Ana’s Reviews > The Blind Giant: How to Survive in the Digital Age > Status Update

'Learn that you are one of many, and understand that that is not a statement of insignificance, but the reverse.'

'Be aware of received wisdom, bias towards people who agree with you and away from those who share uncomfortable truths, and try to form an opinion based on your own understanding rather than a desire to be in the majority or aligned with the most charismatic.'

'We have seen and to some extent continue to see our governments and our corporations, even the nations of which we are a part, as something bigger than us: huge, alien, imponderable forces that crush us and which we cannot stop. It isn't true, and we're remembering that.'

'We are hybrids: creatures both cognitive and immanent, thoughtful and sensual.'

'Being human isn't like hanging your hat on a hook and leaving it there, it's like walking in a high wind: you have to keep paying attention. You have to be engaged with the world.'

'Don't simply wait for time, the system or circumstance to make the choice for you.'

'Like cross-subsidization, "libertarian paternalism" is the quiet death of genuine choice, the creation of a society in which a class of supposed experts rules over a common herd.'

'Similarly, if there is a process akin to evolution that applies to societies, it does not necessarily select for mass happiness. If the population's unhappiness makes them more likely to survive hard conditions or destroy a competitor, that will do fine.'

'A human taken out of context is essentially a corpse.'

'Debate and consensus can be ruinous: the system needs your raw response, not what you arrive at after an hour talking to someone you find attractive or intimidating, and certainly not the position you adopt if you're offered a cabinet post in exchange for supporting someone else's position.'