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Monday, May 15, 2023

Vagus nerve

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
Vagus nerve
Gray791.png
Plan of the upper portions of the glossopharyngeal, vagus, and accessory nerves.
 
Gray793.png
Course and distribution of the glossopharyngeal, vagus, and accessory nerves.
Details
InnervatesLevator veli palatini, Salpingopharyngeus, Palatoglossus, Palatopharyngeus, Superior pharyngeal constrictor, Middle pharyngeal constrictor, Inferior pharyngeal constrictor, viscera
Identifiers
Latinnervus vagus
MeSHD014630
NeuroNames702
TA98A14.2.01.153
TA26332
FMA5731
Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy

The vagus nerve, also known as the tenth cranial nerve, cranial nerve X, or simply CN X, is a cranial nerve that carries sensory fibers that create a pathway that interfaces with the parasympathetic control of the heart, lungs, and digestive tract. It comprises two nerves—the left and right vagus nerves—but they are typically referred to collectively as a single subsystem. The vagus is the longest nerve of the autonomic nervous system in the human body and comprises both sensory and motor fibers. The sensory fibers originate from neurons of the nodose ganglion, whereas the motor fibers come from neurons of the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus and the nucleus ambiguus. The vagus was also historically called the pneumogastric nerve.

Structure

Upon leaving the medulla oblongata between the olive and the inferior cerebellar peduncle, the vagus nerve extends through the jugular foramen, then passes into the carotid sheath between the internal carotid artery and the internal jugular vein down to the neck, chest, and abdomen, where it contributes to the innervation of the viscera, reaching all the way to the colon. Besides giving some output to various organs, the vagus nerve comprises between 80% and 90% of afferent nerves mostly conveying sensory information about the state of the body's organs to the central nervous system. The right and left vagus nerves descend from the cranial vault through the jugular foramina, penetrating the carotid sheath between the internal and external carotid arteries, then passing posterolateral to the common carotid artery. The cell bodies of visceral afferent fibers of the vagus nerve are located bilaterally in the inferior ganglion of the vagus nerve (nodose ganglia).

The vagus runs parallel to the common carotid artery and internal jugular vein inside the carotid sheath

The right vagus nerve gives rise to the right recurrent laryngeal nerve, which hooks around the right subclavian artery and ascends into the neck between the trachea and esophagus. The right vagus then crosses anterior to the right subclavian artery, runs posterior to the superior vena cava, descends posterior to the right main bronchus, and contributes to cardiac, pulmonary, and esophageal plexuses. It forms the posterior vagal trunk at the lower part of the esophagus and enters the diaphragm through the esophageal hiatus.

The left vagus nerve enters the thorax between left common carotid artery and left subclavian artery and descends on the aortic arch. It gives rise to the left recurrent laryngeal nerve, which hooks around the aortic arch to the left of the ligamentum arteriosum and ascends between the trachea and esophagus. The left vagus further gives off thoracic cardiac branches, breaks up into the pulmonary plexus, continues into the esophageal plexus, and enters the abdomen as the anterior vagal trunk in the esophageal hiatus of the diaphragm.

Branches

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Nuclei

The vagus nerve includes axons which emerge from or converge onto four nuclei of the medulla:

  1. The dorsal nucleus of vagus nerve – which sends parasympathetic output to the viscera, especially the intestines
  2. The nucleus ambiguus – which gives rise to the branchial efferent motor fibers of the vagus nerve and preganglionic parasympathetic neurons that innervate the heart
  3. The solitary nucleus – which receives afferent taste information and primary afferents from visceral organs
  4. The spinal trigeminal nucleus – which receives information about deep/crude touch, pain, and temperature of the outer ear, the dura of the posterior cranial fossa and the mucosa of the larynx

Development

The motor division of the glossopharyngeal nerve is derived from the basal plate of the embryonic medulla oblongata, while the sensory division originates from the cranial neural crest.

Function

The vagus nerve supplies motor parasympathetic fibers to all the organs (except the adrenal glands), from the neck down to the second segment of the transverse colon. The vagus also controls a few skeletal muscles, including:

This means that the vagus nerve is responsible for such varied tasks as heart rate, gastrointestinal peristalsis, sweating, and quite a few muscle movements in the mouth, including speech (via the recurrent laryngeal nerve). It also has some afferent fibers that innervate the inner (canal) portion of the outer ear (via the auricular branch, also known as Arnold's or Alderman's nerve) and part of the meninges.

Efferent vagus nerve fibers innervating the pharynx and back of the throat are responsible for the gag reflex. In addition, 5-HT3 receptor-mediated afferent vagus stimulation in the gut due to gastroenteritis is a cause of vomiting. Stimulation of the vagus nerve in the cervix uteri (as in some medical procedures) can lead to a vasovagal response.

The vagus nerve also plays a role in satiation following food consumption. Knocking out vagal nerve receptors has been shown to cause hyperphagia (greatly increased food intake).

Cardiac effects

H&E stained fibers of the vagus nerve (bottom right) innervate the sinoatrial node tissue (middle left)

Parasympathetic innervation of the heart is partially controlled by the vagus nerve and is shared by the thoracic ganglia. Vagal and spinal ganglionic nerves mediate the lowering of the heart rate. The right vagus branch innervates the sinoatrial node. In healthy people, parasympathetic tone from these sources is well-matched to sympathetic tone. Hyperstimulation of parasympathetic influence promotes bradyarrhythmias. When hyperstimulated, the left vagal branch predisposes the heart to conduction block at the atrioventricular node.

At this location, neuroscientist Otto Loewi first demonstrated that nerves secrete substances called neurotransmitters, which have effects on receptors in target tissues. In his experiment, Loewi electrically stimulated the vagus nerve of a frog heart, which slowed the heart. Then he took the fluid from the heart and transferred it to a second frog heart without a vagus nerve. The second heart slowed without electrical stimulation. Loewi described the substance released by the vagus nerve as vagusstoff, which was later found to be acetylcholine. Drugs that inhibit the muscarinic receptors (anticholinergics) such as atropine and scopolamine, are called vagolytic because they inhibit the action of the vagus nerve on the heart, gastrointestinal tract, and other organs. Anticholinergic drugs increase heart rate and are used to treat bradycardia.

