Today when we think
about revolutionary inventions throughout history the printing press is one of
the first that comes to mind (especially if you have been studying the
Renaissance recently) and why wouldn't it? The printing press significantly
increased the rate at which books could be copied, making it possible for a
greater audience to have access to literature and all that it entails. Yet at
the time the printing press was invented, some people balked at the idea with
reasons ranging from fear that it would impair learning by making it more
accessible to everyone, to seeing the printed word as somehow inferior to that
of the written. Yet this is hardly a unique scenario, you might be just as
surprised to find out that at various times people ridiculed light bulbs,
umbrellas, and even coffee. My question in all of this is simple, why?
To begin it is important
to realize that hindsight can cause us to easily see flaws in the past and
write away the people that hesitate to embrace a new invention as foolish or
worse. Context is important and seeking to understand the reasons why people
rejected inventions can perhaps help us better understand why we do the same today.
The simplest answer
seems to be fear, particularly fear of the unknown. When facing new and
unfamiliar ideas. we often want to bring thing back to the known and
comfortable as quickly as possible. When new ideas or inventions are introduced
in a frame of reference that helps us see its usefulness and can quickly be
adopted into our view of the world, we can more quickly adapt to it. The more
difficult this becomes, the longer the time required for things to take hold.
It is enough to examine our world today. At one end, people look forward with
optimism to a future where human and AI work together with incredible
inventions that can't even be imagined, while at the other end people fear that
Armageddon is lurking around the corner and that we will eventually create the
monster that will destroy us.
When looking at the
technological progression of the last 100 years, the progress is staggering.
Yet often upon examination what often caused us to not adopt a technology
sooner was that our current frame of reference simply didn't allow for it. The same
has been true throughout history. Understanding the potential of something new
is difficult, but with time we move forward.
Image credits: “Ipad It Smash” by pixabay is licensed under
CCO.
Great analysis of human psychology! Certainly, this dilemma begs us to ask: what inventions have we PREVENTED from coming into society for those reasons that you mentioned? My mother recently took a chance on an “as seen on TV” product, and despite her skepticism, it actually worked! And p yr the erhaps exercising more faith in each other— as opposed to fear— would propagate ingenuity inside ourselves.
ReplyDeleteI like your open perspective on this topic. It's almost human nature to reject the new out of fear. Almost everyone idealizes the "good ol' days" of their youth. Today everyone is after the millennials, criticizing them for being technology dependent, lazy, and whiny. However, I think technology has encouraged people to be more open-minded and tolerant of people from other backgrounds by providing a common place people from anywhere in the world can communicate and develop relationships. If we can avoid jumping to conclusions about new experiences we would probably be better off in many ways.
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