If it’s new.. fear it?
April 23rd, 2008
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I’ll see if I can find some more quotes, but in the mean time here are a few from years past. It seems gasoline powered automobiles, aviation, helicopters, electricity, railroads, steam power, anesthesia, lighting and other technologies were strongly opposed by at least a few due to the “unknown dangers” they presented or simply because “man was not meant to fly/travel at such speed/light up the night and so on.”
Seems ridiculous today. Precautionary principle anyone?
“Dear Mr. President: The canal system of this country is being threatened by a new form of transportation known as ‘railroads’ … As you may well know, Mr. President, ‘railroad’ carriages are pulled at the enormous speed of 15 miles per hour by ‘engines’ which, in addition to endangering life and limb of assengers, roar and snort their way through the countryside, setting fire to crops, scaring the livestock and frightening women and children. The Almighty certainly never intended that people should travel at such breakneck speed.”
– Martin Van Buren, (Early 1800’s at the time Governor of New York)
“Rail travel at high speeds presents the danger that passengers, unable to breathe, would die of asphyxia.”
– Dionysius Lardner, Professor of Natural Philosophy, 1839
“The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will forever be shut from the intrusion of the wise and humane surgeon”.
– Sir John Eric Ericksen, British surgeon, 1783
“It [alternating current] has no place in the home… and is so deadly it is useful only as the executioners’ current”
–Thomas Edison
“Electricity is the first cousin of lightning”
–Anonymous statement reportedly used in opposition to electric service in the late 1800’s
“…both mechanically superior and safer than automobiles driven by an ‘internal explosion’ engine”
– Stanley Steamer Inc, circa 1910’s
“Thankfully, rumor has it, that a breed of highly efficient electric motorcars may quickly replace the fearful petrol powered vehicles. Motoring is bound to be the latest craze for the idle rich. Thankfully there is legislation planned that will require all motorcars to be proceeded by a man on foot waving a warning flag. This is certainly a commendable safety measure and should be supported.”
–Portsmouth NH Local Newspaper Circa 1900
“A new source of power… called gasoline has been produced by a Boston engineer. Instead of burning the fuel under a boiler, it is exploded inside the cylinder of an engine.
The dangers are obvious. Stores of gasoline in the hands of people interested primarily in profit would constitute a fire and explosive hazard of the first rank. Horseless carriages propelled by gasoline might attain speeds of 14 or even 20 miles per hour. The menace to our people of vehicles of this type hurtling through our streets and along our roads and poisoning the atmosphere would call for prompt legislative action even if the military and economic implications were not so overwhelming… [T]he cost of producing [gasoline] is far beyond the financial capacity of private industry.”
– U. S. Congressional Record, 1875.
“Artificial aviation is a danger to human life.”
–The Times’ of London, 1905
This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008 at 1:30 pm and is filed under History, Not Even Wrong. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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April 23rd, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Progress of a new idea:
- It won’t work.
- It’s against Nature
-It’s too dangerous
-It’s not practical
- It’s something everybody knew all along
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April 23rd, 2008 at 8:18 pm
Some seem to just appose anything new based on fear. Fear is a strong emotion and it can really rally people. I saw something a while ago where there was some opposition to electric street lighting in the first cities it was deployed because it was said that it was “unnatural to have so much light at night” and that people would have “more leisure time” and that there was no way of knowing what people would do with so much leisure time and it would likely be something immoral!
I guess it would be the precautionary approach because there was no *proof* that electric lighting would not lead to immorality.
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April 23rd, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Anything that changes the basics of how we live or how society works will scare someone, especially if it is something technological or just beyond the understanding of someone. Electricity is the classic example. The idea of this force flowing through wires and which can be turned on and off and provide instant light simply blew the minds of those who could not understand it.
The small minded get very scared of change.
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April 23rd, 2008 at 10:25 pm
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April 24th, 2008 at 5:22 am
H.G. Wells’ screenplay for the 1936 movie ‘The Shape of Things to Come’ contains the following comment near the conclusion, where the anti-technology activist Theotocopoulos has been stirring up opposition to the first expidition to the Moon (supposedly sometime in the late 21st century).
Theotocopoulos: “How can we do that when your science and inventions are perpetually changing life for us- when you are everlastingly rebuilding and contriving strange things about us? When you make what we think great, seem small. When you make what we think strong, seem feeble. We don’t want you in the same world with us. We don’t want this expedition. We don’t want mankind to go out to the moon and the planets. We shall hate you more if you succeed than if you fail.”
While he can be justly criticised for many things, it is true that Wells saw far.
Quote Comment
April 24th, 2008 at 6:42 am
Interesting to me that the first one, from Van Buren starts off by stating it is a threat to the “canal system.” My only thought is so what? So what if the railroads threaten the canal system? If they are better and can replace it then we no longer need the canal system. If railroads are faster, less expensive, easier to construct and so on, then the canal system is no longer an issue.
That is like saying that “electricity threatens the gas light” or “automobiles threaten the stage coach”
If electricity is better then it is a replacement for the gas light or at least it is for most situations with the possible exception of lanterns or some special purpose like that. In this case, we should not be concerned about the demise of gas lighting. Unless someone held a vested interest in the canals or gas lights or something, of course. I still don’t see why they would use that to justify it: “If you adopt electricity it will hurt my business, Smith Gas Lights Inc” I do think though that the owner of Smith Gas Lights might not be the only one though because he could recruit other scared people “OH MY GOD what will we do without gas lights and canals????”
Maybe JeebusFishes is right. It just blows their mind that the would could change so much and the idea of something new they have no experience with replacing something old and established is scary.
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April 24th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
Most of those who are scared of something have no vested interest i think but fear is strong and fear of change or something new is easy to create. The owner of the gas lamp company may be the one who starts the fear but everyone else will follow just because once the idea that it’s threatening is out they rally behind it. Yeah they could learn a thing or two and come to understand it but that’d be more complicated and difficult. it’s beyond some.
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April 25th, 2008 at 2:25 am
“I’ll see if I can find some more quotes, but in the mean time here are a few from years past.”
“Man might as well project a voyage to the Moon, as attempt to employ steam navigation across the stormy North Atlantic ocean.”
-Dr. Dionysius Lardner to the British Association, 1838.
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