Urogenital and hormonal effects

Excessive activation of the vagal nerve during emotional stress, which is a parasympathetic overcompensation for a strong sympathetic nervous system response associated with stress, can also cause vasovagal syncope due to a sudden drop in cardiac output, causing cerebral hypoperfusion. Vasovagal syncope affects young children and women more than other groups. It can also lead to temporary loss of bladder control under moments of extreme fear.

Research has shown that women having had complete spinal cord injury can experience orgasms through the vagus nerve, which can go from the uterus and cervix to the brain.

Insulin signaling activates the adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-sensitive potassium (KATP) channels in the arcuate nucleus, decreases AgRP release, and through the vagus nerve, leads to decreased glucose production by the liver by decreasing gluconeogenic enzymes: phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, glucose 6-phosphatase.

Clinical significance

Stimulation

Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) therapy via a neurostimulator implanted in the chest has been used to control seizures in epilepsy patients and has been approved for treating drug-resistant clinical depression. A noninvasive VNS device that stimulates an afferent branch of the vagus nerve is being developed and will soon undergo trials.

Clinical trials have started in Antwerp, Belgium, using VNS for the treatment of tonal tinnitus after a study published in early 2011 by researchers at the University of Texas at Dallas showed successful tinnitus suppression in rats when tones were paired with brief pulses of stimulation of the vagus nerve.

VNS may also be achieved by one of the vagal maneuvers: holding the breath for 20 to 60 seconds, dipping the face in cold water, coughing, humming or singing, or tensing the stomach muscles as if to bear down to have a bowel movement. Patients with supraventricular tachycardia, atrial fibrillation, and other illnesses may be trained to perform vagal maneuvers (or find one or more on their own).

Vagus nerve blocking (VBLOC) therapy is similar to VNS but used only during the day. In a six-month open-label trial involving three medical centers in Australia, Mexico, and Norway, vagus nerve blocking helped 31 obese participants lose an average of nearly 15 percent of their excess weight. As of 2008, a yearlong double-blind, phase II trial had begun.

Vagotomy

Vagotomy (cutting of the vagus nerve) is a now obsolete therapy that was performed for peptic ulcer disease and now superseded by oral medications, including H2 antagonists, proton pump inhibitors and antibiotics. Vagotomy is currently being researched as a less invasive alternative weight-loss procedure to gastric bypass surgery. The procedure curbs the feeling of hunger and is sometimes performed in conjunction with putting bands on patients' stomachs, resulting in an average of 43% of excess weight loss at six months with diet and exercise.

One serious side effect of vagotomy is a vitamin B12 deficiency later in life – perhaps after about 10 years – that is similar to pernicious anemia. The vagus normally stimulates the stomach's parietal cells to secrete acid and intrinsic factor. Intrinsic factor is needed to absorb vitamin B12 from food. The vagotomy reduces this secretion and ultimately leads to deficiency, which, if left untreated, causes nerve damage, tiredness, dementia, paranoia, and ultimately death.

Researchers from Aarhus University and Aarhus University Hospital have demonstrated that vagotomy prevents (halves the risk of) the development of Parkinson's disease, suggesting that Parkinson's disease begins in the gastrointestinal tract and spreads via the vagus nerve to the brain. Or giving further evidence to the theory that dysregulated environmental stimuli, such as that received by the vagus nerve from the gut, may have a negative effect on the dopamine reward system of the substantia nigra, thereby causing Parkinson's disease.

Vagus Nerve Pathology

The sympathetic and parasympathetic components of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) control and regulate the function of various organs, glands, and involuntary muscles throughout the body (e.g., vocalization, swallowing, heart rate, respiration, gastric secretion, and intestinal motility). Hence, most of the signs and symptoms of vagus nerve dysfunction, apart from vocalisation, are vague and non specific. Laryngeal nerve palsy result in paralysis of an ipsilateral vocal cord and is use as a pointer to diseases affecting the vagus nerve from its origin down to termination of its branch of the laryngeal nerve.

  • Sensory neuropathy

The hypersensitivity of vagal afferent nerves causes refractory or idiopathic cough.

Arnold's nerve ear-cough reflex, though uncommon, is a manifestation of a vagal sensory neuropathy and this is the cause of a refractory chronic cough that can be treated with gabapentin. The cough is triggered by mechanical stimulation of the external auditory meatus and accompanied by other neuropathic features such as throat irritation (laryngeal paresthesia) and cough triggered by exposure to nontussive triggers such as cold air and eating (termed allotussia). These features suggest a neuropathic origin to the cough.

  • motor neuropathy

Pathology of the vagus nerve proximal to the laryngeal nerve typically presents with symptom hoarse voice and physical sign of paralysed vocal cords. Although a large proportion of these are the result of idiopathic vocal cord palsy but tumours especially lung cancers are next common cause. Tumours at the apex of right lung and at the hilum of the left lung are the most common oncology causes of vocal cord palsy. Less common tumours causing vocal cord palsy includes thyroid and proximal oesophageal malignancy.

History

Etymology

The Latin word vagus means literally "wandering" (the words vagrant, vagabond, vague, and divagation come from the same root). Sometimes the right and left branches together are spoken of in the plural and are thus called vagi (/ˈv/ VAY-jy). The vagus was also historically called the pneumogastric nerve since it innervates both the lungs and the stomach.

Vestibular system

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
Neural pathway of vestibular/balance system

The vestibular system, in vertebrates, is a sensory system that creates the sense of balance and spatial orientation for the purpose of coordinating movement with balance. Together with the cochlea, a part of the auditory system, it constitutes the labyrinth of the inner ear in most mammals.

As movements consist of rotations and translations, the vestibular system comprises two components: the semicircular canals, which indicate rotational movements; and the otoliths, which indicate linear accelerations. The vestibular system sends signals primarily to the neural structures that control eye movement; these provide the anatomical basis of the vestibulo-ocular reflex, which is required for clear vision. Signals are also sent to the muscles that keep an animal upright and in general control posture; these provide the anatomical means required to enable an animal to maintain its desired position in space.

The brain uses information from the vestibular system in the head and from proprioception throughout the body to enable the animal to understand its body's dynamics and kinematics (including its position and acceleration) from moment to moment. How these two perceptive sources are integrated to provide the underlying structure of the sensorium is unknown.

Semicircular canal system

Cochlea and vestibular system

The semicircular canal system detects rotational movements. The semicircular canals are its main tools to achieve this detection.

