Jaron Lanier Quotes

A collection of quotes by Jaron Lanier.

Jaron Lanier is a renowned American computer scientist, virtual reality pioneer, and technology writer. Born on May 3, 1960, in New York City, Lanier has made significant contributions to the field of computer science and has played a critical role in shaping the digital landscape of today.

Lanier is often considered one of the pioneers of virtual reality technology. In the 1980s, he developed and popularized the concept of virtual reality, co-founding VPL Research, the first company to sell VR goggles and gloves. His work in this field opened up new possibilities for immersive and interactive experiences in various industries, from gaming to healthcare.

Apart from his work in virtual reality, Lanier has been an influential voice in the technology community. He has written extensively about the social implications of technology and the internet, highlighting the potential risks and offering insightful critiques. As a believer in the power of individual creativity, he advocates for a more human-centered approach to digital innovation.

Lanier has authored several books, including "You Are Not a Gadget" and "Who Owns the Future?" His writings address the impact of technology on society, privacy concerns, and the need for ethical considerations in the digital age.

With his visionary ideas, pioneering work in virtual reality, and thought-provoking writings, Jaron Lanier continues to be a prominent figure in the world of technology and an advocate for human-centered digital advancements.

Advertisers are not thinking radically enough - they look fo

Advertisers are not thinking radically enough - they look for technology to lead instead of trying the neuroscience approach and thinking about what parts of the brain haven't been activated before. These new experiences bring new capabilities to the brain.

I've always felt that the human-centered approach to compute

I've always felt that the human-centered approach to computer science leads to more interesting, more exotic, more wild, and more heroic adventures than the machine-supremacy approach, where information is the highest goal.

Science

Style used to be an interaction between the human soul and t

Style used to be an interaction between the human soul and tools that were limiting. In the digital era, it will have to come from the soul alone.

Alone

I think complexity is mostly sort of crummy stuff that is th

I think complexity is mostly sort of crummy stuff that is there because it's too expensive to change the interface.

Technology

People try to treat technology as an object, and it can't be

People try to treat technology as an object, and it can't be. It can only be a channel.

Technology

Musicians and journalists are the canaries in the coalmine,

Musicians and journalists are the canaries in the coalmine, but, eventually, as computers get more and more powerful, it will kill off all middle-class professions.

Computers

If there's any object in human experience that's a precedent

If there's any object in human experience that's a precedent for what a computer should be like, it's a musical instrument: a device where you can explore a huge range of possibilities through an interface that connects your mind and your body, allowing you to be emotionally authentic and expressive.

Experience

Anonymous blog comments, vapid video pranks and lightweight

Anonymous blog comments, vapid video pranks and lightweight mash-ups may seem trivial and harmless, but as a whole, this widespread practice of fragmentary, impersonal communication has demeaned personal interaction.

Communication

After my mother's death, I had such difficulty relating to p

After my mother's death, I had such difficulty relating to people.

Death

The basic problem is that web 2.0 tools are not supportive o

The basic problem is that web 2.0 tools are not supportive of democracy by design. They are tools designed to gather spy-agency-like data in a seductive way, first and foremost, but as a side effect they tend to provide software support for mob-like phenomena.

Design

Advertising is the edge of what people know how to do and of

Advertising is the edge of what people know how to do and of human experience and it explains the latest ways progress has changed us to ourselves.

Experience

If we allow our self-congratulatory adoration of technology

If we allow our self-congratulatory adoration of technology to distract us from our own contact with each other, then somehow the original agenda has been lost.

Technology

My parents were kind of like me in that they had tons and to

My parents were kind of like me in that they had tons and tons of weird, amazing stuff.

Amazing

We can see the Divine in each speck of dust, but that doesn'

We can see the Divine in each speck of dust, but that doesn't stop us from wiping it away with a wet sponge. The Divine doesn't disappear; it's transformed into the clean surface.

Web 2.0 ideas have a chirpy, cheerful rhetoric to them, but

Web 2.0 ideas have a chirpy, cheerful rhetoric to them, but I think they consistently express a profound pessimism about humans, human nature and the human future.

Future

We're losing track of the vastness of the potential for comp

We're losing track of the vastness of the potential for computer science. We really have to revive the beautiful intellectual joy of it, as opposed to the business potential.

Science

What does it mean to not be alone? I've approached that ques

What does it mean to not be alone? I've approached that question through music, technology, writing and other means.

Alone

Technologists provide tools that can improve people's lives.

Technologists provide tools that can improve people's lives. But I want to be clear that I don't think technology by itself improves people's lives, since often I'm criticized for being too pro-technology. Unless there's commensurate ethical and moral improvements to go along with it, it's for naught.

Technology

I feel drawn to experiment with ways that technology can int

I feel drawn to experiment with ways that technology can interact with notions of intimacy, because so much of technology is done in a way that's very cold and has such an opposite effect.

Technology

The wisdom of crowds works when the crowd is choosing the pr

The wisdom of crowds works when the crowd is choosing the price of an ox, when there's a single numeric average. But if it's a design or something that matters, the decision is made by committee, and that's crap. You want people and groups who are able to think thoughts before they share.

Design