Contemporary Quote by Jon Woodson
““Something refused to come into focus in my thinking. Indistinctly, as though in a fog, shapes moved toward me and retreated just beyond cognition. But that getting a hold of things is the uncertainty. As the Tractatus says right at the beginning, “The world is everything that is the case.” It seemed as though the Mammy≈Divas® were just like Steve Jobs, trying to have reality bent to their own wills. Objectively, the iPhone was a muddle of mysticism and logic—breakable glass, non-ergonomic design, lousy battery life, lousy irreplaceable battery, lousy headphone jack, lousy virtual keyboard, lousy email, lousy memory, lousy lice, etc., etc, and an interface that you had to adapt to by pretending as an article of faith that no adaptation was required. The Mammy≈Divas® promised a seamless racial interface—eternal blackness ordered and majestic. They put a benign face on their lust for panoptic power. They promised to discipline and punish with pancakes.””
About This Quote
The quote reflects a chaotic, critical view of technology and power, suggesting that attempts to control reality through devices and authority are fraught with contradictions and superficial promises.
In simple terms: Tech and power are messy and deceptive.
Question appearances and seek deeper truth.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- consumer tech criticism
- analysis of authority
- cultural commentary
- media literacy
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- What assumptions about technology do you accept?
- How does power masquerade as benevolence?
The metaphorical language may obscure concrete analysis.