When you invent the ship, you also invent the shipwreck; when you invent the plane you also invent the plane crash; and when you invent electricity, you invent electrocution...Every technology carries its own negativity, which is invented at the same time as technical progress.
Interpretation
Technological advancements come with inherent risks and potential negative consequences.
This quote by Paul Virilio highlights the dual nature of technological progress, suggesting that each innovation not only brings benefits but also its own set of dangers. As we create new technologies that improve our lives, we simultaneously introduce risks, such as accidents and disasters, that arise from their use. This serves as a cautionary reminder of the darker side of progress and the responsibility that comes with invention.
In practice
In a discussion about the risks of social media, one might say, 'Remember, when you invent the ship, you also invent the shipwreck.'
The field of vision is comparable, for me, to the terrain of an archaeological dig. To see is to be on guard, to wait for what emerges from the background, without any name, without any particular interest: what was silent will speak, what is closed will open and will take on a voice.
As I walked down the street while talking on the phone, sophisticated New Yorkers gaped at the sight of someone actually moving around while making a phone call. Remember that in 1973, there weren't cordless telephones, let alone cellular phones. I made numerous calls, including one where I crossed the street while talking to a New York radio reporter - probably one of the more dangerous things I have ever done in my life.
Coding is like writing, and we live in a time of the new industrial revolution. What's happened is that maybe everybody knows how to use computers, like they know how to read, but they don't know how to write.
People are mobile. They move around, and anytime they want to communicate, if you tie them to the wall or the wires, you're restricting them, you're infringing on their freedom.
The only way you multiply resources is with technology. To really affect poverty, energy, health, education, or anything else - there is no other way.
You don't have to be young to learn about technology. You have to feel young.
The only reason we don't notice how absolutely interwoven our thinking processes have become with older technologies - pencils, paper, electric light, penicillin, fire - is that they're old, so we've ceased to notice their effects.
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