In a 1938 article, MIT’s president argued that technical progress didn’t mean fewer jobs. He’s still right.
Compton drew a sharp distinction between the consequences of technological progress on “industry as a whole” and the effects, often painful, on individuals.
For “industry as a whole,” he concluded, “technological unemployment is a myth.” That’s because, he argued, technology "has created so many new industries” and has expanded the market for many items by “lowering the cost of production to make a price within reach of large masses of purchasers.” In short, technological advances had created more jobs overall. The argument—and the question of whether it is still true—remains pertinent in the age of AI.
Then Compton abruptly switched perspectives, acknowledging that for some workers and communities, “technological unemployment may be a very serious social problem, as in a town whose mill has had to shut down, or in a craft which has been superseded by a new art.”
I don’t want a car. I don’t have one currently. In 1829 Stephenson showed trains were the future and that remains the same today.
I’m not convinced planes and computers have been good for the world. Though I have enjoyed them both tremendously.
But I’m ready to be an old man holding on to old tech. Fuck man. You ever quit your job and travelled the world? Playing poker on a wooden bench with a single light bulb next to the beach, with people you met that day is so much better than the Internet. The shame of it is that most people haven’t.
We gave up community and happiness for isolation and sadness.
Also I’m old enough to have seen personal computers change the world. A lot has been lost in the last 20 decades.
Where would you go if you could do that kind of thing again?
Yep, done that. And I agree it’s great. I need a plane to visit the beach though.
Sounds like something I’ve seen in the Unabombers Manifesto.
I have been meaning to read that.
Technology and happiness aren’t correlated though. That’s nothing new.