We have two very predictable responses to new technology.
- Superstitious terror
- Unquestioning acceptance
This chart nicely supports and reinforces the existence of this pattern.
There is a sociological model breaking down the details of acceptance, it’s called the technology adoption life cycle.
Remember, my theory is that humans have a symbiotic relationship with technology. With technology, we develop powerful evolutionary mutations that create new human subspecies. These subspecies are transformed powerful upgrades. For example, weather-resistant clothing extended our range into cold areas, spears, arrows, and organized hunting made us singularly efficient, deadly predators. Cars expanded our range by hundreds of miles around our communities. Broadcast technology made us instantly aware of world events and able to “discuss” them in our millions in real-time.
The Superstitious terror response is the various recent tech mutations defending their sub-species territory and advantages and arguing against abandoning these in favor of some untested cockamamie nonsense.
The Unquestioning acceptance response is partly the deep species knowledge of having been made safer and more powerful countless times by saying yes to this deal and also the certain knowledge that they will be vulnerable to destruction by other tribes of humans who embrace the mutation if they don’t.
(I cannot find an artist attribution for the chart.)