Structure

Since the world is three-dimensional, the vestibular system contains three semicircular canals in each labyrinth. They are approximately orthogonal (at right angles) to each other, and are the horizontal (or lateral), the anterior semicircular canal (or superior), and the posterior (or inferior) semicircular canal. Anterior and posterior canals may collectively be called vertical semicircular canals.

  • Movement of fluid within the horizontal semicircular canal corresponds to rotation of the head around a vertical axis (i.e. the neck), as when doing a pirouette.
  • The anterior and posterior semicircular canals detect rotations of the head in the sagittal plane (as when nodding), and in the frontal plane, as when cartwheeling. Both anterior and posterior canals are oriented at approximately 45° between frontal and sagittal planes.

The movement of fluid pushes on a structure called the cupula which contains hair cells that transduce the mechanical movement to electrical signals.

Push-pull systems

Push-pull system of the semicircular canals, for a horizontal head movement to the right.

The canals are arranged in such a way that each canal on the left side has an almost parallel counterpart on the right side. Each of these three pairs works in a push-pull fashion: when one canal is stimulated, its corresponding partner on the other side is inhibited, and vice versa.

This push-pull system makes it possible to sense all directions of rotation: while the right horizontal canal gets stimulated during head rotations to the right (Fig 2), the left horizontal canal gets stimulated (and thus predominantly signals) by head rotations to the left.

Vertical canals are coupled in a crossed fashion, i.e. stimulations that are excitatory for an anterior canal are also inhibitory for the contralateral posterior, and vice versa.

Vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR)

The vestibulo-ocular reflex. A rotation of the head is detected, which triggers an inhibitory signal to the extraocular muscles on one side and an excitatory signal to the muscles on the other side. The result is a compensatory movement of the eyes.

The vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) is a reflex eye movement that stabilizes images on the retina during head movement by producing an eye movement in the direction opposite to head movement, thus preserving the image on the center of the visual field. For example, when the head moves to the right, the eyes move to the left, and vice versa. Since slight head movements are present all the time, the VOR is very important for stabilizing vision: patients whose VOR is impaired find it difficult to read, because they cannot stabilize the eyes during small head tremors. The VOR reflex does not depend on visual input and works even in total darkness or when the eyes are closed.

This reflex, combined with the push-pull principle described above, forms the physiological basis of the Rapid head impulse test or Halmagyi-Curthoys-test, in which the head is rapidly and forcefully moved to the side while observing whether the eyes keep looking in the same direction.

Mechanics

The mechanics of the semicircular canals can be described by a damped oscillator. If we designate the deflection of the cupula with , and the head velocity with , the cupula deflection is approximately

α is a proportionality factor, and s corresponds to the frequency. For humans, the time constants T1 and T2 are approximately 3 ms and 5 s, respectively. As a result, for typical head movements, which cover the frequency range of 0.1 Hz and 10 Hz, the deflection of the cupula is approximately proportional to the head-velocity. This is very useful since the velocity of the eyes must be opposite to the velocity of the head in order to maintain clear vision.

Central processing

Signals from the vestibular system also project to the cerebellum (where they are used to keep the VOR effective, a task usually referred to as learning or adaptation) and to different areas in the cortex. The projections to the cortex are spread out over different areas, and their implications are currently not clearly understood.

Projection pathways

The vestibular nuclei on either side of the brainstem exchange signals regarding movement and body position. These signals are sent down the following projection pathways.

  • To the cerebellum. Signals sent to the cerebellum are relayed back as muscle movements of the head, eyes, and posture.
  • To nuclei of cranial nerves III, IV, and VI. Signals sent to these nerves cause the vestibulo-ocular reflex. They allow for the eyes to fix on a moving object while staying in focus.
  • To the reticular formation. Signals sent to the reticular formation signal the new posture the body has taken on, and how to adjust circulation and breathing due to body position.
  • To the spinal cord. Signals sent to the spinal cord allow quick reflex reactions to both the limbs and trunk to regain balance.
  • To the thalamus. Signals sent to the thalamus allow for head and body motor control as well as being conscious of body position.

Otolithic organs

While the semicircular canals respond to rotations, the otolithic organs sense linear accelerations. Humans have two otolithic organs on each side, one called the utricle, the other called the saccule. The utricle contains a patch of hair cells and supporting cells called a macula. Similarly, the saccule contains a patch of hair cells and a macula. Each hair cell of a macula has forty to seventy stereocilia and one true cilium called a kinocilium. The tips of these cilia are embedded in an otolithic membrane. This membrane is weighted down with protein-calcium carbonate granules called otoconia. These otoconia add to the weight and inertia of the membrane and enhance the sense of gravity and motion. With the head erect, the otolithic membrane bears directly down on the hair cells and stimulation is minimal. When the head is tilted, however, the otolithic membrane sags and bends the stereocilia, stimulating the hair cells. Any orientation of the head causes a combination of stimulation to the utricles and saccules of the two ears. The brain interprets head orientation by comparing these inputs to each other and to other input from the eyes and stretch receptors in the neck, thereby detecting whether the head is tilted or the entire body is tipping. Essentially, these otolithic organs sense how quickly you are accelerating forward or backward, left or right, or up or down. Most of the utricular signals elicit eye movements, while the majority of the saccular signals projects to muscles that control our posture.

While the interpretation of the rotation signals from the semicircular canals is straightforward, the interpretation of otolith signals is more difficult: since gravity is equivalent to a constant linear acceleration, one somehow has to distinguish otolith signals that are caused by linear movements from those caused by gravity. Humans can do that quite well, but the neural mechanisms underlying this separation are not yet fully understood. Humans can sense head tilting and linear acceleration even in dark environments because of the orientation of two groups of hair cell bundles on either side of the striola. Hair cells on opposite sides move with mirror symmetry, so when one side is moved, the other is inhibited. The opposing effects caused by a tilt of the head cause differential sensory inputs from the hair cell bundles allow humans to tell which way the head is tilting. Sensory information is then sent to the brain, which can respond with appropriate corrective actions to the nervous and muscular systems to ensure that balance and awareness are maintained.

