---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We are strangely biased, as individuals…"
description: "\"We are strangely biased, as individuals and media institutions, to focus on big sudden changes, whether good or bad - amazing breakthroughs, such as a ..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7a/steven-johnson-9014_biased_we-are-strangely-biased-as-individuals-a_509116.png"
---

#  We are strangely biased, as individuals and media…

![“We are strangely biased, as individuals and media institutions, to focus on big sudden changes, whether good or bad - amazing breakthroughs, such as a new gadget that gets released, or catastrophic failures, like a plane crash.” quote by Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7a/steven-johnson-9014_biased_we-are-strangely-biased-as-individuals-a_509116.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7a/steven-johnson-9014_biased_we-are-strangely-biased-as-individuals-a_509116.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7a/steven-johnson-9014_biased_we-are-strangely-biased-as-individuals-a_509116.png)

> “We are strangely biased, as individuals and media institutions, to focus on big sudden changes, whether good or bad - amazing breakthroughs, such as a new gadget that gets released, or catastrophic failures, like a plane crash.”

[Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/)

## About This Quote

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

People and media overemphasize dramatic events, ignoring gradual trends and smaller changes.

**In simple terms:** We focus on big shocks, missing slow shifts.

Key Takeaway

Notice subtle changes, not just headlines.

Themes

attention media bias trend perception

Mood

analytical critical

Type

observational educational

When to use this quote

- monitoring market trends
- evaluating personal progress
- reading long‑term reports

Key Concepts

cognitive bias information overload

Questions to Reflect On

- How might you balance attention between breakthroughs and incremental progress?
- What small changes have you overlooked?

A Different Perspective

Sudden events can be crucial; not all change is subtle.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Breakthrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breakthrough/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Focus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/focus/) [Gadgets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gadgets/) [Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) [Institutions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/institutions/) [Media](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/media/) [Plane crashes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plane-crashes/) [Planes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/planes/) [Sudden change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sudden-change/)

## Related quotes

> [Often I think changes within my work have been seen as sudden changes or sharp changes, but for me they're not that sudden. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-ofili/often-i-think-changes-within-my-work-have-been-seen-as-sudden-changes/)

[Chris Ofili](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-ofili/)

> [When I first came in the league, I thought Jack Clark and Steve Garvey were big. Then all of sudden it seemed like everyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kruk/when-i-first-came-in-the-league-i-thought-jack-clark-and-steve-garvey/)

[John Kruk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kruk/)

> [Sometimes in life, whether you like it or not, some strange things that we don't want to happen but we have to accept, And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jcalex-maneja/sometimes-in-life-whether-you-like-it-or-not-some-strange-things-that/)

[Jcalex Maneja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jcalex-maneja/)

> [“The beauty of life is its sudden changes. No one knows what is going to happen next, and so we are constantly being surprised…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-frank-baum/the-beauty-of-life-is-its-sudden-changes-no-one-knows-what-is-going/)

[L. Frank Baum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-frank-baum/)

> [It is extraordinary how safe flying has become. You are now statistically more likely to be elected president of the United States in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/it-is-extraordinary-how-safe-flying-has-become-you-are-now/)

[Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/)

> [And then I went to visit my sister in the states and all of a sudden it was just like, it's like... it's like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mahoney/and-then-i-went-to-visit-my-sister-in-the-states-and-all-of-a-sudden/)

[John Mahoney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mahoney/)

> [So here we are again, to make some sense of it all. All these sudden changes, maybe things are not so different.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blessthefall/so-here-we-are-again-to-make-some-sense-of-it-all-all-these-sudden/)

Blessthefall

> [From the point of view of the economy, the sale of weapons is indistinguishable from the sale of food. When a building collapses or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eduardo-galeano/from-the-point-of-view-of-the-economy-the-sale-of-weapons-is/)

[Eduardo Galeano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eduardo-galeano/)

> [They're both a bit cavalier about the whole thing at first; more than anything, they seem to think that it's going to be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-gates/they-re-both-a-bit-cavalier-about-the-whole-thing-at-first-more-than/)

[Josh Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-gates/)

> [How come New York gets all the cool plane crashes?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-tosh/how-come-new-york-gets-all-the-cool-plane-crashes/)

[Daniel Tosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-tosh/)

> [I bet the main reason the police keep people away from a plane crash is they don't want anybody walking in and lying down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-handey/i-bet-the-main-reason-the-police-keep-people-away-from-a-plane-crash/)

