Sheila Jasanoff famous quotes

We need a more widely shared burden on the part of society to keep asking, "What are our collective values, what kind of world do we want to bequeath to our children, and to what extent are these particular technological developments helping us go in those directions? I think that corporations, every bit as much as governments, social movements, and universities - we all have a role to play in asking those questions. I don't think anybody should have a monopoly on that responsibility.
-- Sheila Jasanoff

#Children #Responsibility #Thinking

I want a society in which we don't throw things and people away with quite the abandon we do, especially people. This is why the idea of disruptive technologies is quite dangerous, because you ought to be asking ourselves, what exactly are we disrupting?
-- Sheila Jasanoff

#Technology #People #Dangerous

I'm trying to make people more alert that mere acceptance isn't a good enough indicator that something is ethical. You actually need to stop and think. Acceptance on the basis of ignorance or deceit is not the same thing as the acceptance on the basis of ongoing vigorous democratic debate.
-- Sheila Jasanoff

#Ignorance #Acceptance #Thinking

Historically, the idea that you take something novel and you break it has been seen as the ultimate rejection of Enlightenment values, of progress, of civilization - because how could you possibly move forward if you break technology? I think that that misses the point, that if you introduce any kind of technology, what you're introducing is a new way of living and the consequences of that new way of living for people who were enmeshed in a different way of living need to be thought through.
-- Sheila Jasanoff

#Moving #Thinking #Technology

I'm all in favor of being able to imagine new frontiers with the aid of technologies, but I want a more compassionate approach that also recognizes that every time you're talking about new frontiers, there will be certain kinds of costs attached. There will be people who don't quite understand how to handle email who will decide to have private servers and then not know how to excuse themselves when it may be something as simple-minded as they were a little too far along in their lives to really figure out how to go back and forth between two different accounts.
-- Sheila Jasanoff

#Technology #People #Different

I am kind of a sucker for democracy, so I do think that what kinds of citizens we have in our societies are more foundational than what kinds of governments we have, and that the responsibility for self-government is ultimately with us. But we also have learned through a couple thousand years of democracy that democracies are only as good as people's capacity to reflect on those questions.
-- Sheila Jasanoff

#Couple #Responsibility #Thinking

Climate change is there as a reminder that we can get richer and safer societies that are also consuming more and more to the point where the stability of Earth's systems is being challenged at potentially catastrophic levels. I don't think we can stop that. Just the very same worries I have about prediction on the positive progressive side - I mean, predictions that say we'll be great, we'll be fine - also apply to predictions that are too catastrophic. I'm not sure we get those predictions right either.
-- Sheila Jasanoff

#Mean #Thinking #Worry

The usual sniggering examples of animal behaviour were brought in to explain cheating. Funny how the behaviour of shrews and gibbons is never used to explain table manners or road safety or gardening, only sex. Anyway, it was bad Darwinism. Taking the example of a monkey and applying it to yourself misses the point that animal behaviour is made for the benefit of the species, not as an excuse for the individual. Being incapable of sustaining a stable pair and supporting children is really not in the interests of our species. Neither is it really in the best interests of the philanderer.

When we have accepted Jesus Christ, we have become akin to the Father; having become real children of God, we then have the spirit of sonship by which we can come into His presence and make known our wants in a familiar way.

Sometimes children do forget their filial responsibilities.

The extent to which YOU take responsibility over something is the extent to which YOU take control over it.

Americans think the only funny Brits are John Cleese, Benny Hill and whoever makes our toothpaste. They're not laughing with us, they are laughing at us.

Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.

The third-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the majority. The second-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the minority. The first-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking.

Fear is born of Satan, and if we would only take time to think a moment we would see that everything Satan says is founded upon a falsehood.

I think I feel rather differently about sympathy to what seems the normal view. I like just to feel it is there, but not always expressed.

Because of a friend, life is a little stronger, fuller, more gracious thing for the friend's existence, whether he be near or far. If the friend is close at hand, that is best; but if he is far away he still is there to think of, to wonder about, to hear from, to write to, to share life and experience with, to serve, to honor, to admire, to love.