--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Whereas our grandparents lived as if they…" description: "\"Whereas our grandparents lived as if they had swallowed gyroscopes, we think and act as if we have swallowed Gallup polls.\" — Os Guinness" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/847/os-guinness-6581_grandparent_whereas-our-grandparents-lived-as-if-the_1545828.jpg" --- # Whereas our grandparents lived as if they had swallowed… ![“Whereas our grandparents lived as if they had swallowed gyroscopes, we think and act as if we have swallowed Gallup polls.” quote by Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/847/os-guinness-6581_grandparent_whereas-our-grandparents-lived-as-if-the_1545828.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/847/os-guinness-6581_grandparent_whereas-our-grandparents-lived-as-if-the_1545828.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/847/os-guinness-6581_grandparent_whereas-our-grandparents-lived-as-if-the_1545828.jpg) > “Whereas our grandparents lived as if they had swallowed gyroscopes, we think and act as if we have swallowed Gallup polls.” [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We rely on data and polls rather than intuition, losing personal balance. **In simple terms:** We trust polls over instinct. Key Takeaway Balance data with intuition. Themes technology perception balance Mood reflective critical Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - decision making - media consumption - political discourse Key Concepts cognitive bias information overload Questions to Reflect On - How do you verify poll data? - What intuition have you ignored? A Different Perspective Polls can mislead if not contextualized. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Grandparent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grandparent/) [Grandparents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grandparents/) [Polls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/polls/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [“Precisely balanced gyroscopes supplanted the magnetic compass as a direction finder, enabled aircraft to fly straight and level, and led to inertial navigational systems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hiawatha-bray/precisely-balanced-gyroscopes-supplanted-the-magnetic-compass-as-a/) Hiawatha Bray > [In southern Italy, where my grandparents had lived, there were few opportunities. The society was static, with rigid social classes. Poor people, like my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-alito/in-southern-italy-where-my-grandparents-had-lived-there-were-few/) [Samuel Alito](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-alito/) > [My grandfather, Harry Ferguson, was a butcher in Hill of Beath; so even though my grandparents lived in some poverty, we got loads of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-cranham/my-grandfather-harry-ferguson-was-a-butcher-in-hill-of-beath-so-even/) [Kenneth Cranham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-cranham/) > [All of us are displaced. Few people live where their great-grandparents lived or speak the language their great-grandparents spoke.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hephzibah-menuhin/all-of-us-are-displaced-few-people-live-where-their-great/) Hephzibah Menuhin > [After a year, it was great to get out of L.A. and return to Hyde Park. Since my grandparents lived in Hyde Park, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-jo-campbell/after-a-year-it-was-great-to-get-out-of-l-a-and-return-to-hyde-park/) [Bonnie Jo Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-jo-campbell/) > [There were about 30 children at one stage, running around like savages at a place called Callow Hill, near Monmouth, which was owned by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-david/there-were-about-30-children-at-one-stage-running-around-like-savages/) [Saul David](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-david/) > [I grew up in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, with my parents and sisters, but my family would drive every weekend to Hammonton, where both my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-biden/i-grew-up-in-willow-grove-pennsylvania-with-my-parents-and-sisters/) [Jill Biden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-biden/) > [We grew up in Islington, north London, in a Georgian terraced house that nowadays would be split into flats. Our grandparents lived upstairs, there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-kemp/we-grew-up-in-islington-north-london-in-a-georgian-terraced-house/) [Martin Kemp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-kemp/) > [I spent a lot of my school vacations in Devlali because my grandparents lived in the cantonment there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-penty/i-spent-a-lot-of-my-school-vacations-in-devlali-because-my/) [Diana Penty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-penty/) > [I was born in Kerala, where my maternal grandparents lived, and stayed there till the age of one, after which I came to Maharashtra…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-kay-menon/i-was-born-in-kerala-where-my-maternal-grandparents-lived-and-stayed/) [Kay Kay Menon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-kay-menon/) > [Both my parents lived through a world war. My grandparents lived through two world wars. And they didn't go around saying, 'Look for happiness.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viv-albertine/both-my-parents-lived-through-a-world-war-my-grandparents-lived/) [Viv Albertine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viv-albertine/) > [Growing up, all four of my grandparents lived in our house. Three of them were very sick. We all cared for them, with my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-suozzi/growing-up-all-four-of-my-grandparents-lived-in-our-house-three-of/) [Tom Suozzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-suozzi/) > [I was born in Peebles and my grandparents lived in Colinton so I spent time there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angus-macfadyen/i-was-born-in-peebles-and-my-grandparents-lived-in-colinton-so-i/) [Angus Macfadyen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angus-macfadyen/) > [I grew up on a farm in Oregon, an adopted child, with one sibling, and parents the age of all my peers' grandparents. