Is Opting Out Possible?

by Zoë Pollock

Adam Frank draws an interesting comparison between mechanical clocks and Facebook and Twitter:

The first public mechanical clock appeared in Orvieto, Italy, in 1307. One hundred years later public clocks had evolved into the standard even in smaller settlements. … Once a technology settles in to the point where it begins shaping the dominant metaphors of a society (the 17th century's "clockwork universe" for example), then there is no going back, no opting out. You and everyone you know will be assimilated.