone and the Internet are merging into some new medium like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-rheingold/we-think-of-them-as-mobile-phones-but-the-personal-computer-mobile/) [Howard Rheingold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-rheingold/) > [Reality is my drug. The more I have of it, the more power I get and the higher I feel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-jackson/reality-is-my-drug-the-more-i-have-of-it-the-more-power-i-get-and-the/) [Curtis Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curtis-jackson/) > [In fact, one reason I am interested in developing things in virtual reality is that they're so fascinating. I can come up with problems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/in-fact-one-reason-i-am-interested-in-developing-things-in-virtual/) [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) > [It would be a very bad idea... to exhibit even a small number of this new series, as the whole effect can only be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-monet/it-would-be-a-very-bad-idea-to-exhibit-even-a-small-number-of-this/) [Claude Monet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-monet/) > [Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures success to the weak, and esteem to all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/discipline-is-the-soul-of-an-army-it-makes-small-numbers-formidable/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [The concept of the "information society" is both vague and all-embracing. Different participants meant different things by it. 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These fundamental principles are called the axioms of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hilbert/geometry-like-arithmetic-requires-for-its-logical-development-only-a/) [David Hilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hilbert/) > [Taste is the best judge. It is rare. Art only addresses itself to an excessively small number of individuals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-cezanne/taste-is-the-best-judge-it-is-rare-art-only-addresses-itself-to-an/) [Paul Cezanne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-cezanne/) > [It seems to me that the soul, when alone with itself and speaking to itself, uses only a small number of words, none of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/it-seems-to-me-that-the-soul-when-alone-with-itself-and-speaking-to/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [I cannot escape from the conclusion that the great ages of progress have depended upon a small number of individuals of transcendent ability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/i-cannot-escape-from-the-conclusion-that-the-great-ages-of-progress/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [“Belief in the Law of Small Numbers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-kahneman/belief-in-the-law-of-small-numbers/) [Daniel Kahneman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-kahneman/) ## More by Jaron Lanier > [If we allow our self-congratulatory adoration of technology to distract us from our own contact with each other, then somehow the original agenda has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/if-we-allow-our-self-congratulatory-adoration-of-technology-to/) [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) > [Individual web pages as they first appeared in the early 1990s had the flavour of person-hood. MySpace preserved some of that flavour, though a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/individual-web-pages-as-they-first-appeared-in-the-early-1990s-had/) [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) > [Style used to be an interaction between the human soul and tools that were limiting. In the digital era, it will have to come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/style-used-to-be-an-interaction-between-the-human-soul-and-tools-that/) [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) > [We should talk about the ultimate cause of war. 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The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/what-these-critics-forget-is-that-printing-presses-in-themselves/) [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) > [There were studies that asked people in different cultures to draw pictures of their enemies, and the pictures all looked remarkably the same. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/there-were-studies-that-asked-people-in-different-cultures-to-draw/) [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) > [“Zombies are familiar characters in philosophical thought experiments. They are like people in every way except they have no internal experience… If there are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/zombies-are-familiar-characters-in-philosophical-thought-experiments/) [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) > [We're losing track of the vastness of the potential for computer science. 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Little kids know their Unix path punctuation so they can get around the Web,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/the-mass-culture-of-childhood-right-now-is-astonishingly-technical/) [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) > [Wal-Mart impoverished its own customer base. Google is facing exactly the same issue long-term, although not yet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/wal-mart-impoverished-its-own-customer-base-google-is-facing-exactly/) [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) [Explore all 173 Jaron Lanier quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) ## More Available quotes > [I wrote when I was a young teen, but I didn't put an eye on the available markets until I was seventeen. 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Don't pack whatever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarissa-pinkola-estes/tell-the-truth-about-your-wound-and-then-you-will-get-a-truthful/) [Clarissa Pinkola Estes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarissa-pinkola-estes/) > [No actor wants to choose - they just want all of the options available to them all the time; we tend to be pretty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-jacobs/no-actor-wants-to-choose-they-just-want-all-of-the-options-available/) [Gillian Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-jacobs/) > [Never belong to a crowd; Never belong to a nation; Never belong to a religion; Never belong to a race. Belong to the whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/never-belong-to-a-crowd-never-belong-to-a-nation-never-belong-to-a/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [I used practically all the money I had available.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-ebbers/i-used-practically-all-the-money-i-had-available/) [Bernard Ebbers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-ebbers/) > [But we need to be very clear: because of our decades of collective denial, no gradual, incremental options are now available to us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-klein/but-we-need-to-be-very-clear-because-of-our-decades-of-collective/) [Naomi Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-klein/) > [There was no mistake in us making abortion legal and available on demand. That was what we call progress. Just like it was no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-ruffalo/there-was-no-mistake-in-us-making-abortion-legal-and-available-on/) [Mark Ruffalo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-ruffalo/) > [I m Single , Eligible But Not Available .. Limited Edition :D](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faisal-khan-neal/i-m-single-eligible-but-not-available-limited-edition-d/) Faisal Khan Neal > [I do worry because it takes all types to make our culture, to make our art. We need it to be available to all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neve-mcintosh/i-do-worry-because-it-takes-all-types-to-make-our-culture-to-make-our/) [Neve McIntosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neve-mcintosh/) > [So-called Western Civilization, as practised in half of Europe, some of Asia and a few parts of North America, is better than anything else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/so-called-western-civilization-as-practised-in-half-of-europe-some-of/) [P. J. 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I work long hours. I have a dog and a wife. There's not a lot of available time for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ira-glass/i-m-in-production-year-round-i-work-long-hours-i-have-a-dog-and-a/) [Ira Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ira-glass/) Browse all 2,134 Available quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Back in the 1980s, when the internet was only available to a small number of pioneers, I was often confronted by people who feared that the strange technologies I was working on, like virtual reality, might unleash the demons of human nature. For instance, would people become addicted to virtual reality as if it were a drug? Would they become trapped in it, unable to escape back to the physical world where the rest of us live? 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