[Jack Handey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-handey/)

> [Never have doubted it, even when the plane crash happened. I wasn't mad at God. I just knew that there was a reason that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reba-mcentire/never-have-doubted-it-even-when-the-plane-crash-happened-i-wasn-t-mad/)

[Reba McEntire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reba-mcentire/)

> [ By sort of combining the research of a lot of smart people, I came up with an equation for dread \[dread=uncontrollability+unfamiliarity+imaginability+suffering+scale of destruction+unfairness\]. The… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-ripley/by-sort-of-combining-the-research-of-a-lot-of-smart-people-i-came-up/)

[Amanda Ripley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-ripley/)

> [The more we lose, the more he'll fly in. And the more he flies in, the better the chance there'll be a plane crash.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graig-nettles/the-more-we-lose-the-more-he-ll-fly-in-and-the-more-he-flies-in-the/)

[Graig Nettles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graig-nettles/)

> [I do not use airplanes. They strike me as unsporting. You can have an automobile accident-and survive. You can be on a sinking ship-and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/i-do-not-use-airplanes-they-strike-me-as-unsporting-you-can-have-an/)

[Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/)

## More by Steven Johnson

> [Most new movements start this way: hundreds or thousands of individuals and groups, working in different fields and different locations, start thinking about change…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/most-new-movements-start-this-way-hundreds-or-thousands-of/)

[Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/)

> [“Edison invented the lightbulb the way Steve Jobs invented the MP3 player: he wasn’t the first, but he was the first to make something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/edison-invented-the-lightbulb-the-way-steve-jobs-invented-the-mp3/)

[Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/)

> [“Early risers strolling along the Thames would see the toshers wading through the muck of low tide, dressed almost comically in flowing velveteen coats,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/early-risers-strolling-along-the-thames-would-see-the-toshers-wading/)

[Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/)

> [“Build a tangled bank.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/build-a-tangled-bank/)

[Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/)

> [If we didn't have genetic mutations, we wouldn't have us. You need error to open the door to the adjacent possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/if-we-didn-t-have-genetic-mutations-we-wouldn-t-have-us-you-need/)

[Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/)

> [The problem is, there are definitely some genuinely lame things on television, and there's more at the bottom of the barrel, because the barrel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/the-problem-is-there-are-definitely-some-genuinely-lame-things-on/)

[Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/)

> [Organizations that empower folks further down the chain or try to get rid of the big hierarchal chains and allow decision making to happen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/organizations-that-empower-folks-further-down-the-chain-or-try-to-get/)

[Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/)

> [“The birth of the civil rights movement was intimately bound up in the spread of jazz music throughout the United States. It was, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/the-birth-of-the-civil-rights-movement-was-intimately-bound-up-in-the/)

[Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/)

> [Popular culture, on average, has been growing more cognitively challenging over the past thirty years, not less. Despite everything you hear about declining standards…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/popular-culture-on-average-has-been-growing-more-cognitively/)

[Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/)

> [“From am overall eclsyste,s perspective, if you're going to have 10million human beings trying to share an environment with other life-forms, it's much better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/from-am-overall-eclsyste-s-perspective-if-you-re-going-to-have/)

[Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/)

> [Nothing really says ... interactivity - which was so exciting and captures the real, the Web Zeitgeist of 1995 - than 'Click here for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/nothing-really-says-interactivity-which-was-so-exciting-and-captures/)

[Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/)

> [“An innovation, or cluster of innovations, in one field ends up triggering changes that seem to belong to a different domain altogether.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/an-innovation-or-cluster-of-innovations-in-one-field-ends-up/)

[Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/)

> [Every childhood has its talismans, the sacred objects that look innocuous enough to the outside world, but that trigger an onslaught of vivid memories…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/every-childhood-has-its-talismans-the-sacred-objects-that-look/)

[Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/)

> [I suspect millions of people from my generation probably have comparable stories to tell: if not of sports simulations then of Dungeons & Dragons,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/i-suspect-millions-of-people-from-my-generation-probably-have/)

[Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/)

> [“It is a great testimony to the connectedness of life on earth that the fates of the largest and the tiniest life should be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/it-is-a-great-testimony-to-the-connectedness-of-life-on-earth-that/)

[Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/)

[Explore all 76 Steven Johnson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/)