Experience from the vestibular system

Experience from the vestibular system is called equilibrioception. It is mainly used for the sense of balance and for spatial orientation. When the vestibular system is stimulated without any other inputs, one experiences a sense of self-motion. For example, a person in complete darkness and sitting in a chair will sense that he or she has turned to the left if the chair is turned to the left. A person in an elevator, with essentially constant visual input, will sense she is descending as the elevator starts to descend. There are a variety of direct and indirect vestibular stimuli which can make people sense they are moving when they are not, not moving when they are, tilted when they are not, or not tilted when they are. Although the vestibular system is a very fast sense used to generate reflexes, including the righting reflex, to maintain perceptual and postural stability, compared to the other senses of vision, touch and audition, vestibular input is perceived with delay.

Pathologies

Diseases of the vestibular system can take different forms, and usually induce vertigo and instability or loss of balance, often accompanied by nausea. The most common vestibular diseases in humans are vestibular neuritis, a related condition called labyrinthitis, Ménière's disease, and BPPV. In addition, the function of the vestibular system can be affected by tumors on the vestibulocochlear nerve, an infarct in the brain stem or in cortical regions related to the processing of vestibular signals, and cerebellar atrophy.

Since a function of the vestibular hair cells is to detect levels of carbon dioxide in the blood and to transmit such information to the brain, a loss of vestibular hair cells can cause death. 

When the vestibular system and the visual system deliver incongruous results, nausea often occurs. When the vestibular system reports movement but the visual system reports no movement, the motion disorientation is often called motion sickness (or seasickness, car sickness, simulation sickness, or airsickness). In the opposite case, such as when a person is in a zero-gravity environment or during a virtual reality session, the disoriented sensation is often called space sickness or space adaptation syndrome. Either of these "sicknesses" usually ceases once the congruity between the two systems is restored.

Alcohol can also cause alterations in the vestibular system for short periods and will result in vertigo and possibly nystagmus due to the variable viscosity of the blood and the endolymph during the consumption of alcohol. The term for this is positional alcohol nystagmus (PAN):

  • PAN I - The alcohol concentration is higher in the blood than in the vestibular system, hence the endolymph is relatively dense.
  • PAN II - The alcohol concentration is lower in the blood than in the vestibular system, hence the endolymph is relatively dilute.

PAN I will result in subjective vertigo in one direction and typically occurs shortly after ingestion of alcohol when blood alcohol levels are highest. PAN II will eventually cause subjective vertigo in the opposite direction. This occurs several hours after ingestion and after a relative reduction in blood alcohol levels.

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is a condition resulting in acute symptoms of vertigo. It is probably caused when pieces that have broken off otoliths have slipped into one of the semicircular canals. In most cases, it is the posterior canal that is affected. In certain head positions, these particles shift and create a fluid wave which displaces the cupula of the canal affected, which leads to dizziness, vertigo and nystagmus.

A similar condition to BPPV may occur in dogs and other mammals, but the term vertigo cannot be applied because it refers to subjective perception. Terminology is not standardized for this condition.

A common vestibular pathology of dogs and cats is colloquially known as "old dog vestibular disease", or more formally idiopathic peripheral vestibular disease, which causes sudden episode of loss of balance, circling, head tilt, and other signs. This condition is very rare in young dogs but fairly common in geriatric animals, and may affect cats of any age.

Vestibular dysfunction has also been found to correlate with cognitive and emotional disorders, including depersonalization and derealization.

Other vertebrates

Though humans as well as most other vertebrates exhibit three semicircular canals in their vestibular systems, Lampreys and Hagfish are vertebrates that deviate from this trend. The vestibular systems of lampreys contain two semicircular canals while those of hagfish contain a single canal. The lamprey's two canals are developmentally similar to the anterior and posterior canals found in humans. The single canal found in hagfish appears to be secondarily derived.

Additionally, the vestibular systems of lampreys and hagfish differ from those found in other vertebrates in that the otolithic organs of lampreys and hagfish are not segmented like the utricle and saccule found in humans, but rather form one continuous structure referred to as the macula communis.

Birds possess a second vestibular organ in the back, the lumbosacral canals. Behavioral evidence suggests that this system is responsible for stabilizing the body during walking and standing.

Invertebrates

A large variety of vestibular organs are present in invertebrates. A well-known example are the halteres of flies (Diptera) which are modified hind wings.

Digital phobic

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Digital phobic is an informal phrase used to describe a reluctance to become fully immersed in the digital age for being fearful of how it might negatively change or alter everyday life.

The fast-paced development of the digital world in the twenty-first century has contributed to the digital divide becoming a very real problem for a segment of the population for whom a lack of education of, interest in, or access to digital devices has left them excluded from the technological world and fearful of its growing omnipresence.

Digital phobic is part of a growing dictionary of digital vocabulary exploring the social impact of the technological age. The phrase considers the fears associated with technological evolution and change, and acknowledges the possibility of exclusion as a result of a rising reliance on technology in day-to-day life.

Discourse

Everyday use of technology has increased dramatically since the turn of the century, significantly impacting both those embracing technological change as well as those reluctant to be a part of it.

A sharp rise in technological innovations during the 21st century has been responsible for changing much of the way we work, socialize, and learn – all of which can be at the foundation of distrust in the technological age. Psychologists, academics and researchers have begun to consider the base of these fears and consider the social, cultural and environmental circumstances which might catalyze someone to becoming 'digital phobic'.

Technophobia is used to discuss a fear of advanced technology in a formal capacity and can stem from a number, and combination of, concerns. With the oncoming of the digital age, worries have broadened from the very earliest fears that technology would eradicate artisanship to concerns over data protection, financial security, identity theft, technical inability and invasion of privacy.

There is no exhaustible list of reasons cited for fearing the digital world and, whilst research into both the cause and consequence of developing a digital phobia remains in its infancy, the presence of digital phobia regardless contributes towards an increasingly comprehensive picture of a series of profiles among digital users.

Recent research from Foresters, an international financial services organization, found 2% of the UK population to fall into this category of internet user. A further breakdown of this statistic, sees the percentage of users in development of a digital phobia increase, with 4% fearful of online shopping for worrying that someone will steal their card details, and 12% fearful that using social media will make it easier for people to find their personal details.

When asked to reason their attitude towards technology as part of this survey, a larger percentage of the UK population were revealed to be fearful of the impact it could be having on more traditional means of doing things. 31% believed technology was preventing us from communicating properly, while 32% thought advances in technology will result in long-held traditions being lost.

This fear has only been exacerbated over time as more and more data-holding, services and opportunities are transferred to the digital realm, and both the perceived and real nature of security and vulnerability risks increases. Worrying levels of time spent on devices, the invasion of privacy or the possible misuse or abuse of personal data entrusted to online sources are all contributing towards the development of a digital phobia among a proportion of the population.

