Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end, an end which it was already but too easy to arrive at.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Technology often distracts us without improving the goals we pursue.
- In plain terms
- Gadgets are toys that don’t solve deeper problems.
- What can you take from it?
- Focus on the purpose, not the tool.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Do tools ever create new ends?
- How can we keep focus on fundamentals?
Another view
Some tools can genuinely enable new possibilities.
More from Henry David Thoreau
If I knew for a certainty that a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of doing me good, I should run for my life.
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