System transitions are triggered only when technological changes reach critical mass.

Evidence

Improvements in navigation and shipbuilding did not end feudalism on their own. However, when the resulting trade volumes and accumulated merchant wealth reached a critical mass, they triggered the commodification of land, then of labour, soon after of almost everything. Before anyone knew it, feudalism had morphed into capitalism. — Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism, 234

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Societies only rise or fall when material conditions make it possible; Rapid surface change can mask a deeper structural stasis in society — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration: A New Theory of…, 66; Societies only undertake tasks whose material conditions are maturing (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Societies only undertake tasks whose material conditions are maturing #corroborates (0.85)
• Societies only rise or fall when material conditions make it possible #corroborates (0.82)
• Historical change arrives as a qualitative leap, not gradual growth #qualifies (0.78)
• Rapid surface change can mask a deeper structural stasis in society #contradicts (0.75) — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration, 66