Concerns about the negative, exclusionary or divisive consequences of living within a digital society are being voiced from various global platforms. April 2014 research conducted by Pew Research Center, in association with Smithsonian Magazine, revealed concerns about anticipated technological developments over the next half-century. 30% of Americans surveyed feared that technological changes would lead to a future in which people are worse off than they are at the time of being surveyed. Considered amid reports of dis-interest in the internet among Japan's residents despite its reputation as a high-tech nation, these reports contribute towards a growing understanding that high-tech advancements are not universally celebrated. Moreover, the May 2014 "right to be forgotten" ruling put in place in the European Union which allows internet users to request for their internet history to be un-searchable if deemed incorrect, outdated or irrelevant, and the thousands of requests received in the first few days following its announcement documents a, perhaps previously hidden, widespread fear of leaving a digital footprint and/or being falsely represented online.

Origins

Digital phobia is part of a wider societal conversation on how we relate to, trust in, and interact with technology and considers the potentially negative implications of what otherwise appears to be a positive advancement of the modern world.

This phrase has been developed by Foresters, the international financial services organisation, for the purpose of describing attitudes to technology among the UK population.

Developed within a digital vocabulary consisting of four other phrases (digital addict, digital omnivore, digital agnostic, digital denier), digital phobic is part of a scale of social description for online behavior within the digital age.

The phrase has been used as part of discussion on the more general use of technology within the 21st century and the importance of striking a balance between time spent on and offline. Research conducted by Foresters in association with Tech Timeout, a social communications initiative considering the role of technology in contemporary society, formed the basis of the descriptor and identified the key traits of each type of digital user based on answers from over 1,000 UK respondents.

Both anecdotal and research-based evidence suggests categories of internet use, whilst they cannot be linearly divided, are able to loosely describe attitudes to technology in society. The developed phrases are able to be used to greater understand and contextualize how new and existing technology is viewed and have been cited in international online newspapers and blog posts.

Whilst this phrase and definition were developed specifically from research on UK technology-users, the phrase is not UK-specific and is designed to be indicative of a global community of technology users who share in these characteristics.

Social and cultural impact

Digital phobia presents a real and pressing problem in the modern world where technology has become a central and essential resource. Internet culture has developed to become a part of the fabric of everyday life and is now even considered part of the make-up of national identity with a country's internet use and digital footprint an important modern index for international comparison, often associated with development and modernity.

The consequences of non-participation in the digital world are far reaching, and can affect the economic, cultural, social, occupational and educational life of a non-user. For example, in 2009 Price Waterhouse Coopers estimated that UK households offline are missing out on savings of £560 a year which could be saved if shopping or paying for bills online. Furthermore, in the United States older people without internet access or the skills to make the most of it are considered a disadvantaged proportion of the population as, amongst other important resources, vital healthcare information and initiatives conducted online are unavailable to those not a part of the digital world.

Heightened fears of how technology may be affecting the human population stems from a, for some very logical, fear of how technology is adapting the world we live in and at the pace and price with which it is doing so. With such a significance placed on online participation, concerns about the role of the internet in everyday life are not unfounded and not exclusive to those who prefer to stay away from the internet, avoid certain activities online, or use the internet without enthusiasm and only as necessitated.

A survey conducted by security firm Avira identified 84% of people fear social networking sites will steal or misuse their personal information, demonstrating the net majority of internet users share, at least partially, in distrusting the digital world. Whilst many will, despite this fear, adopt cautious optimism and still use social networking as part of their everyday lives this high percentage serves to demonstrate that a fear significant enough for some to avoid readily using online and digital services is a fear shared by a large number of internet users.

Whilst some digital phobics have preferred to remain distanced from technology due to hypothetical concerns others have attempted to join in societal interest but find themselves unable to stay caught up with new technology or would like to see its progression halted as evolution of the digital world has reached new speeds. The 2013 Oxford Internet Survey recognizes this concern among UK users, identifying distinct categories of both non-users and ex-users of internet-based technology who, for a variety of reasons, have discontinued or refuse to access the online world. This is further supported by results from a 2013 survey of internet use in America which found 32% of non-internet users avoiding the online world because of finding the internet difficult or frustrating to use, being physically unable or worried about other issues such as viruses, threat of hacking or spam – a figure considerably higher than in earlier years.

Concern over the presence of a digital divide, whether locally or globally, is only exacerbated by the knowledge that access to many government and council services, job applications, and social and cultural resources are now largely internet based. Internet access has become a hurdle in contemporary society which, for those without the necessary desire to learn or knowledge of internet-based systems, can be difficult to navigate around, often resulting in key services and vital resources being less easily accessible, leaving non-users feeling isolated. Private and government campaigns to tackle this issue further demonstrate the severity and long-lasting impact of having a proportion of the population disinclined or disinterested in going online.

As the online world becomes saturated, device options for connecting to the internet vary and news of technological inventions goes viral the exponential growth of the technological world is only contributing towards a growing number of 'digital phobic' tech-users amongst the global population.

Education

Digital phobia has had a negative impact on the field of education. Some teachers have expressed a fear that new and advanced technology is supplanting them as the masters of their fields of study and a study of teachers in Wilmington, Delaware has shown that educators in this area are acclimating to the new technology in their classrooms at a slower pace. The local researchers believe that there are many factors why that is the case and some of the things they have found are things such as a lack of technological education by the teachers, and also the lack of time, or incentive to adjust to the new technology. University Larry Cuban has stated that "The introduction of computers into school was supposed to improve academic achievement , and alter how teachers taught. Neither has occurred."

The constant infusion of new technology has many teachers fearing that they are losing their classroom. This new technology is essentially diminishing the role of a teacher in the classroom.

Researchers believe that educators are slow to adapt to technology because they aren't given time to acclimate to the new technology, causing them to hesitate to use it in the classroom and express fear that these technologies may interfere with genuine learning particularly in humanities and creative subjects. In an article for the New Media Reader, Theodor H. Nelson wrote that people are opposed to the computer because they believe it is "cold" and "inhuman", but a human can be just as inhuman and maybe even more so than the actual machine itself.

Technophobia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
Computers, among many other technologies, are feared by technophobes.

