User:Jasper van Loenen/grad/thesis outline

• Fear of new technology
• Connected to practical project through:
  • makerscene
  • flying objects
• References are to be found in
  • Historical situations, such as the introduction of the automobile
  • Literature / film (Frankenstein, metropolis)

When new technologies become available, there are always people who are afraid of them. Trains were said to scare the cattle which would lead to sour milk, and if god had wanted us to fly, he would have given us wings so we wouldn’t have to built these scary flying machines. But as time goes by we get used to the changes and the improvements they bring to our lives. Sure, in the beginning the use of cars was frightening, and accidents do happen, but by now we can’t imagine a world without them.

So is the current fear for technology comparable with the fear of automobiles around 1800? What is the current object of this fear and is there a valid reason to be afraid?

With the community and the possibilities of their tools growing, the makerscene is part of the current fear of new things. The possibilities of a 3D printer for instance have evolved quite a lot from printing just simple plastic objects. There are for instance makers who have used their printers to create - parts of - working guns and rifles. In most countries, you are not allowed to purchase a gun without a permit, which is (supposed to be) not very easy to obtain. But buying or building your own 3D printer is very easy. It is even often provocatively said that in a few years time everyone of us will have a 3D printer at home. Will that mean that it is just a matter of time before every terrorist will have access to a whole range of deadly weapons - remember the scene from the Matrix where Neo and Trinity are in between rows and rows of guns? - or will we just be able to fix that broken clamp that holds the shower-head?

Another popular area for this fear is that of AUVs (unmanned aerial vehicles). Where radio controlled (RC) helicopters and planes used to be expensive and hard to control, the newer and more versatile multirotors (helicopters with multiple rotors, like quadcopters or hexacopters) are inexpensive and easy to control - some can even be flown using your mobile phone or tablet. And while most pilots just use them for recreational purposes, or commercial like taking aerial photos or inspecting tall structures, the public often compares these small UAVs with the larger ones (the drones) used by the military and are afraid that terrorists will get their hands on these small and cheap UAVs, to use them as flying weapons.

That these devices can possibly carry a weapon is not the only reason people fear them. Fear of flying objects is something that has its roots deep in the human instincts. People have always been both fascinated by - and scared of - flying things. We are stuck to the grounds, practically living in two dimensions and are not comfortable with the third. Just think of a pigeon flying closely over your head while walking down the street. For us, flying things are unpredictable and frightening.