The Moral Machine: Why Our Inner Luddite Deserves a Seat at the Table

The Luddites have become, in contemporary usage, shorthand for irrational resistance to progress, a caricature so persistent that it has almost entirely obscured the actual historical movement from view. In fact, the Luddite uprisings of 1811-1816 were not the actions of people who feared technology as such. They were skilled textile workers, highly trained, proud of their craft, and fully aware of the implications of what was happening.