Why is the pace of change faster now than in previous centuries,

[raccoon]

and it seems to be getting progressively faster?

For instance, in the Middle Ages, the average person probably saw very little technological change in his/her lifetime. Monarchs and noblemen died and their heirs took their places; a foreign country might invade and conquer another country, but very little in the daily life of the average person changed. Most peoples' lives were pretty much as their grandparents' or great-grandparents' lives had been.

Even in my lifetime--something over half a century--the pace of technological change has grown faster.

Your thoughts?

[Richardo]

1. Moveable type.

[calmstorm]

2. Changes...

Communication for one. The world is much smaller. The only issue is that education still stinks, so the politicians can have their pawns. It use to be the church needed pawns, now it's the politicians.

[HereSince1628]

3. Possible connections between ideas increase exponentially

as a consequence the matrix of new ideas and inventions generates more possibilities faster.

[rurallib]

4. Some things change yet some things don't

there is still an overclass that uses fear, intimidation and religion to keep the masses in line. Same as the last 10,000 years. '
This is a theme that has been rolling in my mind for months.
The overlords usually adopt new technology to further their cause before the masses get it. They goofed with the internet, but they are working hard to remedy that error.

[Eric J in MN]

5. Electric motors led to a lot of other inventions.

Computer technology also led to other inventions.

[Greyskye]

6. Communication and population

Communication is a huge factor for obvious reasons. And as the population continues to grow exponentially, there are more people available to instigate that change. Available technology also makes computational tasks which would have taken weeks, months, or years to solve happen relatively instantaneously.

The rate of change is just going to keep getting faster until the inevitable die-off/mass-extinction event.

[Greyhound]

8. Yeppers, the technological advancements in travel and communications have been, and I hate to use

this phrase, a paradigm shift.

[PeaceNikki]

7. Heavy, dude.

[blues90]

9. I think technology has created isolation

Once everyone had the basic ways to communicate and everyone knew how to use them and it worked just fine. It allowed community.

I think the change all boils down to capitalism and profit and service.

I feel it has more bad points than good and can't call it progress when it benefits the few who can afford it.

it enabled the possibility to out source at a rapid pace, I don't think man was designed to live this way at the speed of light.

For what is gained requires unwilling and unwanted sacrifice of more meaningful things.

[raccoon]

22. I think technology increases isolation too. Although it has given us some wonderful

benefits.

What you said reminds me of this book I'm re-reading, GLOBAL PROBLEMS AND THE CULTURE OF CAPITALISM, by Richard Robbins.

[dkofos]

10. Instantaneous communication

[SpiralHawk]

11. It's going to go faster...

David Gehue, MikMaq elder at the prophetic UN Cry of the Earth Conference:

"So now, what comes next?" Mr. Gehue asked rhetorically. "The elders have been saying for a long, long time, that the world is going to go faster. Things have always happened; there have always been big storms, and earthquakes, floods, and fires, but now they are happening fast, and it's accelerating. It's going to go a lot faster. Because of this, it's real important that we start to slow down.

"Heal the inner self: you have to be open for that. You have to master you -- your weaknesses, your fears, and your rages. You have to master that. You have to make sure that you are thinking clearly, and feeling clearly.

"The key for all the people in North America is, get to know who you are. Get rid of all your emotional and spiritual garbage -- hate, fear, fire and brimstone, all that junk. Creator is not standing somewhere with a big stick ready to beat you. You can be who you are. You need to be who you are. That's the bottom line."

http://www.8thfire.net/Day_15.html

[oldskool]

12. Globalization

[HeresyLives]

13. The amount of knowledge in

the world, the sum total of EVERYTHING we know, is now doubling every 18 months.

That speeds everything else up.

[melm00se]

14. it's a combination of many of the above

Improved communication between a larger and better educated population working from a deeper base available technology and existing knowledge begets improved communication between a larger and better educated population working from a deeper base available technology and existing knowledge...


it's like a compounding equation, the curve steepens with every step forward.

[Swede]

15. Moore's law..

Moore's law describes a trend in the history of computer hardware. The number of transistors that can be inexpensively placed on an integrated circuit is increasing exponentially, doubling approximately every two years. The trend was first observed by Intel co-founder Gordon E. Moore in a 1965 paper.It has continued for half a century and is not expected to stop for another decade at least and perhaps much longer.

Almost every measure of the capabilities of digital electronic devices is linked to Moore's law: processing speed, memory capacity, even the resolution of digital cameras. All of these are improving at (roughly) exponential rates as well.<6> This has dramatically increased the usefulness of digital electronics in nearly every segment of the world economy.<7> Moore's law describes this driving force of technological and social change in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore's_law

[Selatius]

16. Technology and communication.

They complement each other. A new invention is had, and communication technology ensures its spread is rapid. In the old days, it could take centuries for things like gunpowder to make it to the west on the Silk Road.

[Hannah Bell]

17. capitalism. it keeps you running.

[ColbertWatcher]

18. More people, more ideas. n/t

[EstimatedProphet]

19. Read Future Shock

Technology grows on itself.

[GreenArrow]

21. Future Shock

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ghzomm15yE

[gatorboy]

20. The Black Plague.

With the work force decimated, technological innovation was needed to fill in the gaps. Not to mention the work force that was left was able to work for a higher income. The Black Plague essentially created the Middle Class.

Who knows, maybe we'd still be wandering around up to our knees in shit and mud if it had never happened.