Civilization could be on the cusp of a new enlightenment, similar to the arrival of the Gutenburg press. Stepping into a new, unfamiliar space, or one that is undergoing drastic changes, can feel very unsettling. I had a first person seat at the table when Microsoft introduced the first PC's; it was a traumatic time for many. I would recommend reading "In The Age Of Smart Machines", 1988, author Soshana Zubhoff; she shines a light this transition period and the unsettling angst it created in many. Y2K could be another case study on angst, even though it unfolded into business as usual.
it's funny you mention Zuboff because her later work is very pessimistic! and Y2K is a good case where institutions mounted a coordinated effort to fix the problem - I'm not sure that's still possible today
Y2K was a known problem for at least 30 years. The "patch" was a very late application. The first instance of the year place holder, I am aware of occurred on 1 January 1970, when an early digital navigation system malfunctioned. With limited memory, they choose to use a single digit year. When 01010 showed the system reverted itself to 1 January 1960. Suddenly ships were "lost". The simple solution was to make year a two digit field.
Civilization could be on the cusp of a new enlightenment, similar to the arrival of the Gutenburg press. Stepping into a new, unfamiliar space, or one that is undergoing drastic changes, can feel very unsettling. I had a first person seat at the table when Microsoft introduced the first PC's; it was a traumatic time for many. I would recommend reading "In The Age Of Smart Machines", 1988, author Soshana Zubhoff; she shines a light this transition period and the unsettling angst it created in many. Y2K could be another case study on angst, even though it unfolded into business as usual.
it's funny you mention Zuboff because her later work is very pessimistic! and Y2K is a good case where institutions mounted a coordinated effort to fix the problem - I'm not sure that's still possible today
Y2K was a known problem for at least 30 years. The "patch" was a very late application. The first instance of the year place holder, I am aware of occurred on 1 January 1970, when an early digital navigation system malfunctioned. With limited memory, they choose to use a single digit year. When 01010 showed the system reverted itself to 1 January 1960. Suddenly ships were "lost". The simple solution was to make year a two digit field.
The medieval peasant brain concept is indispensable. Pretty remarkable how quickly this phenomenon manifested.
Ok this one really has me thinking. Both the medieval peasant brain concept and how does great power competition play out with nukes.
yes I like the phrase because it highlights agency, many great power transition theories are almost pseudo-mechanical