21 Clive Thompson Quotes for You to Enjoy

Clive Thompson

Canadian Journalist

Born: 1968

About Always Internet People Work You

Related authors: Adrienne Clarkson Amanda Lindhout Carl Honore David Sax Gordon Sinclair Naomi Klein Peter Jennings Shane Smith

The only reason we don't notice how absolutely interwoven our thinking processes have become with older technologies - pencils, paper, electric light, penicillin, fire - is that they're old, so we've ceased to notice their effects. Clive Thompson

Ambient awareness is the experience of knowing what's going on in the lives of other people - what they're thinking about, what they're doing, what they're looking at - by paying attention to the small stray status messages that people are putting online. Clive Thompson

The people who tend to get the most out of being social thinkers are the people who themselves are helpful. They're always talking or answering people's questions or engaging in productive conversations. They're not being trolls. They're tamping down other people that are being trolls. Clive Thompson

The computer industry began with home-brew boxes that everyone had to program for themselves, but that was a huge hassle. The computer revolution didn't explode until the first Macintosh arrived, with its point-and-click simplicity. Clive Thompson

Simplicity First Revolution Everyone Macintosh Hassle Computer Computer Industry Had Until Industry Boxes Arrived Huge Began Explode Themselves Program

The one complaint about the Internet that I wholeheartedly endorse is that most of these tools have been designed to peck at us like ducks: 'Hey, there's a new reply to your comment! Come look at it!' Clive Thompson

Internet Complaint Tools Hey About New Come Like Look Most Ducks Been Comment Reply Endorse Us Your Wholeheartedly Designed

We use paper documents to store knowledge so we can consult and reconsult it, giving us a type of recall impossible with our unaided minds; we use pencils to scratch down material so we can manipulate it in a fashion impossible in our unaided minds. Clive Thompson

Fashion Knowledge Impossible Giving Down Type Our Minds Paper Pencils Consult Documents Material Scratch Store Manipulate Us Use Recall

The things kids can do on screens can be really delightful - if they are age appropriate. But no, they shouldn't spend all their time on a screen; they should split up their time doing multiple, different things. Clive Thompson

Time Age Spend Appropriate Kids Delightful Split Doing Up Screen Different Screens Really Should Multiple Different Things Things

Tip-of-the-tongue syndrome is when people almost remember something but need a computer, or someone else, to help them find it. The problem is, our brains have always been terrible at remembering details. They were like that way before the Internet came along. Clive Thompson

People Problem Remember Internet Before Else Our Syndrome Way Details Find Someone Something Computer Remembering Almost Along Like Terrible Always Came Were Been Brains Them Help Need

There's nothing wrong with talking out loud in public, but there is something wrong with the government sucking up all those utter instances in a database just in case they maybe want to bust you in five years. Clive Thompson

When you're an expert in a subject, you can retain new factoids on your favorite topic easily. This only works for the subjects you're truly passionate about, though. Baseball fans can reel off stats for their favorite players, then space out on their own birthday. Clive Thompson

Birthday You Space Fans Own Topic Though Easily Favorite Out About Only Retain New Passionate Subject Truly Off Subjects Expert Then Your Works Baseball Players

Novelists in particular love to rhapsodize about the glory of the solitary mind; this is natural, because their job requires them to sit in a room by themselves for years on end. But for most of the rest of us, we think and remember socially. Clive Thompson

Transactive memory works best when you have a sense of how your partners' minds work - where they're strong, where they're weak, where their biases lie. I can judge that for people close to me. But it's harder with digital tools, particularly search engines. Clive Thompson

Work Best Me You Memory Lie People Judge Strong Digital Sense Tools Minds Weak Particularly Biases Partners How Close Where Your Engines Works Search Search Engines Harder

The humanitarian developers behind World of Warcraft have also discovered a way to bribe gamers into turning off their computers and going outside. If you log off for a few days, your character will be more 'rested' when you resume playing, a mode that temporarily speeds up your leveling. Clive Thompson

Character You Resume World Will Few Gamers Speeds Way Log Rested Temporarily More Outside Computers Developers Days Also Discovered Off Up Mode Going Behind Warcraft Turning Your Bribe Humanitarian Leveling Playing

Why are online games so addictive? It's mostly the narcotic appeal of 'leveling.' Clive Thompson

Addictive Online Mostly Narcotic Games Appeal Why Leveling

America has always had tinkerers, including just about any teenager who ever hot-rodded a Camaro. Clive Thompson

Teenager About Had Always America Any Just Who Including Ever

Truly huge artistic collaboration on the Internet seems to work only if the gang has a well-defined objective. Clive Thompson

Work Internet Collaboration Objective Seems Only Truly Huge Artistic Gang

More than any other modern tool, computers are a total mystery to their users. Most people never open them up to fix them or to see how they work. Clive Thompson

If you, or any public-spirited programmer, wanted to figure out what the software on your machine is really doing, tough luck. It's illegal to reverse engineer the source code of commercial software to find out how it works. Clive Thompson

No consumer product improves more drastically, year after year, than the computer. Clive Thompson

Year Drastically More Computer Consumer Than Improves After Product

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