Chain of Effects

We know that any technology or invention can be used for good or bad. The bad effect is easy to see when it is a direct consequence – guns kill, for example. Direct. But it is harder to see the bad effect when a technology or invention sets off a chain of effects, and it is the last effect that is bad.

 

This question in my 13 yo daughter’s History book opened my eyes to this:

“How did the Industrial Revolution lead to colonialism?”

The answer goes like this. The Industrial Revolution increased production tremendously while also making a lot of items affordable. This set off new needs: (1) more raw materials; and (2) new markets to sell those surplus goods. What started as exploration to find places for the above-mentioned needs eventually resulted in colonialism (Why settle for negotiated bilateral deals? Wasn’t it more advantageous to just rule those places?).

 

It won’t be wrong to say that the Industrial Revolution was great for the West, and terrible for the rest of the world. Sure, a few trickle-down benefits came to the colonies, but that hardly compensates for the harm. I saw more and more such examples of “exploitative” tech (tech that led to exploitation, the “chain of effects” kind of harm I mentioned earlier) as I read Roma Agrawal’s Nuts and Bolts.

 

Knowledge of electromagnetism, she says, changed the nature of communication. The slow and unpredictable transmission via humans moving/riding was replaced by vastly faster and predictable communication systems (telegraph etc). Such systems, she says, helped track, govern and exploit the colonies “better”.

 

Developing accurate clocks were key to identifying one’s longitude at sea. The immediate benefit was to help sailors staying on track, but over time, it led to better maps too. This combo of better maps and navigational capabilities, in turn, led to two things: (1) more exploration (if one could plot the path and others could follow it accurately, it was worth doing); and (2) the economics of marine trade turned predictable (fewer ships lost or delayed). Colonialism was thus a “chain of effects” fallout of accurate clocks and navigational capabilities!

 

Technology has done wonders for the West, even if most of them never think of such examples. They obviously don’t want to acknowledge many of those technologies had horrific consequences for the rest of the world.