I came across this quote in The Knowledge newsletter this morning. I hadn’t seen it before, and I really like it; it feels very true.

It reminded me of another Douglas Adams quote I’ve remembered (and probably misremembered) for years:

“I’ve come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies:
1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works.
2. Anything that’s invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it.
3. Anything invented after you’re thirty-five is against the natural order of things.”

This quote has always made me smile. It makes me think about how things like cutlery were once new technologies, and now I barely give them a second thought. And it perfectly explains why I made a career in internet-related work.

Maybe it also explains my nervousness about self-driving cars?