200114: the prejudice of historical progress

prejudices of historical progress

1. that some improvement was made in the present over the past
2. that we have insight we lacked before (“hindsight is 20-20”)
3. that we would never wish to return to the moment passed

Technological progress: “things are getting better every day … in every way.” A line from a John Lennon song and also a GE jingle. Remember that version of iOS without copy-paste?

1993 commercial in which a man stands on the porch of a beach house handling what turns out to be a business call. Voiceover: “Have you ever taken a conference call in your bare feet? You will. And the company that will bring it to you will be AT&T.”