--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Being a visionary is a new profession…" description: "\"Being a visionary is a new profession, but it is really just a variant on fortunetelling, which may be the world's oldest. And its marketing appeal is ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/496/nathan-myhrvold-3298_about_being-a-visionary-is-a-new-profession-bu_2415070.png" --- # Being a visionary is a new profession, but it is really… ![“Being a visionary is a new profession, but it is really just a variant on fortunetelling, which may be the world's oldest. And its marketing appeal is similar - people will pay for reassurance about the unknown.” quote by Nathan Myhrvold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/496/nathan-myhrvold-3298_about_being-a-visionary-is-a-new-profession-bu_2415070.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/496/nathan-myhrvold-3298_about_being-a-visionary-is-a-new-profession-bu_2415070.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/496/nathan-myhrvold-3298_about_being-a-visionary-is-a-new-profession-bu_2415070.png) > “Being a visionary is a new profession, but it is really just a variant on fortunetelling, which may be the world's oldest. And its marketing appeal is similar - people will pay for reassurance about the unknown.” [Nathan Myhrvold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-myhrvold/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Visionary work is essentially modern fortunetelling, selling reassurance about the unknown. **In simple terms:** Visionary work sells reassurance about the unknown. Key Takeaway Recognize the limits of prediction. Themes prediction marketing uncertainty future visionary Mood cautious critical inquisitive Type advisory analytical When to use this quote - startup pitches - career counseling - financial advising - media commentary - personal coaching Key Concepts Risk assessment psychology of belief future studies Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance optimism with realistic assessment? - When does reassurance become deception? A Different Perspective It may overlook the need for evidence‑based decision making. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [About](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/about/) [Appeal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/appeal/) [Being](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being/) [Fortunetelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fortunetelling-2571999/) [Fortunetelling World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fortunetelling-world-6092871/) [Just](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/just/) [Marketing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marketing/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [New](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new/) [Oldest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oldest/) [Pay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pay/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Profession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profession/) [Really](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/really/) [Reassurance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reassurance/) [Similar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/similar/) [Unknown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unknown/) [Variant Fortunetelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/variant-fortunetelling-6092873/) [Visionary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/visionary/) [Visionary New](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/visionary-new-667530/) [Which](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/which/) [Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/will/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“There is no way to tell if we are the pioneers of a visionary new age, whisking humanity into the high vibrations of an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-talat-phillips/there-is-no-way-to-tell-if-we-are-the-pioneers-of-a-visionary-new-age/) [Jonathan Talat Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-talat-phillips/) > [“Fortunetelling and other methods of clairvoyance can only show the resulting consequence of what you’re building, like the end of a mathematic equation that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-sacredfire/fortunetelling-and-other-methods-of-clairvoyance-can-only-show-the/) [Robin Sacredfire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-sacredfire/) > [“When I say something that contradicts the predictions of someone else in the past, people discredit me, not realizing that they are contradicting themselves,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-sacredfire/when-i-say-something-that-contradicts-the-predictions-of-someone-else/) [Robin Sacredfire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-sacredfire/) > [“Psychic reading without spiritual guidance is futile fortunetelling at best, and fatalistic fear-mongering at worst.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthon-st-maarten/psychic-reading-without-spiritual-guidance-is-futile-fortunetelling/) [Anthon St. Maarten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthon-st-maarten/) > [“The future is unknown. Prophecy contaminates it with the past, which is why liberated people do not bother with fortunetelling or astrology, and why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-wilson-watts/the-future-is-unknown-prophecy-contaminates-it-with-the-past-which-is/) [Alan Wilson Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-wilson-watts/) > [Yes, my mind was wandering. I wished I were there with someone who could bring peace to my heart someone with whom I could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/yes-my-mind-was-wandering-i-wished-i-were-there-with-someone-who/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“The thought gave me reassurance for a split-second - until I saw the danger in it. The power to make me feel better also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morgenroth/the-thought-gave-me-reassurance-for-a-split-second-until-i-saw-the/) [Kate Morgenroth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morgenroth/) > [As artists, are we quasi psychiatrists who mend the soul? Do we provide the consolations, escapes, and reassurances which enable us to survive? Or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-sherman/as-artists-are-we-quasi-psychiatrists-who-mend-the-soul-do-we-provide/) [Russell Sherman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-sherman/) > [Any loss of identity prompts people to seek reassurance and rediscovery of themselves by testing, and even by violence. Today, the electric revolution, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/any-loss-of-identity-prompts-people-to-seek-reassurance-and/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [Ask before offering advice or reassurance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-b-rosenberg/ask-before-offering-advice-or-reassurance/) [Marshall B. Rosenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-b-rosenberg/) > [I was the first in my peer group to get pregnant. All I craved was reassurance. I needed someone to tell me that all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heidi-murkoff/i-was-the-first-in-my-peer-group-to-get-pregnant-all-i-craved-was/) [Heidi Murkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heidi-murkoff/) > [Often, instead of offering empathy, we have a strong urge to give advice or reassurance and to explain our own position or feeling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-b-rosenberg/often-instead-of-offering-empathy-we-have-a-strong-urge-to-give/) [Marshall B. Rosenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-b-rosenberg/) > [Having limits to push against is how you find out what you can do. I have always been full of contradictions. I am shy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvie-guillem/having-limits-to-push-against-is-how-you-find-out-what-you-can-do-i/) [Sylvie Guillem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvie-guillem/) > [The day has the color and the sound of winter. Thoughts turn to chowder...chowder breathes reassurance. It steams consolation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clementine-paddleford/the-day-has-the-color-and-the-sound-of-winter-thoughts-turn-to/) [Clementine Paddleford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clementine-paddleford/) > [“We never figured out whether I need to be more reassuring or if he just needs reassurance too much. We both try to readjust…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/we-never-figured-out-whether-i-need-to-be-more-reassuring-or-if-he/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) ## More by Nathan Myhrvold > [Some article called me the most feared man in Silicon Valley. Good Lord! Why? 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Sadly, the right sort of man never seems interested in the job.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-myhrvold/an-efficient-government-is-dangerous-in-the-hands-of-the-wrong-man/) [Nathan Myhrvold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-myhrvold/) > [When we first did 'Modernist Cuisine,' I think most people in cookbook publishing would have said, 'This is insane.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-myhrvold/when-we-first-did-modernist-cuisine-i-think-most-people-in-cookbook/) [Nathan Myhrvold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-myhrvold/) > [One of the greatest things that Apple and Jobs were very good at doing was daring to do the very different thing. It's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-myhrvold/one-of-the-greatest-things-that-apple-and-jobs-were-very-good-at/) [Nathan Myhrvold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-myhrvold/) > [The first thing that is not obvious to people is global warming is a less-than-1% effect. 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