We may have as little understanding of the algorithms that largely govern our lives as medieval peasants had of kings in their castles.

Virtual reality happens gradually — not all of a sudden. Reality is becoming gradually more virtual; the virtual is increasingly able to condition the realities of experience.

There’s no longer any bulwark against the industrialization of the mind: no poetry; no scripture; no musical ability; no folk song; no myth.

Military experts promoted war in 1914; agriculture experts advised Stalin on feeding the Soviet people; dietary experts told Americans sugar was ok and fat…