Member-only story
Sapien Sorcerers
Risk & Progress| A hub for essays that explore risk, human progress, and your potential. My mission is to educate, inspire, and invest in concepts that promote a better future. Subscriptions are free, paid subscribers gain access to the full archive, including the Pathways of Progress and Realize essay series.
Author and futurist Arthur C. Clark once remarked, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” The First and Second Industrial Revolutions birthed machines that augmented our bodies, allowing humans to produce and build beyond our physical limits. What followed after 1960, according to Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, was “The Second Machine Age.” The Second Machine Age was different; it augmented our minds, not our bodies. The advancement of computers and microelectronics enabled the creation of devices that, if one didn’t know better, border on sorcery. After 1960, we became wizards in our own time.
From Computer to Calculator
It seems strange to say this today, but in the 1950s a “computer” was an occupation, not a machine. A “computer” was a person tasked with doing complex mathematical calculations before the advent of advanced electronics. Just 50 years later, the occupation had completely vanished, and its name was assigned to the electronic machines…