"It appears that the media filters we carry in our heads are like computers: they've been forced to get faster in order to keep up with the demands our high-speed society puts on them"
About this Quote
The intent is less philosophical than strategic. “Media filters we carry in our heads” is a quiet admission that persuasion no longer depends on broadcasting to a passive audience; it depends on getting past internal gatekeepers that have grown suspicious, impatient, and selective. When he compares those filters to computers, the subtext is about arms races: media gets louder and quicker, audiences build sharper defenses, and marketers respond by optimizing for speed, novelty, and instant legibility.
“Forced to get faster” is the tell. It hints at a cost: speed as coercion, not progress. Faster filtering doesn’t mean wiser judgment; it can mean harsher shortcuts, more reflexive dismissal, a narrower bandwidth for ambiguity. In the early-21st-century context of accelerating news cycles and attention economics, Williams is describing the moment when “message” becomes less about argument and more about bypassing. The quote works because it turns a cultural anxiety (I can’t keep up) into a functional model (your brain is just upgrading), while quietly warning that the upgrade may be the trap.
Quote Details
| Topic | Technology |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Williams, Roy H. (2026, January 17). It appears that the media filters we carry in our heads are like computers: they've been forced to get faster in order to keep up with the demands our high-speed society puts on them. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/it-appears-that-the-media-filters-we-carry-in-our-75530/
Chicago Style
Williams, Roy H. "It appears that the media filters we carry in our heads are like computers: they've been forced to get faster in order to keep up with the demands our high-speed society puts on them." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/it-appears-that-the-media-filters-we-carry-in-our-75530/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"It appears that the media filters we carry in our heads are like computers: they've been forced to get faster in order to keep up with the demands our high-speed society puts on them." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/it-appears-that-the-media-filters-we-carry-in-our-75530/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2026.

