---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Everything tends to become a satellite…"
description: "\"“Everything tends to become a satellite - even our brains may be said to be outside us now, floating around us in the countless Hertzian ramifications ..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c6/jean-baudrillard-1500_cybernetics_everything-tends-to-become-a-satellite-e_1256008.jpg"
---

#  Everything tends to become a satellite - even our brains…

![“Everything tends to become a satellite - even our brains may be said to be outside us now, floating around us in the countless Hertzian ramifications of waves and circuits. This is not science fiction, merely a generalization of McLuhan's theory of the 'extensions of man' . Every aspect of human…” quote by Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c6/jean-baudrillard-1500_cybernetics_everything-tends-to-become-a-satellite-e_1256008.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c6/jean-baudrillard-1500_cybernetics_everything-tends-to-become-a-satellite-e_1256008.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c6/jean-baudrillard-1500_cybernetics_everything-tends-to-become-a-satellite-e_1256008.jpg)

> ““Everything tends to become a satellite - even our brains may be said to be outside us now, floating around us in the countless Hertzian ramifications of waves and circuits. This is not science fiction, merely a generalization of McLuhan's theory of the 'extensions of man' . Every aspect of human beings - their bodies in their biological, mental, muscular or cerebral manifestations - now floats free in the shape of mechanical or computer-aided replacement parts. McLuhan, however, conceives of all this as a positive expansion - as the universalization of man - through media. This is a very sanguine view. The fact is that all the functions of man's body, so far from gravitating around him in concentric order, have become satellites ordered excentrically with respect to him. They have gone into orbit on their own account; consequently it is man himself, in view of this orbital extraversion of his own functions, his own technologies, who is now in a position of ex-orbitation and ex-centricity. Vis-a-vis the satellites that he has created and put into orbit, it is man with his planet Earth, with his territory, with his body, who is now the satellite. Once transcendent, he has become exorbitate. It is not just the functions of man's body which, by becoming satellites, make man himself into a satellite. All those functions of our societies - notably the higher ones - which break off and go into orbit, contribute to the process. Loan, finance, the technosphere, communications - all have become satellites in an inaccessible space and left everything else to go to rack and ruin. Whatever fails to achieve orbital power is left in a state of abandonment which is permanent, since there is now no way out of it via some kind of transcendence.””

[Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Human functions have become detached extensions, turning us into satellites orbiting our own technologies, leading to alienation.

**In simple terms:** We become satellites of our own tech.

Key Takeaway

Recognize and reconnect with embodied experience.

Themes

technology alienation media theory

Mood

reflective critical

Type

philosophical analytical

When to use this quote

- daily tech use
- mindful media consumption
- community building

Key Concepts

McLuhan's extensions postmodernism digital dependency

Questions to Reflect On

- How does tech shape your sense of self?
- Can we reclaim bodily agency?

A Different Perspective

Risk of nihilism if disconnection deepens.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Body Satellite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body-satellite-3976538/) [Body Satellites](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body-satellites-3976537/) [Cybernetics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cybernetics/) [Dehumanization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dehumanization/) [Man Satellite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-satellite-3424996/) [Mcluhan Theory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mcluhan-theory-1024586/) [Planet earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/planet-earth/) [Satellite Brains](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/satellite-brains-3976536/) [Science fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science-fiction/) [Space travel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space-travel/) [Transhumanism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/transhumanism/)

## Related quotes

> [The first man-made satellite to orbit the earth was named Sputnik. The first living creature in space was Laika. The first rocket to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/the-first-man-made-satellite-to-orbit-the-earth-was-named-sputnik-the/)

[John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/)

> [If you go with Marshall McLuhan's theory that the medium is the message, as soon as you're hosting a blooper show, you're done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-saget/if-you-go-with-marshall-mcluhan-s-theory-that-the-medium-is-the/)

[Bob Saget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-saget/)

> [“What use was time to those who'd soon achieve Digital Immortality?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clyde-dsouza/what-use-was-time-to-those-who-d-soon-achieve-digital-immortality/)

