brains make predictions by analogy to the past. So our natural inclination is to imagine that a new technology will be used to do the same kinds of things as a previous technology. We imagine using a new tool to do something familiar, only faster, more efficiently, or more cheaply. Examples are abundant. People called the railroad the “iron horse” and the automobile the “horseless carriage.” For decades the telephone was viewed in the context of the telegraph, something that should be used only to communicate important news or emergencies; it wasn’t until the 1920s that people started using it
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