Technophobia (from Greek τέχνη technē, "art, skill, craft" and φόβος phobos, "fear"), also known as technofear, is the fear or dislike of advanced technology or complex devices, especially computers. Although there are numerous interpretations of technophobia, they become more complex as technology continues to evolve. The term is generally used in the sense of an irrational fear, but others contend fears are justified. It is the opposite of technophilia.

Larry Rosen, a research psychologist, computer educator, and professor at California State University, Dominguez Hills, suggests that there are three dominant subcategories of technophobes – the "uncomfortable users", the "cognitive computerphobes", and "anxious computerphobes". First receiving widespread notice during the Industrial Revolution, technophobia has been observed to affect various societies and communities throughout the world. This has caused some groups to take stances against some modern technological developments in order to preserve their ideologies. In some of these cases, the new technologies conflict with established beliefs, such as the personal values of simplicity and modest lifestyles.

Examples of technophobic ideas can be found in multiple forms of art, ranging from literary works such as Frankenstein to films like Metropolis. Many of these works portray a darker side to technology, as perceived by those who are technophobic. As technologies become increasingly complex and difficult to understand, people are more likely to harbor anxieties relating to their use of modern technologies.

Prevalence

A study published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior was conducted between 1992 and 1994 surveying first-year college students across various countries. The overall percentage of the 3,392 students who responded with high-level technophobic fears was 29%. In comparison, Japan had 58% high-level technophobes and Mexico had 53%.

A published report in 2000 stated that roughly 85–90% of new employees at an organization may be uncomfortable with new technology, and are technophobic to some degree.

History

Technophobia began to gain attention as a movement in England with the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. With the development of new machines able to do the work of skilled craftsmen using unskilled, low-wage labor, those who worked a trade began to fear for their livelihoods. In 1675, a group of weavers destroyed machines that replaced their jobs. By 1727, the destruction had become so prevalent that Parliament made the demolition of machines a capital offense. This action, however, did not stop the tide of violence. The Luddites, a group of anti-technology workers, united under the name "Ludd" in March 1811, removing key components from knitting frames, raiding houses for supplies, and petitioning for trade rights while threatening greater violence. Poor harvests and food riots lent aid to their cause by creating a restless and agitated population for them to draw supporters from.

The 19th century was also the beginning of modern science, with the work of Louis Pasteur, Charles Darwin, Gregor Mendel, Michael Faraday, Henri Becquerel, and Marie Curie, and inventors such as Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell. The world was changing rapidly, too rapidly for many, who feared the changes taking place and longed for a simpler time. The Romantic movement exemplified these feelings. Romantics tended to believe in imagination over reason, the "organic" over the mechanical, and a longing for a simpler, more pastoral time. Poets like William Wordsworth and William Blake believed that the technological changes that were taking place as a part of the industrial revolution were polluting their cherished view of nature as being perfect and pure.

After World War II, a fear of technology continued to grow, catalyzed by the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. With nuclear proliferation and the Cold War, people began to wonder what would become of the world now that humanity had the power to manipulate it to the point of destruction. Corporate production of war technologies such as napalm, explosives, and gases during the Vietnam War further undermined public confidence in technology's worth and purpose. In the post-WWII era, environmentalism also took off as a movement. The first international air pollution conference was held in 1955, and in the 1960s, investigations into the lead content of gasoline sparked outrage among environmentalists. In the 1980s, the depletion of the ozone layer and the threat of global warming began to be taken more seriously.

Luddites

The Leader of the Luddites, engraving of 1812

Several societal groups are considered technophobic, the most recognisable of which are the Luddites. Many technophobic groups revolt against modern technology because of their beliefs that these technologies are threatening their ways of life and livelihoods. The Luddites were a social movement of British artisans in the 19th century who organized in opposition to technological advances in the textile industry. These advances replaced many skilled textile artisans with comparatively unskilled machine operators. The 19th century British Luddites rejected new technologies that impacted the structure of their established trades, or the general nature of the work itself.

Resistance to new technologies did not occur when the newly adopted technology aided the work process without making significant changes to it. The British Luddites protested the application of the machines, rather than the invention of the machine itself. They argued that their labor was a crucial part of the economy, and considered the skills they possessed to complete their labor as property that needed protection from the destruction caused by the autonomy of machines.

Use of modern technologies among Old Order Anabaptists

Groups considered by some people to be technophobic are the Amish and other Old Order Anabaptists. The Amish follow a set of moral codes outlined in the Ordnung, which rejects the use of certain forms of technology for personal use. Donald B. Kraybill, Karen M. Johnson-Weiner and Steven M. Nolt state in their book The Amish:

More significantly the Amish modify and adapt technology in creative ways to fit their cultural values and social goals. Amish technologies are diverse, complicated and ever-changing.

What the Amish do, is selective use of modern technologies in order to maintain their belief and culture.

Technophobia in arts

Frankenstein's Monster is often considered to be an early example of technophobic ideas in art.

An early example of technophobia in fiction and popular culture is Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. It has been a staple of science fiction ever since, exemplified by movies like Fritz Lang's Metropolis, which offer examples of how technophobia can occur, and Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times, in which people are reduced to nothing but cogs in the machinery, a product of new industrial techniques like the assembly line. This persisted through the 1960s, with the fears of nuclear weapons and radiation leading to giant insects in monster movies, cautionary tales like The Day the Earth Stood Still, and The Hulk. This was joined by fears of superintelligent machines, and rebellion amongst them, which was a recurring theme of Star Trek, from the original series to Star Trek: The Next Generation to Star Trek: Voyager in the 1990s.

A 1960 episode of The Twilight Zone called "A Thing About Machines" deals with a man's hatred for modern things such as electric razors, televisions, electric typewriters and clocks.

The 1971 film The Omega Man (loosely based on the Richard Matheson novel I am Legend) showed a world scarred by biological warfare and only a handful of humans and a cult of mutants remain alive. Charlton Heston's character is a scientist who is being targeted by the mutants who wish to destroy all science and machinery due to their technophobic beliefs. Technophobia is also thematic in Walter M. Miller's novel A Canticle for Leibowitz, in which nuclear war produces an attempt to stamp out science itself, which is held to be responsible.

In the 1970s, films such as Colossus: The Forbin Project and Demon Seed offered samples of domination by computers. The film Westworld, released in 1973, revolves around world of entertainment humanoids going completely wrong when they turn against humans. Also in the 1970s, Rich Buckler created Deathlok, a cyborg revivified by a madman as a slave killing machine, a dark twist on Frankenstein.

