As we import biological principles into technology, we are generating technology that’s decentralized, that plays on differences, that’s irregular on demand, that’s nonlinear, and that’s very interactive. If we were stuck with having to make technology that was centralized and stupid and brute, we would be looking forward to a dismal future. But we don’t have to make technology that way … In the end, people will choose technology and civilization. The Luddites will be left behind.
Predictor: Kelly, Kevin
Prediction, in context:In a 1995 article for Wired magazine, editor Kevin Kelly interviews Kirkpatrick Sale, the historian and author of “Rebels Against the Future: The Luddites and Their War on the Industrial Revolution,” in which he assails the Internet and computers as a danger to the planet. Kelly, a believer in a brighter future through technology, argues with Sales’ pessimism, saying: ”The more we make our technology lifelike, the better that technology will be. You’re critiquing industrial technology just as industrial technology is becoming outmoded. The qualities you assign to technology – centralization, order, uniformity, regularity, linearity, passivity – wonderfully describe technology in the 1950s. But the reason you’re wrong about technology is that this kind of technology is being superseded. As we import biological principles into technology, we are generating technology that’s decentralized, that plays on differences, that’s irregular on demand, that’s nonlinear, and that’s very interactive. If we were stuck with having to make technology that was centralized and stupid and brute, we would be looking forward to a dismal future. But we don’t have to make technology that way … As humans, we crave differences and diversity, as well as uniformity and reliability. And we have a model out there, which you’re familiar with, that does both of these things. Nature has a very regular, dependable aspect to it that we count on. At the same time, it has a surprising and unpredictable nature. Both uniformity of production and diversity of production happen in nature and can happen with technology … And in the end, people will choose technology and civilization. The Luddites will be left behind.”
Biography:Kevin Kelly was the author of the book “Out of Control” and the first executive editor of the highly influential Wired magazine. (Author/Editor/Journalist.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Community/Culture
Subtopic: General
Name of publication: Wired
Title, headline, chapter name: Interview with the Luddite: Kirkpatrick Sale is a Leader of the Neo-Luddites. Wire’s Kevin Kelly Wrote the Book on Neo-Biological Technology. Food Fight, Anyone?
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/3.06/saleskelly_pr.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney