Undoubtedly, we live in a technologically dependent society. Whether we consider ourselves a product of technological determinism or not, one of the least contestable arguments is that society would collapse without it.
In Watt’s essay, ‘The Connnected Piece’, he mentions a 5 hour period of mayhem during a complete power failure in New York, in 1979. At this stage – a time before the commoditization of computers and the existence of Internet – the world was only fractionally dependent on power compared with today. However, a lack of power for only FIVE HOURS was enough to drive the entire cities population completely INSANE.
So, I ask the question today – How long would it take for the world to implode, if power was taken away from us? I would give it an hour. Stock markets would collapse, security systems would fail, communication systems would go down, roads would turn to utter shit and teenage anxiety levels would sky rocket with the inability to check for social media updates.
The video below is definitely worth a thought or two.