Technophobia achieved commercial success in the 1980s with the movie The Terminator, in which a computer becomes self-aware, and decides to kill all humans. Blade Runner shows us how human replicas were able to live on Earth, portraying technology gone wrong in "replicants" unhappy with their man-made limitations which demand they be "modified". Star Trek: Voyager introduced another twist, when "surplus" EMHs, such sophisticated expert systems as to be almost indistinguishable from human, being effectively reduced to slavery, while other, similar systems were turned into sentient prey. In the PC game Wing Commander: Privateer, a fanatical quasi-religious group, called the Retros, wishes to overthrow all forms of technology, even if doing so, they themselves have to use it in order to fulfill their goal. They play a central role in the Righteous Fire expansion game, wherein a new mysterious leader leads the group in an attempt to destroy all non-adherents of their religion.

Since then, there have been movies like I, Robot, The Matrix Trilogy, WALL-E, and the Terminator sequels. Shows such as Doctor Who have tackled the issue of technophobia – most specifically in the episode "The Robots of Death", with a character displaying a great fear of robots due to their lack of body language, described by the Fourth Doctor as giving them the appearance of "dead men walking". Series consultant Kit Pedler also used this fear as a basis for the inspiration of classic Doctor Who monsters the Cybermen, with the creatures being inspired by his own fear of artificial limbs becoming so common that it would become impossible to know when someone had stopped being a man and become simply a machine. Virtuosity speaks of a virtual serial killer who manages to escape to the real world. He goes on a rampage before he is inevitably stopped. This is a true technophobic movie in that its main plot is about technology gone wrong. It introduces a killer who blatantly destroys people.

Godfrey Reggio's Qatsi trilogy also deals heavily with issues of technophobia. The idea of keeping the "thinkers" and "workers" separate shows us that even the people who embraced technology feared the potential of it in some way.

Avatar is exemplary of technology's hold on humans who are empowered by it and visually demonstrates the amount of terror it instills upon those native to the concept. It enforces the notion that foreign creatures from Pandora are not only frightened by technology, but it is something they loathe; its potential to cause destruction could exceed their very existence. In contrast, the film itself used advanced technology such as the stereoscope in order to give viewers the illusion of physically taking part in an experience that would introduce them to a civilization struggling with technophobia.

The 2009 animated film 9 opens with the line, "We had such potential, such promise; but we squandered our gifts, our intelligence. Our blind pursuit of technology only sped us quicker to our doom. Our world is ending."

Attitutes of technophobia, however, seem to be changing. In the 2021 movie The Mitchells vs. the Machines, which depicts a robot uprising caused by an AI, the AI was not inherently malicious but rather turned bitter after its creator discarded it for a newer device; even then, the film has still been derided as the epitome of Luddism.

Luddite

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Leader of the Luddites, 1812. Hand-coloured etching.

The Luddites were a secret oath-based organisation of English textile workers in the 19th century who formed a radical faction which destroyed textile machinery. The group is believed to have taken its name from Ned Ludd, a legendary weaver supposedly from Anstey, near Leicester. They protested against manufacturers who used machines in what they called "a fraudulent and deceitful manner" to get around standard labour practices. Luddites feared that the time spent learning the skills of their craft would go to waste, as machines would replace their role in the industry.

Many Luddites were owners of workshops that had closed because factories could sell similar products for less. But when workshop owners set out to find a job at a factory, it was very hard to find one because producing things in factories required fewer workers than producing those same things in a workshop. This left many people unemployed and angry.

The Luddite movement began in Nottingham in England and culminated in a region-wide rebellion that lasted from 1811 to 1816. Mill and factory owners took to shooting protesters and eventually the movement was suppressed with legal and military force, which included execution and penal transportation of accused and convicted Luddites.

Over time, the term has come to mean one opposed to industrialisation, automation, computerisation, or new technologies in general.

Etymology

The name Luddite (/ˈlʌdt/) is of uncertain origin. The movement was said to be named after Ned Ludd, an apprentice who allegedly smashed two stocking frames in 1779 and whose name had become emblematic of machine destroyers. Ned Ludd, however, was probably completely fictional and used as a way to shock and provoke the government. The name developed into the imaginary General Ludd or King Ludd, who was reputed to live in Sherwood Forest like Robin Hood.

'Lud' or 'Ludd' (Welsh: Lludd map Beli Mawr), according to Geoffrey of Monmouth's legendary History of the Kings of Britain and other medieval Welsh texts, was a Celtic King of 'The Islands of Britain' in pre-Roman times, who supposedly founded London and was buried at Ludgate. In the Welsh versions of Geoffrey's Historia, usually called Brut y Brenhinedd, he is called Lludd fab Beli, establishing the connection to the early mythological Lludd Llaw Eraint.

Historical precedents

In 1779, Ned Ludd, a weaver from Anstey, near Leicester, England, is supposed to have broken two stocking frames in a fit of rage. When the "Luddites" emerged in the 1810s, his identity was appropriated to become the folkloric character of Captain Ludd, also known as King Ludd or General Ludd, the Luddites' alleged leader and founder.

The invention that sparked that revolt was the Jacquard loom which was created by Joseph-Marie Jacquard in 1801. He developed a system of punched cards that controlled the pattern on the loom; naturally called "Jacquard cards".

The lower classes of the 18th century were not openly disloyal to the king or government, generally speaking, and violent action was rare because punishments were harsh. The majority of individuals were primarily concerned with meeting their own daily needs. Working conditions were harsh in the English textile mills at the time, but efficient enough to threaten the livelihoods of skilled artisans. The new inventions produced textiles faster and cheaper because they were operated by less-skilled, low-wage labourers, and the Luddite goal was to gain a better bargaining position with their employers.

Kevin Binfield asserts that organized action by stockingers had occurred at various times since 1675, and he suggests that the movements of the early 19th century should be viewed in the context of the hardships suffered by the working class during the Napoleonic Wars, rather than as an absolute aversion to machinery. Irregular rises in food prices provoked the Keelmen to riot in the port of Tyne in 1710 and tin miners to steal from granaries at Falmouth in 1727. There was a rebellion in Northumberland and Durham in 1740, and an assault on Quaker corn dealers in 1756. Skilled artisans in the cloth, building, shipbuilding, printing, and cutlery trades organized friendly societies to peacefully insure themselves against unemployment, sickness, and intrusion of foreign labour into their trades, as was common among guilds.

