--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Technocracy gave us the idea of progress…" description: "\"“Technocracy gave us the idea of progress, and of necessity loosened our bonds with tradition—whether political or spiritual. Technocracy filled the ai..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4b/neil-postman-1598_technocracy_technocracy-gave-us-the-idea-of-progress_3037557.jpg" --- # Technocracy gave us the idea of progress, and of necessity… ![“Technocracy gave us the idea of progress, and of necessity loosened our bonds with tradition—whether political or spiritual. Technocracy filled the air with the promise of new freedoms and new forms of social organization. Technocracy also speeded up the world. We could get places faster, do…” quote by Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4b/neil-postman-1598_technocracy_technocracy-gave-us-the-idea-of-progress_3037557.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4b/neil-postman-1598_technocracy_technocracy-gave-us-the-idea-of-progress_3037557.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4b/neil-postman-1598_technocracy_technocracy-gave-us-the-idea-of-progress_3037557.jpg) > ““Technocracy gave us the idea of progress, and of necessity loosened our bonds with tradition—whether political or spiritual. Technocracy filled the air with the promise of new freedoms and new forms of social organization. Technocracy also speeded up the world. We could get places faster, do things faster, accomplish more in a shorter time. Time, in fact, became an adversary over which technology could triumph. And this meant that there was no time to look back or to contemplate what was being lost.”” [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Technocracy accelerates progress but also erodes tradition, making time a rival and limiting reflection. **In simple terms:** Fast tech erodes tradition, reducing reflection. Key Takeaway Balance innovation with reflection. Themes technology progress tradition Mood concerned critical Type analytical cautionary When to use this quote - workplace - policy - education - personal life Key Concepts sociology philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What traditions are we losing? - How can we pause to reflect? A Different Perspective Speed can cause burnout. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Organization Technocracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/organization-technocracy-4990981/) [Spiritual Technocracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiritual-technocracy-4990980/) [Technocracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technocracy/) [Technocracy Gave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technocracy-gave-4990978/) [Technocracy Speeded](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technocracy-speeded-4990979/) [Technology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technology/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“With the rise of Technopoly, one of those thought-worlds disappears. Technopoly eliminates alternatives to itself in precisely the way Aldous Huxley outlined in Brave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/with-the-rise-of-technopoly-one-of-those-thought-worlds-disappears/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [“In this place a mind was at work to negate the image of a free and intact man. It intended to rely on man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-junger/in-this-place-a-mind-was-at-work-to-negate-the-image-of-a-free-and/) [Ernst Jünger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-junger/) > [A low-energy policy allows for a wide choice of life-styles and cultures. If, on the other hand, a society opts for high energy consumption,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/a-low-energy-policy-allows-for-a-wide-choice-of-life-styles-and/) [Ivan Illich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-illich/) > [One of the things I have taken for granted, in terms of how technology works in the world, is the people that develop it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/one-of-the-things-i-have-taken-for-granted-in-terms-of-how-technology/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [Technocracy wants to do everything by machinery. Machinery is doing just fine. If it can't kill you, it will put you out of work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-rogers/technocracy-wants-to-do-everything-by-machinery-machinery-is-doing/) [Will Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-rogers/) > [“It is a curious thought that the earliest description of the steam-engine in antiquity describes its use for the magic opening of the temple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-soddy/it-is-a-curious-thought-that-the-earliest-description-of-the-steam/) [Frederick Soddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-soddy/) > [“I point out to you, Marcus Claire Luyseyal, a lesson from past over-machined societies which you appear not to have learned. The devices themselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/i-point-out-to-you-marcus-claire-luyseyal-a-lesson-from-past-over/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [The question about progress has become the question whether we can discover any way of submitting to the worldwide paternalism of a technocracy without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/the-question-about-progress-has-become-the-question-whether-we-can/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [You talk about German technocracy and you get automobiles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-sinclair/you-talk-about-german-technocracy-and-you-get-automobiles/) [Gordon Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-sinclair/) > [The human mind, in taking us down the path of technocracy, has become the adversary of life itself and collaterally the adversary of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/the-human-mind-in-taking-us-down-the-path-of-technocracy-has-become/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [“The effect of modern war is to eliminate retrogressive types, while sparing the technocracy and increasing its hold upon public affairs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/the-effect-of-modern-war-is-to-eliminate-retrogressive-types-while/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [You talk about Japanese technocracy and you get radios.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-sinclair/you-talk-about-japanese-technocracy-and-you-get-radios/) [Gordon Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-sinclair/) > [One would think that by the second decade of the twenty-first century, the intellectual poverty of technocracy and the primacy of politics over it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evgeny-morozov/one-would-think-that-by-the-second-decade-of-the-twenty-first-century/) [Evgeny Morozov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evgeny-morozov/) > [“Our culture of violence is an incubator, where our children are the crop of future techno-warrior killers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/our-culture-of-violence-is-an-incubator-where-our-children-are-the/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [“to whom will the technology give greater power and freedom? And whose power and freedom will be reduced by it?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/to-whom-will-the-technology-give-greater-power-and-freedom-and-whose/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) ## More by Neil Postman > [“to whom will the technology give greater power and freedom? And whose power and freedom will be reduced by it?