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David Gelernter

David Gelernter Quotes

Artist

David Gelernter is an American artist known for his unique visual style and innovative creative methods. His works blend traditional and modern elements, showcasing his rich imagination and artistic talent.

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Famous David Gelernter Quotes

“Software unification. So that I no longer care what computing device I pick up, whether it's a laptop or desktop, whether it's one I own or one in a public place, whether it has a small screen or a large screen.”

Care Picks Screens Devices Software Laptops Computing Unification Desktop

Author:David Gelernter

“Readable text and authority so that readers know how to spend - no matter how much information there is, I have the same number of minutes in my day, and I need to look to sources that I trust.”

Knows Needs Looks Matter Numbers Know How Minutes Information Source Reader Authority

Author:David Gelernter

“I think the print media have failed to make the most of their opportunity. They may all disappear because they are approaching things in the wrong way.”

Thinking Way May Opportunity Media Disappear Print Wrong Way Print Media

Author:David Gelernter

“In principle the first thing on the stream would be my birth certificate, a little electronic version of that, my parents would put my school records, health records, whatever of their child onto the stream. And the stream continues to flow forward through time.”

Firsts Children Littles Would Be School Parent Principles Records Birth Flow Versions Streams Rough Times Certificates Birth Certificate

Author:David Gelernter

“Without commenting on the legal aspects, which I'm not capable of doing, those are lifestreams and there are other companies that have done similar things. That makes me angry personally, not because of the money, but because of the deliberate failure to acknowledge work that we would have made freely available as academics.”

Made Done Company Capable Aspect Angry Available Acknowledge Deliberate Make Me Angry

Author:David Gelernter

“At the same time, on the networks, there are thousands of groups that are building lifestreams, or lifestreaming for themselves in their own way. We'd love to see this activity.”

Way Groups Building Activity

Author:David Gelernter

“There are certain subjects which seem to me can be taught very effectively online, although they aren't.”

Seems Certain Subjects Taught Online

Author:David Gelernter

“Similarly for marking exercises, quantitative exercises, maybe not so much in mathematics, but certainly problem sets in physics, chemistry, and engineering and things like that where answers and methods are clear cut, absolutely. I would like to see that done online.”

Done Problem Answers Clear Cutting Exercise Mathematics Method Physics Online Chemistry Engineering

Author:David Gelernter

“I would love to see writing taught online because at university like Yale, there are not enough teachers who are able to teach writing well, or in some cases, there are none.”

Writing Wells Enough Able Teach Cases Teacher Taught University Online Yale Writing Well

Author:David Gelernter

“I think the universities as we know them will be dead in a future years. I'd like to see them replaced by something better, instead of something worse, and it's not clear which way it will go.”

Thinking Knows Way Years Clear University Replaced Something Better

Author:David Gelernter

“Abolishing the book is like abolishing the symphony, or sonata form, or the sonnet, or the wall painting.”

Book Form Painting Wall Symphony Sonnet Sonatas

Author:David Gelernter

“The book is a form in which some of the greatest masterpieces that mankind has ever achieved are expressed.”

Book Form Mankind Masterpiece

Author:David Gelernter

“There are great science books that were conceived as books. Feynman's famous introductory lectures in physics, which have a beginning and an end, which are written with style.”

Book Ends Written Style Physics Lectures Great Science Science Books

Author:David Gelernter

“The book is a unit and is such a brilliant ergonomic unit.”

Book Brilliant Units

Author:David Gelernter

“We still have books because they are so brilliantly suited to the way human beings absorb information and at their best, they are among the most beautiful things we have.”

Way Humans Stills Book Beautiful Human Beings Information Beautiful Things

Author:David Gelernter

“Really good ideas are always good beyond what you anticipated originally.”

Ideas Good Ideas

Author:David Gelernter

“While we bemoan the decline of literacy, computers discount words in favor of pictures and pictures in favor of video. While we fret about the decreasing cogency of public debate, computers dismiss linear argument and promote fast, shallow romps across the information landscape. While we worry about basic skills, we allow into the classroom software that will do a student's arithmetic or correct his spelling.”

