Techno Panics From Forty Years Ago... Narrated By Orson Welles

from the sound-familiar dept

Adam Thierer points us to this wonderful BrainPickings blog post about how, in 1972, a little-known documentary was made, based on Alvin Toffler's famous and massively influential techno-panic book Future Shock, which famously warned about the dangers of technological progress. Apparently, the entire documentary has been put up on YouTube, so you can watch it below. It's narrated by Orson Welles, but what's most amusing is how many of the concerns voiced in the documentary about the evils of technology are the same "warnings" that we hear today, with the same absence of evidence that support the position. I particularly like the dramatic scary music that fills much of the entire film.







The lesson from all this, as pointed out in BrainPickings, is that: "Societies have always feared new technology but ultimately adapted to it. Or, better yet, adapted it to their needs." It would be nice, if just once, we didn't have to go through that fear process, but it seems like that's wishful thinking.

Filed Under: alvin toffler, future shock, history, moral panics, orson welles, predictions, techno panics