Malcolm L. Thomis argued in his 1970 history The Luddites that machine-breaking was one of a very few tactics that workers could use to increase pressure on employers, to undermine lower-paid competing workers, and to create solidarity among workers. "These attacks on machines did not imply any necessary hostility to machinery as such; machinery was just a conveniently exposed target against which an attack could be made." An agricultural variant of Luddism occurred during the widespread Swing Riots of 1830 in southern and eastern England, centering on breaking threshing machines.

Birth of the movement

See also Barthélemy Thimonnier, whose sewing machines were destroyed by tailors who believed that their jobs were threatened

Handloom weavers burned mills and pieces of factory machinery. Textile workers destroyed industrial equipment during the late 18th century, prompting acts such as the Protection of Stocking Frames, etc. Act 1788.

The Luddite movement emerged during the harsh economic climate of the Napoleonic Wars, which saw a rise of difficult working conditions in the new textile factories. Luddites objected primarily to the rising popularity of automated textile equipment, threatening the jobs and livelihoods of skilled workers as this technology allowed them to be replaced by cheaper and less skilled workers. The movement began in Arnold, Nottingham, on 11 March 1811 and spread rapidly throughout England over the following two years. The British economy suffered greatly in 1810 to 1812, especially in terms of high unemployment and inflation. The causes included the high cost of the wars with Napoleon, Napoleon's Continental System of economic warfare, and escalating conflict with the United States. The crisis led to widespread protest and violence, but the middle classes and upper classes strongly supported the government, which used the army to suppress all working class unrest, especially the Luddite movement.

The Luddites met at night on the moors surrounding industrial towns to practice military-like drills and manoeuvres. Their main areas of operation began in Nottinghamshire in November 1811, followed by the West Riding of Yorkshire in early 1812, and then Lancashire by March 1813. They smashed stocking frames and cropping frames among other things. There does not seem to have been any political motivation behind the Luddite riots and there was no national organization; the men were merely attacking what they saw as the reason for the decline in their livelihoods. Luddites clashed with government troops at Burton's Mill in Middleton and at Westhoughton Mill, both in Lancashire. The Luddites and their supporters anonymously sent death threats to, and possibly attacked, magistrates and food merchants. Activists smashed Heathcote's lacemaking machine in Loughborough in 1816. He and other industrialists had secret chambers constructed in their buildings that could be used as hiding places during an attack.

In 1817, an unemployed Nottingham stockinger and probably ex-Luddite, named Jeremiah Brandreth led the Pentrich Rising. While this was a general uprising unrelated to machinery, it can be viewed as the last major Luddite act.

Government response

The British government ultimately dispatched 12,000 troops to suppress Luddite activity, which as historian Eric Hobsbawm noted was a larger number than the army which the Duke of Wellington led during the Peninsular War. Four Luddites, led by a man named George Mellor, ambushed and assassinated mill owner William Horsfall of Ottiwells Mill in Marsden, West Yorkshire, at Crosland Moor in Huddersfield. Horsfall had remarked that he would "Ride up to his saddle in Luddite blood". Mellor fired the fatal shot to Horsfall's groin, and all four men were arrested. One of the men, Benjamin Walker, turned informant, and the other three were hanged. Lord Byron denounced what he considered to be the plight of the working class, the government's inane policies and ruthless repression in the House of Lords on 27 February 1812: "I have been in some of the most oppressed provinces of Turkey; but never, under the most despotic of infidel governments, did I behold such squalid wretchedness as I have seen since my return, in the very heart of a Christian country".

Government officials sought to suppress the Luddite movement with a mass trial at York in January 1813, following the attack on Cartwrights Mill at Rawfolds near Cleckheaton. The government charged over 60 men, including Mellor and his companions, with various crimes in connection with Luddite activities. While some of those charged were actual Luddites, many had no connection to the movement. Although the proceedings were legitimate jury trials, many were abandoned due to lack of evidence and 30 men were acquitted. These trials were certainly intended to act as show trials to deter other Luddites from continuing their activities. The harsh sentences of those found guilty, which included execution and penal transportation, quickly ended the movement. Parliament made "machine breaking" (i.e. industrial sabotage) a capital crime with the Frame Breaking Act of 1812. Lord Byron opposed this legislation, becoming one of the few prominent defenders of the Luddites after the treatment of the defendants at the York trials.

Legacy

In the 19th century, occupations that arose from the growth of trade and shipping in ports, also in "domestic" manufacturers, were notorious for precarious employment prospects. Underemployment was chronic during this period, and it was common practice to retain a larger workforce than was typically necessary for insurance against labour shortages in boom times.

Moreover, the organization of manufacture by merchant-capitalists in the textile industry was inherently unstable. While the financiers' capital was still largely invested in raw material, it was easy to increase commitment where trade was good and almost as easy to cut back when times were bad. Merchant-capitalists lacked the incentive of later factory owners, whose capital was invested in building and plants, to maintain a steady rate of production and return on fixed capital. The combination of seasonal variations in wage rates and violent short-term fluctuations springing from harvests and war produced periodic outbreaks of violence.

Modern usage

Nowadays, the term "Luddite" often is used to describe someone who is opposed or resistant to new technologies.

In 1956, during a British Parliamentary debate, a Labour spokesman said that "organised workers were by no means wedded to a 'Luddite Philosophy'." By 2006, the term neo-Luddism had emerged to describe opposition to many forms of technology. According to a manifesto drawn up by the Second Luddite Congress (April 1996; Barnesville, Ohio), neo-Luddism is "a leaderless movement of passive resistance to consumerism and the increasingly bizarre and frightening technologies of the Computer Age".

The term "Luddite fallacy" is used by economists in reference to the fear that technological unemployment inevitably generates structural unemployment and is consequently macroeconomically injurious. If a technological innovation results in a reduction of necessary labour inputs in a given sector, then the industry-wide cost of production falls, which lowers the competitive price and increases the equilibrium supply point that, theoretically, will require an increase in aggregate labour inputs. During the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st century, the dominant view among economists has been that belief in long-term technological unemployment was indeed a fallacy. More recently, there has been increased support for the view that the benefits of automation are not equally distributed.

Inequality (mathematics)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inequality...