[Clyde Dsouza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clyde-dsouza/)

> [“EVEN RANDOMNESS IS WITHIN A SET OF PARAMETERS; THRESHOLDS...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clyde-dsouza/even-randomness-is-within-a-set-of-parameters-thresholds/)

[Clyde Dsouza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clyde-dsouza/)

> [“–Important questions that remain unanswered. Is this new technology a threat to our existence, or is super artificial intelligence the answer to our most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shawn-corey/important-questions-that-remain-unanswered-is-this-new-technology-a/)

[Shawn Corey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shawn-corey/)

> [“You realize, there is no free-will in anything we create with Artificial Intelligence...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clyde-dsouza/you-realize-there-is-no-free-will-in-anything-we-create-with/)

[Clyde Dsouza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clyde-dsouza/)

> [“Man is to technology what the bee is to the flower. It’s man’s intervention that allows technology to expand and evolve itself and in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-scott-co-founder-institute-for-critical-infrastructure-technology/man-is-to-technology-what-the-bee-is-to-the-flower-it-s-man-s/)

[James Scott, Co-Founder, Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-scott-co-founder-institute-for-critical-infrastructure-technology/)

> [“Based on its clear energetic signature as new technologies are breathlessly rolled out following a blatantly prewritten script, the current era might best be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-luckman/based-on-its-clear-energetic-signature-as-new-technologies-are/)

[Sol Luckman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-luckman/)

> [“Transhumanism encapsulates a long-lived error among the headliners of science: in a world without a destination, we cannot even break ground on our Tower…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/transhumanism-encapsulates-a-long-lived-error-among-the-headliners-of/)

[Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/)

> [“I expect to see the coming decades transform the planet into an art form; the new man, linked in a cosmic harmony that transcends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/i-expect-to-see-the-coming-decades-transform-the-planet-into-an-art-2/)

[Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/)

> [“I believe in transhumanism: once there are enough people who can truly say that, the human species will be on the threshold of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-huxley/i-believe-in-transhumanism-once-there-are-enough-people-who-can-truly/)

[Julian Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-huxley/)

> [“All that is required for the Forces of Evil to triumph is for the Good People to do Nothing." Edmund Burke”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracey-schubert/all-that-is-required-for-the-forces-of-evil-to-triumph-is-for-the/)

[Tracey Schubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracey-schubert/)

> [“We blow the past a kiss, our last blush of artifice as performers before this Future we’re flirting with becomes terribly and totally Real.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-evans/we-blow-the-past-a-kiss-our-last-blush-of-artifice-as-performers/)

[Woody Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-evans/)

> [“Everytime you think of your father, you resurrect him. Why shouldn't he continue a posthuman life in this world while he's resting in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clyde-dsouza/everytime-you-think-of-your-father-you-resurrect-him-why-shouldn-t-he/)

[Clyde Dsouza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clyde-dsouza/)

> [“All right. You want to know about Nigel. I’ll tell you about Nigel. He’s come a long way since that so-called accident, Jon. Heck,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shawn-corey/all-right-you-want-to-know-about-nigel-i-ll-tell-you-about-nigel-he-s/)

[Shawn Corey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shawn-corey/)

## More by Jean Baudrillard

> [“The whole gestural system of work was also obscene, in sharp contrast to the miniaturized and abstract gestural system of control to which it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/the-whole-gestural-system-of-work-was-also-obscene-in-sharp-contrast/)

[Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/)

> [“We will live in this world, which for us has all the disquieting strangeness of the desert and of the simulacrum, with all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/we-will-live-in-this-world-which-for-us-has-all-the-disquieting/)

[Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/)

> [Holidays are in no sense an alternative to the congestion and bustle of the cities and work. Quite the contrary. People look to escape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/holidays-are-in-no-sense-an-alternative-to-the-congestion-and-bustle/)

[Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/)

> [There is nothing funny about Halloween. This sarcastic festival reflects, rather, an infernal demand for revenge by children on the adult world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/there-is-nothing-funny-about-halloween-this-sarcastic-festival/)

[Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/)

> [The sickly cultural pathos which the whole of France indulges in, that fetishism of the cultural heritage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/the-sickly-cultural-pathos-which-the-whole-of-france-indulges-in-that/)

[Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/)

> [“We need a visible past, a visible continuum, a visible myth of origin to reassure us as to our ends, since ultimately we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/we-need-a-visible-past-a-visible-continuum-a-visible-myth-of-origin/)

[Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/)

> [History that repeats itself turns to farce. Farce that repeats itself turns to history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/history-that-repeats-itself-turns-to-farce-farce-that-repeats-itself/)

[Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/)

> [Perhaps our eyes are merely a blank film which is taken from us after our deaths to be developed elsewhere and screened as our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/perhaps-our-eyes-are-merely-a-blank-film-which-is-taken-from-us-after/)

[Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/)

> [If everything is perfect, language is useless. This is true for animals. If animals don't speak, it's because everything's perfect for them. If one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/if-everything-is-perfect-language-is-useless-this-is-true-for-animals/)

[Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/)

> [There exists, between people in love, a kind of capital held by each. This is not just a stock of affects or pleasure, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/there-exists-between-people-in-love-a-kind-of-capital-held-by-each/)

[Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/)

> [When the real is no longer what it used to be, nostalgia assumes its full meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/when-the-real-is-no-longer-what-it-used-to-be-nostalgia-assumes-its/)

[Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/)

> [With the truth, you need to get rid of it as soon as possible and pass it on to someone else. As with illness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/with-the-truth-you-need-to-get-rid-of-it-as-soon-as-possible-and-pass/)

[Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/)

> [You have to know how to disappear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/you-have-to-know-how-to-disappear/)

[Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/)

> [Large department stores, with their luxuriant abundance of canned goods, foods, and clothing, are like the primary landscape and the geometrical locus of affluence.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/large-department-stores-with-their-luxuriant-abundance-of-canned/)

[Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/)

> [The sad thing about artificial intelligence is that it lacks artifice and therefore intelligence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/the-sad-thing-about-artificial-intelligence-is-that-it-lacks-artifice/)

[Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/)

[Explore all 228 Jean Baudrillard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/)

## More Cybernetics quotes

> [“What I have said about the newspapers and the movies applies equally to the radio, to television, and even to bookselling. Thus we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norbert-wiener/what-i-have-said-about-the-newspapers-and-the-movies-applies-equally/)

[Norbert Wiener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norbert-wiener/)

> [“There is reason to fear that men love better to investigate how muslins, hay-rakes, and, above all and inclusive of all, money may be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fitz-hugh-ludlow/there-is-reason-to-fear-that-men-love-better-to-investigate-how/)

[Fitz Hugh Ludlow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fitz-hugh-ludlow/)

> [“Pick up a pinecone and count the spiral rows of scales. You may find eight spirals winding up to the left and 13 spirals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-kauffman/pick-up-a-pinecone-and-count-the-spiral-rows-of-scales-you-may-find/)

[Stuart Kauffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-kauffman/)

> [The Encyclopedia Galactica defines a robot as a mechanical apparatus designed to do the work of a man. The marketing division of the Sirius…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/the-encyclopedia-galactica-defines-a-robot-as-a-mechanical-apparatus/)

[Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/)

> [Something of the previous state, however, survives every change. This is called in the language of cybernetics (which took it form the language of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-davenport/something-of-the-previous-state-however-survives-every-change-this-is/)

[Guy Davenport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-davenport/)

> [The aliens on this planet are also attempting to clone or replicate the human form artificially. Their original form, being humanoid, cannot pass the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tsarion/the-aliens-on-this-planet-are-also-attempting-to-clone-or-replicate/)

[Michael Tsarion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tsarion/)

> [Study the situation thoroughly, go over in your imagination the various courses of action possible to you and the consequences which can and may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxwell-maltz/study-the-situation-thoroughly-go-over-in-your-imagination-the/)

[Maxwell Maltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxwell-maltz/)

