A Chinese worker sits next to orange robot arms at Rapoo Technology factory in the Chinese industrial boomtown of
Shenzhen on Aug. 21, 2015. Factories in China are rapidly replacing those workers with automation, a pivot thats
encouraged by rising wages and new ofcial directives aimed at helping the country move away from low-cost
manufacturing as the supply of young, pliant workers shrinks. Photo: AP Photo/Vincent Yu
CAMBRIDGE Technological breakthroughs are often praised for their power to overcome
development challenges, fuel economic growth and move societies forward. Yet
breakthroughs often face barriers to implementation. Governments sometimes ban new
technologies outright even those that could bring far-reaching benets.
Consider the printing press. Among other things, the new technology was a boon to world
religions, which suddenly had an efcient way to reproduce and spread sacred texts. Yet
the Ottoman Empire forbade the printing of the Quran, the Muslim holy book, for nearly 400
years. In 1515, Sultan Selim I is said to have decreed that occupying oneself with the
science of printing was punishable by death.
Why oppose such a benecial technology? As I argue in my book, "Innovation and Its
Enemies: Why People Resist New Technologies," the answer is not simply that people are
afraid of the unknown. Rather, resistance to technological progress is usually rooted in the
fear that change might bring losses in employment, income, power and identity.
Governments often end up deciding that it would be easier to prohibit the new technology
than to adapt to it.
Resistance to tractors in the early 1900s took a slightly different form. Producers and
traders of animals that pulled heavy loads feared a shift toward machinery, which
threatened their way of life. But they knew that they could not improve their product faster
than engineers could improve theirs, and thus that blocking the spread of tractors would
be impossible. Instead, they pursued a campaign touting the virtues of farm animals. The
Horse Association of America issued leaets declaring that, A mule is the only fool-proof
tractor ever built. The group also pointed out that horses could reproduce themselves,
whereas tractors dropped in value over time.
Quiz
1
Which of the following sentences from the article BEST develops a central idea?
Read the sentence from the section "Recognizing And Addressing The Downsides".
The key will be to ensure that those who are likely to lose from the
disappearance of old technologies are given ample opportunity to
benet from the appearance of new ones.
Does this sentence support the MAIN idea of the article? Why?
(A)
(B)
(C)
No; it does not comment on the multiple historical examples provided in the
article.
(D)
No; it does not relate to the author's argument about the loss of jobs.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(B)
(C)
describing how the printing press was regulated by the Ottoman Empire and
Roman Catholic Church.
(D)
Answer Key
1
Which of the following sentences from the article BEST develops a central idea?
Read the sentence from the section "Recognizing And Addressing The Downsides".
The key will be to ensure that those who are likely to lose from the
disappearance of old technologies are given ample opportunity to
benet from the appearance of new ones.
Does this sentence support the MAIN idea of the article? Why?
(A)
(B)
(C)
No; it does not comment on the multiple historical examples provided in the
article.
(D)
No; it does not relate to the author's argument about the loss of jobs.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(B)
(C)
describing how the printing press was regulated by the Ottoman Empire and
Roman Catholic Church.
(D)