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-harvey/i-grew-up-on-a-farm-in-oregon-an-adopted-child-with-one-sibling-and/) [Larry Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-harvey/) > [Vancouver is home. I spent a huge amount of time here as a kid growing up with my mom, with my grandparents who lived…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-trudeau/vancouver-is-home-i-spent-a-huge-amount-of-time-here-as-a-kid-growing/) [Justin Trudeau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-trudeau/) ## More by Os Guinness > [Too often we forget that the great men of faith reached the heights they did only by going through the depths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/too-often-we-forget-that-the-great-men-of-faith-reached-the-heights/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [There are lots of people depending on the government who are good, honest citizens who have worked all their lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/there-are-lots-of-people-depending-on-the-government-who-are-good/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [American views today are weak, confused, and divided. On one side, many progressive liberals still think that we humans are essentially good and getting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/american-views-today-are-weak-confused-and-divided-on-one-side-many/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [What is undeniable is that when comforts and convenience sap our energies and idealism, inactivity secretes sloth in to our minds like a poison…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/what-is-undeniable-is-that-when-comforts-and-convenience-sap-our/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [Freedom is not the permission to do what you like. It's the power to do what you ought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/freedom-is-not-the-permission-to-do-what-you-like-it-s-the-power-to/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [“It is realistic rather than cynical to observe that in a fallen world there are degrees of virtue in relation to what is right,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/it-is-realistic-rather-than-cynical-to-observe-that-in-a-fallen-world/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [For the grand and inescapable tradition of western literary classics confronts us with fundamental choices over our understanding of words, reading and art, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/for-the-grand-and-inescapable-tradition-of-western-literary-classics/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [“The story is told of Socrates walking through the market in Athens, with its groaning abundance of options, and saying to himself, "Who would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/the-story-is-told-of-socrates-walking-through-the-market-in-athens/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [By our uncritical pursuit of relevance we have actually courted irrelevance; by our breathless chase after relevance without a matching committment to faithfulness, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/by-our-uncritical-pursuit-of-relevance-we-have-actually-courted/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [Evangelicalism can only remain evangelical if it is passionately serious about truth and theology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/evangelicalism-can-only-remain-evangelical-if-it-is-passionately/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [“Sometimes when I listen to people who say they have lost their faith, I am far less surprised than they expect. If their view…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/sometimes-when-i-listen-to-people-who-say-they-have-lost-their-faith/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [“Neither secular progress nor secular progressives have brought the West where they once promised. Nor can they.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/neither-secular-progress-nor-secular-progressives-have-brought-the/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [This is also why it is wrong to treat God as a grand employment agency, a celestial executive searcher to find perfect fits for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/this-is-also-why-it-is-wrong-to-treat-god-as-a-grand-employment/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [We human beings are never happier than when we are expressing the deepest gifts that are truly us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/we-human-beings-are-never-happier-than-when-we-are-expressing-the/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [Christ is the only way to God, but there are as many ways to Christ as there are people who come to Him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/christ-is-the-only-way-to-god-but-there-are-as-many-ways-to-christ-as/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) [Explore all 98 Os Guinness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) ## More Grandparent quotes > [“The cactus thrives in the desert while the fern thrives in the wetland. The fool will try to plant them in the same flowerbox.