1978: Could You Survive Without Modern Technology? | Connections | BBC Archive

I have a cold this week. I don't get sick often but when I do, it's a doozy. I am reading too much news and worrying about the state of the world, as so many have. I'll leave you with this 1978 BBC TV clip by historian James Burke about

" ... just how dependent 20th century humans are on technology, and how ill-equipped we are when it fails.

"The New York City blackouts of 1977 gave us a rare opportunity to witness what can happen when technology fails on a massive scale in a modern day city, and James uses this as a starting point for a thought experiment. If you lived in a modern, technologically advanced city, what would you do if techology suudenly failed? To what extent has the technology you rely on everyday become a trap? How far would you have to go to survive?


"Clip taken from Connections: The Trigger Effect, originally broadcast on BBC One, 17 October, 1978."