When Frederick Simms and Evelyn Ellis first introduced the motor car to the roads of the United Kingdom in 1895, the laws of the land stipulated a speed limit of 4mph. This would have made the first British long-distance motor car journey from Southampton to Malvern quite an undertaking.
Even before the arrival of the motor car, apprehension surrounded technological developments. The first modern railway line, opened in 1830, ran from Liverpool to Manchester with trains travelling at the previously unimaginable speed of 30mph. There were real concerns that it would be impossible for a human to breathe while travelling at such a speed, or that watching the passing world flash by so quickly would render passengers completely blind.
I mention these examples not to trivialise or dismiss fears about disruptive and emerging technology, but to illustrate how natural and commonplace it is for people to worry about it. The reality is that advances in science and technology, when properly thought through, can be a wholly positive thing and should be embraced.
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