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/the-cactus-thrives-in-the-desert-while-the-fern-thrives-in-the/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [Blood is a destiny. One's genius descends in the stream from long lines of ancestry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/blood-is-a-destiny-one-s-genius-descends-in-the-stream-from-long/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [I know that whenever a group of women are gathered together, the grandmother always makes a phantom appearance, hovering above them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/i-know-that-whenever-a-group-of-women-are-gathered-together-the/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [That's the privilege of being a grandparent - they can indulge the children while parents have to be the bad guy. Grandparents can also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toby-stephens/that-s-the-privilege-of-being-a-grandparent-they-can-indulge-the/) [Toby Stephens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toby-stephens/) > [It's special, grandparents and grandchldren. So much simpler. Is it always so, I wonder? I think perhaps it is. While one's child takes a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/it-s-special-grandparents-and-grandchldren-so-much-simpler-is-it/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [Miami Beach - that's where I grew up, in a middle-class Jewish family led by my maternal grandfather. Me, my great-grandmother - a Holocaust…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brett-ratner/miami-beach-that-s-where-i-grew-up-in-a-middle-class-jewish-family/) [Brett Ratner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brett-ratner/) > [I have a very broad demographic, from the 8-year-old who knows every word to 'Ice Ice Baby' and the college kid who grew up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vanilla-ice/i-have-a-very-broad-demographic-from-the-8-year-old-who-knows-every/) [Vanilla Ice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vanilla-ice/) > [In every state of the Union, Fundamentalists still fight to ban all the science they dislike and prosecute all who teach it. To them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/in-every-state-of-the-union-fundamentalists-still-fight-to-ban-all/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [The way that I feel about my Jewish identity has been really radically changed by events in life. Like, becoming a writer is one.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/the-way-that-i-feel-about-my-jewish-identity-has-been-really/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [Does Grandpa love to baby-sit his grandchildren? Are you kidding? By day he is too busy taking hormone shots at the doctor's or chip…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-boyle/does-grandpa-love-to-baby-sit-his-grandchildren-are-you-kidding-by/) [Hal Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-boyle/) > [The scariest time of my life was when I knew my Nana was dying. It was horrible, as there's nothing I could do to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikki-sanderson/the-scariest-time-of-my-life-was-when-i-knew-my-nana-was-dying-it-was/) [Nikki Sanderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikki-sanderson/) > [My mother was 45 when she had me, so when I was in high school my parents were the same age as my friends' grandparents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-white/my-mother-was-45-when-she-had-me-so-when-i-was-in-high-school-my/) [Jack White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-white/) > [My father grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., with my grandparents. In Norwegian my name is pronounced 'Yoo' but my father used to call me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-nesbo/my-father-grew-up-in-brooklyn-n-y-with-my-grandparents-in-norwegian/) [Jo Nesbo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-nesbo/) > [“Make up your mind to this. If you are different, you are isolated, not only from people of your own age but from those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mitchell/make-up-your-mind-to-this-if-you-are-different-you-are-isolated-not/) [Margaret Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mitchell/) > [I am imprinted with the whole sense of European history, especially German history, going back to World War I, which really destroyed all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisel-mueller/i-am-imprinted-with-the-whole-sense-of-european-history-especially/) [Lisel Mueller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisel-mueller/) [Browse all 538 Grandparent quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grandparent/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Whereas our grandparents lived as if they had swallowed gyroscopes, we think and act as if we have swallowed Gallup polls.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Os Guinness" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/whereas-our-grandparents-lived-as-if-they-had-swallowed-gyroscopes-we/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Grandparent" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/whereas-our-grandparents-lived-as-if-they-had-swallowed-gyroscopes-we/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/847/os-guinness-6581_grandparent_whereas-our-grandparents-lived-as-if-the_1545828.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/847/os-guinness-6581_grandparent_whereas-our-grandparents-lived-as-if-the_1545828.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/847/os-guinness-6581_grandparent_whereas-our-grandparents-lived-as-if-the_1545828.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Whereas our grandparents lived as if they had swallowed gyroscopes, we think and act as if we have swallowed…” — Os Guinness", "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": "Os Guinness", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Whereas our grandparents lived as if...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/whereas-our-grandparents-lived-as-if-they-had-swallowed-gyroscopes-we/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/whereas-our-grandparents-lived-as-if-they-had-swallowed-gyroscopes-we/#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 } } ] } ```