“Our problem is not machines acting like humans -- it’s humans acting like machines.”
John Twelve Hawks book Spark
Spark (2014)
Context: Artificial intelligence is a concept that obscures accountability. Our problem is not machines acting like humans -- it’s humans acting like machines.
John Twelve Hawks book Spark
Spark (2014)
Context: True ideology has vanished, replaced by fear and fantasy. The right wing wants corporate control and a return to a past that never existed. The left wing wants government control and a future that will never exist. Both groups lose sight of the essential questions: how can the individual speak and think and create freely? New ideas are the only evolutionary force that will save us from destruction.
“Modern authority is based on a system of lies that are accepted by the general population.”
John Twelve Hawks book Spark
Spark (2014)
Context: Modern authority is based on a system of lies that are accepted by the general population. If you pull away the curtain and show the reality of power, people are motivated to question the fictions that govern their own lives.
Against Authority: Freedom and the Rise of Surveillance States (2014)
Context: Any monitoring system that is invisible, pervasive, automatic, and permanent gives those in power the means to create a modern surveillance state. And these new states will have an authority that has detached itself from ethics and ideology. Politicians and dictators will continue to make speeches, but their words will become meaningless. This new system will see and know us. It will even predict our future behavior.
“New ideas are the only evolutionary force that will save us from destruction.”
John Twelve Hawks book Spark
Spark (2014)
Context: True ideology has vanished, replaced by fear and fantasy. The right wing wants corporate control and a return to a past that never existed. The left wing wants government control and a future that will never exist. Both groups lose sight of the essential questions: how can the individual speak and think and create freely? New ideas are the only evolutionary force that will save us from destruction.
“Focusing on a writer’s life undermines the power of that writer’s ideas.”
From Interviews
Context: These days, I live on the grid – primarily because of medical issues. But I think that it would be hypocritical for a writer to condemn our surveillance culture and then appear on the Charlie Rose show to blather about personal details. Focusing on a writer’s life undermines the power of that writer’s ideas.
“If privacy had a gravestone it might read: “Don't Worry. This Was for Your Own Good.””
John Twelve Hawks book The Dark River
Source: Fourth Realm Trilogy (2005-2009), The Dark River (2007)
“Life is dangerous. That's what makes it interesting.”
John Twelve Hawks book The Traveler
Source: Fourth Realm Trilogy (2005-2009), The Traveler (2005)
“Every new experience is unusual. The rest of life is just sleep and committee meetings.”
John Twelve Hawks book The Traveler
Source: Fourth Realm Trilogy (2005-2009), The Traveler (2005)
Fourth Realm Trilogy (2005-2009), The Traveler (2005)
From Interviews
John Twelve Hawks book Spark
Spark (2014)
“Almost every important choice in our lives is really just an expression of hope.”
Fourth Realm Trilogy (2005-2009), The Golden City (2009)
Against Authority: Freedom and the Rise of Surveillance States (2014)