## More Biased quotes

> [Critics are biased, and so are readers. (Indeed, a critic is a bundle of biases held loosely together by a sense of taste.) But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitney-balliett/critics-are-biased-and-so-are-readers-indeed-a-critic-is-a-bundle-of/)

Whitney Balliett

> [I'm a liberal, but I'm not biased. Seriously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-cronkite/i-m-a-liberal-but-i-m-not-biased-seriously/)

[Walter Cronkite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-cronkite/)

> [Biochemists and biologists who adhere blindly to the Darwinism theory search for results that will be in agreement with their theories and consequently orient…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-paul-grasse/biochemists-and-biologists-who-adhere-blindly-to-the-darwinism-theory/)

[Pierre-Paul Grasse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-paul-grasse/)

> [The state of female artists is very good. But the very definition of art has been biased in that 'art' was what men did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/the-state-of-female-artists-is-very-good-but-the-very-definition-of/)

[Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/)

> [Digital media are biased toward replication and storage. Our digital photos practically upload and post themselves on Facebook, and our most deleted e-mails tend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/digital-media-are-biased-toward-replication-and-storage-our-digital/)

[Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/)

> [“I pick up a copy of Newsweek on the plane and immediately notice how biased, slanted, and opinionated all the U.S. newsmagazine articles are.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-byrne/i-pick-up-a-copy-of-newsweek-on-the-plane-and-immediately-notice-how/)

[David Byrne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-byrne/)

> [The schedules are crammed with shows urging us to travel further, drive faster, build bigger, buy more, yet none of them are deemed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-monbiot/the-schedules-are-crammed-with-shows-urging-us-to-travel-further/)

[George Monbiot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-monbiot/)

> [The ideal reader of my novels is a lapsed Catholic and failed musician, short-sighted, colour-blind, auditorily biased, who has read the books that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/the-ideal-reader-of-my-novels-is-a-lapsed-catholic-and-failed/)

[Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/)

> [Yes, the mainstream media is painfully biased.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jedediah-bila/yes-the-mainstream-media-is-painfully-biased/)

[Jedediah Bila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jedediah-bila/)

> [I think I'm the best at everything that I do. I may be biased because it's me. But if you ask me that, that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cam-ron/i-think-i-m-the-best-at-everything-that-i-do-i-may-be-biased-because/)

[Cam'ron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cam-ron/)

> [I pledge allegiance to the fair and balanced truth. Not the biased truth, Not the liest truth, But the highest truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nas/i-pledge-allegiance-to-the-fair-and-balanced-truth-not-the-biased/)

[Nas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nas/)

> [It is quite exhilarating to speak about a God who has an incredible bias, a notorious bias in favor of the downtrodden. You look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/it-is-quite-exhilarating-to-speak-about-a-god-who-has-an-incredible/)

[Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/)

> [Well, being a black man in America and growing up in this society, my view of the justice system is pretty much set. I've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-morgan/well-being-a-black-man-in-america-and-growing-up-in-this-society-my/)

[Rob Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-morgan/)

> [There's no question that I am biased toward the Hebrew calendar over the Gregorian one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bari-weiss/there-s-no-question-that-i-am-biased-toward-the-hebrew-calendar-over/)

[Bari Weiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bari-weiss/)

> [The present educational establishment, to cite just one group, has been obscuring the past so that our children have no way of comparing the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-demar/the-present-educational-establishment-to-cite-just-one-group-has-been/)

[Gary DeMar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-demar/)

Browse all 277 Biased quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "We are strangely biased, as individuals and media institutions, to focus on big sudden changes, whether good or bad - amazing breakthroughs, such as a new gadget that gets released, or catastrophic failures, like a plane crash.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Steven Johnson"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/we-are-strangely-biased-as-individuals-and-media-institutions-to/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Biased"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/we-are-strangely-biased-as-individuals-and-media-institutions-to/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7a/steven-johnson-9014_biased_we-are-strangely-biased-as-individuals-a_509116.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7a/steven-johnson-9014_biased_we-are-strangely-biased-as-individuals-a_509116.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7a/steven-johnson-9014_biased_we-are-strangely-biased-as-individuals-a_509116.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“We are strangely biased, as individuals and media institutions, to focus on big sudden changes, whether good…” — Steven Johnson",
                "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": "Steven Johnson",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "We are strangely biased, as individuals...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/we-are-strangely-biased-as-individuals-and-media-institutions-to/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/we-are-strangely-biased-as-individuals-and-media-institutions-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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```