> [the science of control and communication in the animal and the machine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norbert-wiener/the-science-of-control-and-communication-in-the-animal-and-the-machine/)

[Norbert Wiener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norbert-wiener/)

> [Cybernetics is NOT the banana.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinz-von-foerster/cybernetics-is-not-the-banana/)

[Heinz von Foerster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinz-von-foerster/)

> [“Our metaphors for the operation of the brain are frequently drawn from the production line. We think of the brain as a glorified sausage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-grand/our-metaphors-for-the-operation-of-the-brain-are-frequently-drawn/)

[Steve Grand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-grand/)

> [This is where you will win the battle - in the playhouse of your mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxwell-maltz/this-is-where-you-will-win-the-battle-in-the-playhouse-of-your-mind/)

[Maxwell Maltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxwell-maltz/)

> [Within you right now is the power to do things you never dreamed possible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxwell-maltz/within-you-right-now-is-the-power-to-do-things-you-never-dreamed-2/)

[Maxwell Maltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxwell-maltz/)

> [To many of us now, computers, silicon chips, data processing, cybernetics, and all the other innovations of the dawning high technology age are as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/to-many-of-us-now-computers-silicon-chips-data-processing-cybernetics/)

[Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/)

> [“There is nothing distinctively scientific about the hypothetico-deductive process. It is not even distinctively intellectual. It is merely a scientific context for a much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-b-medawar/there-is-nothing-distinctively-scientific-about-the-hypothetico/)

[Peter B. Medawar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-b-medawar/)

> [Loneliness is caused by an alienation from life. It is a loneliness from your real self.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxwell-maltz/loneliness-is-caused-by-an-alienation-from-life-it-is-a-loneliness/)

[Maxwell Maltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxwell-maltz/)

[Browse all 55 Cybernetics quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cybernetics/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“Everything tends to become a satellite - even our brains may be said to be outside us now, floating around us in the countless Hertzian ramifications of waves and circuits. This is not science fiction, merely a generalization of McLuhan's theory of the 'extensions of man' . Every aspect of human beings - their bodies in their biological, mental, muscular or cerebral manifestations - now floats free in the shape of mechanical or computer-aided replacement parts. McLuhan, however, conceives of all this as a positive expansion - as the universalization of man - through media. This is a very sanguine view. The fact is that all the functions of man's body, so far from gravitating around him in concentric order, have become satellites ordered excentrically with respect to him. They have gone into orbit on their own account; consequently it is man himself, in view of this orbital extraversion of his own functions, his own technologies, who is now in a position of ex-orbitation and ex-centricity. Vis-a-vis the satellites that he has created and put into orbit, it is man with his planet Earth, with his territory, with his body, who is now the satellite. Once transcendent, he has become exorbitate. It is not just the functions of man's body which, by becoming satellites, make man himself into a satellite. All those functions of our societies - notably the higher ones - which break off and go into orbit, contribute to the process. Loan, finance, the technosphere, communications - all have become satellites in an inaccessible space and left everything else to go to rack and ruin. Whatever fails to achieve orbital power is left in a state of abandonment which is permanent, since there is now no way out of it via some kind of transcendence.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Jean Baudrillard"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/everything-tends-to-become-a-satellite-even-our-brains-may-be-said-to/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Cybernetics"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/everything-tends-to-become-a-satellite-even-our-brains-may-be-said-to/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c6/jean-baudrillard-1500_cybernetics_everything-tends-to-become-a-satellite-e_1256008.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c6/jean-baudrillard-1500_cybernetics_everything-tends-to-become-a-satellite-e_1256008.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c6/jean-baudrillard-1500_cybernetics_everything-tends-to-become-a-satellite-e_1256008.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Everything tends to become a satellite - even our brains may be said to be outside us now, floating around…” — Jean Baudrillard",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Jean Baudrillard",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“Everything tends to become a satellite...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/everything-tends-to-become-a-satellite-even-our-brains-may-be-said-to/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/everything-tends-to-become-a-satellite-even-our-brains-may-be-said-to/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
