The Real Reason Technology Won’t Slow Down.

How humanity accidentally built a world that thinks faster than we do. And why it’s not going to slow down.

Photo by Clint McKoy on Unsplash

Groocy had nicked her finger earlier that day picking up a sharp piece of stone. As she stood there over the small deer’s body, she realised she could cut up the meat, cut our a nice piece of steak, for dinner. All she had was a stone. But that night, the clan ate well indeed.

Sitting by the fire later that night, Groog, her clan mate, was holding the stone “knife” and glanced down at his feet where a stick lay. He had an idea. He held the stick up to the stone, then he grabbed some vines, he played around while others slept. In the wee hours, he’d figured it out. Attaching the stick to the stone. He imagined bonking some animal on the noggin with it. Then using the sharp edge to prepare it. Groocy and Groog were distant ancestors of us Homo sapiens.

Groocy had invented the first knife. Groog, by combining materials, had invented the first stone axe. What they had done wads apply the process of bricolage to evolve new technologies from existing materials.

And here we are today, doing the same thing, except a tad more complex and we are iterating ever faster. This is a short essay on how we advance technologies and why…