“Nothing like this has ever happened before!” “Human beings have never had to deal with this pace of technological advancement.” “Society has never dealt with anything like this!”
Bullshit.
It’s not unprecedented, you are just uniformed or historically illiterate. Just because it is the first time you’ve seen something doesn’t mean it’s the first time something has happened.
The media, pundits and anyone with a platform (I’m looking at you – podcaster du jour, influencer and famous person) are the worst culprits of this.
I’d like to say I’m appalled, but I’m not.
I was exactly the same way, especially when I was young and inexperienced. As I got older, I started to look for historical examples of people handling problems similar to mine so that I could get an idea of how to proceed.
Now that I’m even older, I realize that everything has happened before. The details might be different, but similar situations, problems, solutions and human reactions are all recorded in history. Some examples:
- Technological change
- War and violence
- Pandemics
- Political Strife
- Economic booms and busts
- Scams and Con Men
Anyone can give a counter example to my argument by pointing out things like Nuclear War Capability, AI or the Internet. But I would argue these are not much different than the disruptions caused by the invention and proliferation of gunpowder, industrialization and the telephone.
It ain’t that different.
So the next time you hear someone freaking out about how “this will change everything” pick up a history book and read a little. You might learn, as I have, what changes to expect and how the impact, while significant, might not happen in our lifetimes. Or if it does, how little it will impact you and me.
I strongly recommend reading about the Black Plague, the Yellow Fever Epidemic or the Flu epidemic. I was surprised at how societies from the Dark Ages through WWII all reacted in similar and predictable ways.
Or if you’re worried about AI, read about how electricity, automobiles or the telephone changed society.
You’ll thank me, and more importantly, yourself later.