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I have to say, I think that we are in some kind of final examination as to whether human beings now, with this capability to acquire information and to communicate, whether we're really qualified to take on the responsibility we're designed to be entrusted with. And this is not a matter of an examination of the types of governments, nothing to do with politics, nothing to do with economic systems. It has to do with the individual. Does the individual have the courage to really go along with the truth?

Buckminster Fuller#84

HumanityTruthTechnologyResponsibilityCourageInformation

About this quote

What does it mean?
Humanity faces a test of whether individuals have the courage to pursue truth despite new technological capabilities.
In plain terms
We are being tested on if we can handle the truth with our new tools.
What can you take from it?
Courage to follow truth matters more than political systems.

Where it applies

  • leadership
  • personal growth
  • public discourse

Putting it to work

  • seek truth actively
  • resist misinformation
  • take responsibility

Questions to consider

  • Do you follow truth even when it is hard?
  • Are you ready for this responsibility?

Another view

Political and economic systems heavily influence individual capacity for truth.

More from Buckminster Fuller

  1. I never try to tell anybody else what to do, number one. And number two, I think that's what the individual is all about. Each one of us has something to contr…

    Permalink to quote #83
  2. Integrity of the individual is what we're being judged for and if we are not passing that examination, we don't really have the guts, we'll blow ourselves up. …

    Permalink to quote #85
  3. The courage to cooperate or initiate are based entirely on the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth as the divine mind within you tells you the tr…

    Permalink to quote #82

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