A new technology might at first cause a small social change – but one that eventually spirals into major repercussions for the whole of society. When these ripples – or ‘feedback loops’, in the jargon of complexity science – start to spread, they can feel uncomfortable. One need only glance at the pages of a newspaper from the turn of the twentieth century to realise that sudden change is anxiety-inducing. A quick survey of New York Times articles from a century ago reveals that Americans were apprehensive about elevators, the telephone, the television and more.