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/to-whom-will-the-technology-give-greater-power-and-freedom-and-whose/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [Cyberspace' is a metaphorical idea which is supposed to be the space where your consciousness is located when you're using computer technology on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/cyberspace-is-a-metaphorical-idea-which-is-supposed-to-be-the-space/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [Textbooks, it seems to me, are enemies of education, instruments for promoting dogmatism and trivial learning. They may save the teacher some trouble, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/textbooks-it-seems-to-me-are-enemies-of-education-instruments-for/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [The whole problem with news on television comes down to this: all the words uttered in an hour of news coverage could be printed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/the-whole-problem-with-news-on-television-comes-down-to-this-all-the/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [“There being no international copyright laws, “pirated” editions abounded, with no complaint from the public, or much from authors, who were lionized.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/there-being-no-international-copyright-laws-pirated-editions-abounded/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [“The television commercial is not at all about the character of products to be consumed. 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There is almost no fact, whether actual or imagined, that will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/the-world-we-live-in-is-very-nearly-incomprehensible-to-most-of-us/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [“Tüketici psikodramalarla yatıştırılan bir hastadır.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/t-ketici-psikodramalarla-yat-t-r-lan-bir-hastad-r/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [“Huxley grasped, as Orwell did not, that it is not necessary to conceal anything from a public insensible to contradiction and narcotized by technological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/huxley-grasped-as-orwell-did-not-that-it-is-not-necessary-to-conceal/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [“The written word is assumed to have been reflected upon and revised by its author,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/the-written-word-is-assumed-to-have-been-reflected-upon-and-revised/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [We do not measure a culture by its output of undisguised trivialities but by what it claims as significant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/we-do-not-measure-a-culture-by-its-output-of-undisguised-trivialities/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [“In America, the least amusing people are its professional entertainers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/in-america-the-least-amusing-people-are-its-professional-entertainers/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [“We were keeping our eye on 1984. When the year came and the prophecy didn't, thoughtful Americans sang softly in praise of themselves. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/we-were-keeping-our-eye-on-1984-when-the-year-came-and-the-prophecy/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [“The question is not, Does or doesn't public schooling create a public? The question is, What kind of public does it create? A conglomerate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/the-question-is-not-does-or-doesn-t-public-schooling-create-a-public/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) [Explore all 220 Neil Postman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) ## More Technocracy quotes > [“Our culture of violence is an incubator, where our children are the crop of future techno-warrior killers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/our-culture-of-violence-is-an-incubator-where-our-children-are-the/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [One would think that by the second decade of the twenty-first century, the intellectual poverty of technocracy and the primacy of politics over it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evgeny-morozov/one-would-think-that-by-the-second-decade-of-the-twenty-first-century/) [Evgeny Morozov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evgeny-morozov/) > [You talk about Japanese technocracy and you get radios.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-sinclair/you-talk-about-japanese-technocracy-and-you-get-radios/) [Gordon Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-sinclair/) > [“The effect of modern war is to eliminate retrogressive types, while sparing the technocracy and increasing its hold upon public affairs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/the-effect-of-modern-war-is-to-eliminate-retrogressive-types-while/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [The human mind, in taking us down the path of technocracy, has become the adversary of life itself and collaterally the adversary of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/the-human-mind-in-taking-us-down-the-path-of-technocracy-has-become/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [You talk about German technocracy and you get automobiles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-sinclair/you-talk-about-german-technocracy-and-you-get-automobiles/) [Gordon Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-sinclair/) > [The question about progress has become the question whether we can discover any way of submitting to the worldwide paternalism of a technocracy without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/the-question-about-progress-has-become-the-question-whether-we-can/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [“With the rise of Technopoly, one of those thought-worlds disappears. Technopoly eliminates alternatives to itself in precisely the way Aldous Huxley outlined in Brave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/with-the-rise-of-technopoly-one-of-those-thought-worlds-disappears/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [“I point out to you, Marcus Claire Luyseyal, a lesson from past over-machined societies which you appear not to have learned. The devices themselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/i-point-out-to-you-marcus-claire-luyseyal-a-lesson-from-past-over/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [“It is a curious thought that the earliest description of the steam-engine in antiquity describes its use for the magic opening of the temple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-soddy/it-is-a-curious-thought-that-the-earliest-description-of-the-steam/) [Frederick Soddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-soddy/) > [Technocracy wants to do everything by machinery. Machinery is doing just fine. If it can't kill you, it will put you out of work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-rogers/technocracy-wants-to-do-everything-by-machinery-machinery-is-doing/) [Will Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-rogers/) > [One of the things I have taken for granted, in terms of how technology works in the world, is the people that develop it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/one-of-the-things-i-have-taken-for-granted-in-terms-of-how-technology/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [A low-energy policy allows for a wide choice of life-styles and cultures. If, on the other hand, a society opts for high energy consumption,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/a-low-energy-policy-allows-for-a-wide-choice-of-life-styles-and/) [Ivan Illich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-illich/) > [“In this place a mind was at work to negate the image of a free and intact man. It intended to rely on man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-junger/in-this-place-a-mind-was-at-work-to-negate-the-image-of-a-free-and/) [Ernst Jünger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-junger/) [Browse all 15 Technocracy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technocracy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Technocracy gave us the idea of progress, and of necessity loosened our bonds with tradition—whether political or spiritual. Technocracy filled the air with the promise of new freedoms and new forms of social organization. Technocracy also speeded up the world. We could get places faster, do things faster, accomplish more in a shorter time. Time, in fact, became an adversary over which technology could triumph. 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