Technophobia

Technophobia is the fear of, or revulsion to, modern technology and is the opposite of technophilia. Sometimes the term is used in the sense of an irrational fear while others defend that the fears are justified.

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Technophobia in popular culture

An early example of technophobia in fiction and popular culture is Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Technophobia was a theme in the films of eighties with rogue robots cropping up in The Terminator, as well as Ash and Bishop in the Alien film series, which also show technophobia of the future: "hi-tech racism and android apartheid". More recently there have been movies like I, Robot, The Matrix Trilogy and the Terminator Sequels.^[1][2]

Technophobic groups

Several societal groups may be called technophobic, notably Luddites, the Amish and HUAR (Humans United Against Robots). Sometimes, businesses and environmentalist groups trying to prevent the spread of a technology are also called technophobic by opponents even though they may only be advocating something they describe as "best practice".

In contrast, a Luddite has a social stance against technology, not simply a fear. The Amish (and some Mennonites) state that they are against modern technology because of religious convictions, while HUAR is against a robot uprising.

See also

• Chemophobia
• Dystopia
• Minimalism in Philosophy
• Phobia
• Technophilia

Notes

References

• Brosnan, M. (1998) Technophobia: The psychological impact of information technology. Routledge.
• Dan Dinello Technophobia: Science Fiction Visions of Posthuman Technology