Worry Information Students Internet Skills Computer Argument Favors Debate Video Landscape Software Classroom Decline Free Speech Shallow Literacy Linear Arithmetic Spelling Discounts

Author:David Gelernter

“The best computer scientists are...technologists who crave beauty.”

Computer Scientist Crave

Author:David Gelernter

“The future was and remains the quintessential American art form. Other nations sit back and let their futures happen; we construct ours. We can let the future happen, or take the trouble to imagine it. We can imagine it dark or bright - and in the long run, that's how it will be.”

Long Art Happens Running Form Nations Dark Imagine Trouble Remains Long Runs Constructs Quintessential

Author:David Gelernter

“Computers make people stupid.”

People Stupid Computer

Author:David Gelernter

“The "paperless office" is a bad idea because paper is one of the most useful and valuable media ever invented. "On paper" is a good place for information you want to use; a bad place for information you want to store.”

Want Ideas Use Media Information Office Paper Valuable Stores Bad Ideas Good Place Paperless

Author:David Gelernter

“Surprise is the beginning of wisdom.”

Author:David Gelernter

“We can't share the earth with pure evil anymore than we can share the earth with smallpox.”

Earth Evil Share Pure Smallpox Pure Evil

Author:David Gelernter

“The first step is always to succeed in becoming surprised - to notice that there is something funny going on.”

Firsts Problem Funny Steps Creativity Becoming Succeed First Steps Problem Solving

Book:The Muse in the Machine: Computerizing the Poetry of Human Thought

Source: The Muse in the Machine: Computerizing the Poetry of Human Thought

“if we were forced to choose just one, there would be no way to deny that Judaism is the most important intellectual development in human history.”

Ifs Way Humans Important Would Be Development Intellectual Deny Just One Judaism Human History Intellectual Development

Author:David Gelernter

“Beauty is the ultimate defense against complexity.”

Design Ultimate Defense Complexity Computer Programming Programming Languages Computer Language Creating Beauty

Book:Machine Beauty: Elegance and the Heart of Technology

Source: Machine Beauty: Elegance and the Heart of Technology

“Beauty is more important in computing than anywhere else in technology because software is so complicated. Beauty is the ultimate defense against complexity.”

“Beauty is more important in computing than anywhere else in technology because software is so complicated. Beauty is the ultimate defense against complexity. ... The geniuses of the computer field, on the the other hand, are the people with the keenest aesthetic senses, the ones who are capable of creating beauty. Beauty is decisive at every level: the most important interfaces, the most important programming languages, the winning algorithms are the beautiful ones.”

“Good programmers know what's beautiful and bad ones don't.”

Knows Beautiful Learning Programming Programmers

Author:David Gelernter

“Object-oriented programming as it emerged in Simula 67 allows software structure to be based on real-world structures, and gives programmers a powerful way to simplify the design and construction of complex programs.”

“For years, computer scientists were treating operating systems design as sort of an open-reserch issue, when the field's direction had been decided by commercial operations. Computer science has become completely cut off from reality.”

Years Reality Issues Cutting Design Fields Computer Decided Scientist Operations Computer Science Operating Systems

Author:David Gelernter

“One: Make Congress and the White House obey the same Obamacare rules you do. Two: Obama let business off for a year; we want workers to be let off for a year too. That’s the GOP plan. What part don’t you like?”

Want Years Two House White Plans Workers Congress White House Obamacare Gop

Author:David Gelernter

“If this is the information age, what are we so well-informed about?”

Ifs Wells Age Information Information Age

Author:David Gelernter

About the Author

Born: March 5, 1955
Known for: Artist
Quotes: 33

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Books & Sources

Machine Beauty: Elegance and the Heart of TechnologyRelated source material

The Muse in the Machine: Computerizing the Poetry of Human ThoughtRelated source material

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