It used to be better, why we do not like innovation

A Life / by admin / December 19, 2019

Mankind has already become a habit to slow down their own progress. Starting with a coffee maker and refrigerator, and the last of genetically modified food, history is filled with examples of how people rejected the any innovation before let them his everyday life.

Yes that far? There are so hotly debated the safety of cars with the autopilot and so scrupulously counted how many jobs will be taken robots that becomes scary. What if it really be able to stop progress?

Harvard professor Kalestos Yuma (Calestous Juma) sure could solve this riddle human behavior, why we think it used to be better, and with respect to what we can say anything "already not the same. " He suggests that the innovation we are not afraid. The problem lies elsewhere. Man thinks that the new technology will take away a piece of his personality and way of life will change, and in some ways he's right.

So why is it used to be better?

1. People resist innovations, even if they are called to serve their interests

One of the most eloquent examples of rejection of innovations - is the controversy surrounding

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genetically modified products. They are carried out around the world and still continues to this day. And opponents and supporters of GMOs are similar in their stubbornness. And the purpose of their total.

Indeed, those who support the creation and application of genetically modified plants, claim that it will help to reduce the use of pesticides. Namely, this is accomplished defenders of the environment, which are often opposed to GMOs. It seems incredible: people who are on opposite sides, in fact fighting for the same thing.

The only question in context. New technologies can be very helpful, and even opponents of innovation would derive benefits.

2. If innovation is slightly different from what already exists, it will not want to take

In modern cities, you can find coffee shops on every corner, but it happened not once. Coffee became popular in the Middle East among the imams, which was necessary to stay awake to perform prayers at the proper time. Coffee simply worked better than any other available stimulant.

But this drink took centuries to become popular in Europe. In Germany, France and England, people used to drink beer, wine and tea. Adherents of these drinks is stronger than all opposed the emergence of coffee. They thought that this new drink is absolutely useless: that it may be so unusual?

Kalestos Hume believes that if the new technology is much superior to the previous possible, the chances that it will want to use and significantly increasing.

3. Dislike of innovation depends on three main factors in particular - on the average consumer

There are three key opponents of innovation:

those who have a commercial interest in the technologies have already been implemented;
those who identified with the existing technology;
those who lose power because of a change.

Of course, the reasons for dissatisfaction with the first group of people are quite obvious. A lot of industries have been stopped in the development and even eliminated through innovation. A good example - music labels attempt to stop the spread of music on the Internet.

Some people may also oppose the development of new technologies due to the fact that the current product is linked with their culture, self-identity, or habits. For this simple reason, the British actively prevented widespread dissemination of coffee in the country. They stubbornly prefer drinking tea leisurely hike in the coffee shop.

And of course, the development of new technologies - is the path to economic recovery and redistribution of power and resources, and therefore, someone will richer and influential, while others lose a high status.

4. People value innovation through intuition rather than logic

Opponents and defenders of the new technology is constantly making loud statements, describing the impact of innovation on health, science, the environment, psychology and any other sphere. If only to support their point of view.

Some theses logically justified, some invented on the fly. Once people were convinced that coffee or make you infertile or causes of nervous diseases. People generally react to innovations intuitively, and the evidence they needed only to confirm his opinion.

Man sees the new product and the emotional reaction to it, because innovation is becoming a test for his world. And so it is with any new product.
Kalestos Yuma

5. Users easily adopt technologies that help to become freer and more mobile

Mobile phones and digital music has been rapidly spread because of the fact that they gave people an opportunity to become free. Now you do not have to go home, to make a call, or turn on the tape recorder for your favorite songs. People like to move freely, which is why so many new technologies related to transport.

Our brain examines innovation from all sides, trying it on yourself. Then we evaluate new technology, searching for familiar usage scenarios.

Therefore, some innovations we like, and we can go quite indifferently by another nanodevices.

6. People are not afraid of new technologies. They are afraid of losses that will bring those

Someone thinks that people are afraid of new technologies because we are all afraid of all, we do not understand. This is not quite true. People are not afraid of innovation, however, seriously worried about the fact that they may lose their advent. This may be a sense of self, lifestyle, work or welfare.

Commercial organizations or the state could attract enemies of innovation in the process of introducing new technologies. It would have helped a lot of people to accept innovations and to understand how they affect the future life.

7. Those who create innovations, do not care, what impact they will have on society

Or almost anyway. After all, developers are paying much more attention to the product's functionality, which is created. And here is how society will react to the new technology, they almost do not think.

For them, the important thing is working or not their invention.

However, the situation is changing for the better. Many Silicon Valley companies have been paying great attention to the safety of new technologies.

A good example of this - the development of artificial intelligence. Here, the issue was initially considered from all possible positions. Result? Active discussions about the benefits and dangers of the development of artificial intelligence, the proposal to introduce "Click of death" for AI objects, attempts to present the coexistence of human and artificial intelligence.

Such discussions are important: they describe a new technology, explaining and demonstrating it to those who knew nothing about the development of AI.

8. Technology development can be slow and linear. Often, the government does not understand this

Do not underestimate the role of the state in the way we perceive innovation.

As a rule, the officials rather than to regulate innovation, trying to prohibit them or to pretend that nothing happens.

An eloquent example of the lack of proper response to new technology - the confrontation of some states and Uber. Apparently, for individual governments still do not understand that innovation can not be stopped.