Technological progress aims to end at the same state wealth rejects as starting point

Evidence

In an isolated part of rustic southern Europe, a fisherman is sitting on a flat seaside beach fishing with an old traditional fishing rod. A rich businessman, enjoying a vacation alone by the sea, passes by during a walk, watches the fisherman a while, shakes his head, and starts to speak to him. He asks him why he’s fishing here and says that out there on the rocky cliff he could surely double his catch. The fisherman looks at him, bewildered, and asks uncomprehendingly, “What for?” Well, the entrepreneur goes on, he could sell the additional fish at the market in the next town and with the earnings acquire a new fiberglass rod and highly effective special bait. That way he could easily double his average daily catch yet again. “And then what?” asks the fisherman, still puzzled. The entrepreneur becomes impatient but continues, saying that he could soon purchase a boat, head out into deep water, and haul in ten times as many fish, so that in a short time he would be rich enough to get a modern ocean trawler! The businessman is beaming now, inspired by his vision. “All right,” says the fisherman, “and what do I do then?” Then, the businessman enthused, he would soon dominate the fishing industry along the entire coast and he could have an entire fleet of fishing boats working for him. “Aha,” replied the fisherman, “and what do I do when they all work for me?” Well, then he could sit by the beach all day, enjoy the sun, and fish. “Uh huh,” says the fisherman, “I’m already doing that now.” — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration, 60

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Technological innovation is pushed from behind, not pulled toward a goal — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 394; Technology depends on ends that lie beyond technology itself — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the…, 823; Civilizations decline when surplus shifts from investment to consumption

Broader Connections

• Technology depends on ends that lie beyond technology itself #expands (0.85) — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 823
• Technological innovation is pushed from behind, not pulled toward a goal #expands (0.80) — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 394
• Civilizations decline when surplus shifts from investment to consumption #contradicts (0.70)