Richard Watson > Quotes

“Devices like iPhones and BlackBerries invite (demand!) constant use. They are like packets of cigarettes that ask us never to leave them alone or bottles of pills that seek to change our minds and punish us when we try to withdraw from them. We think cellphones are connecting us, but they are turning us into a society of rude, impatient, narrow-minded, stressed-out, aggressive, and isolated individuals. They invite reaction rather than reflection.”
― Richard Watson, Future Minds: How the Digital Age Is Changing Our Minds, Why This Matters, and What We Can Do About It

“Music can trigger feelings, which in turn produce thoughts and images in our minds — it is these thoughts and images that can become novel solutions and innovative new ideas. Music is therefore directly related to the production of new ideas.”
― Richard Watson, Future Minds: How the Digital Age Is Changing Our Minds, Why This Matters, and What We Can Do About It

“Οι βιβλιοθήκες είναι κάτι παραπάνω από νούμερα, πληροφορίες ή συλλογές. Οι βιβλιοθήκες είναι πιο πολύ χώροι που ενώνουν ανθρώπους και ιδέες στις τοπικές κοινωνίες. Είναι σημεία αναφοράς όπου οι άνθρωποι ανταλλάσουν γνώση, σοφία, σκέψεις και πάνω από όλα ανθρώπινη αξιοπρέπεια και αλληλεγγύη»”
― Richard Watson

“Let’s invent "do nothing" days, where there is no plan and no structured play. Let’s ensure that kids get bored every so often and have to use their imaginations to invent ways to escape.”
― Richard Watson, Future Minds: How the Digital Age Is Changing Our Minds, Why This Matters, and What We Can Do About It

“While retirees still drive, young people are eschewing cars for public transport. In France, for example, people under 30 account for less than 10 per cent of customers for cars, and the average age at which people buy their first new car (as opposed to used car) is now 55. The numbers are much the same across Europe, with the average age of Volkswagen Golf buyers being 54.”
― Richard Watson, Digital vs Human: how we'll live, love, and think in the future