Quotation

David Suzuki

the Autobiography. --
In the 1970s, Bob McLean was host of a noon talk show on the CBC and invited me to be a guest. At one point, he asked me out of the blue, "What do you think the world will be like in one hundred years?" My answer went something like this: "If there still are humans around by then, I think they will curse us for two things-- nuclear weapons and television." Surprised by my answer, he ignored both my suggestion that humans might not survive another hundred years and the nuclear issue to blurt out, "Why television?" My response was, "You've just asked a profound question. Suppose I had replied, 'Bob, that's a tough one. I'll have to think about it' and then proceeded to think, not saying anything for ten seconds. You'd cut away to a commercial within three seconds, because TV can't tolerate dead air. That's the problem; it demands instant response, which means there's no profundity." Thinking back on that reply, I'm rather impressed with it, because I still believe that today.