Why Our Modern Hatred of Tech Isn’t Actually New
There is a quiet, simmering anger beneath the surface of our digital lives. As generative artificial intelligence threatens to reshape labor and social media continues to erode mental well-being, the temptation to simply pull the plug feels increasingly rational. In his provocative new work, “Techno-Negative,” University of Southampton professor Thomas Dekeyser argues that this resistance is far from a modern quirk. Published by the University of Minnesota Press, the book assembles a history of those who dared to reject the systems they were told were inevitable. It isn’t a manual for destruction, but rather a map of a long-standing, often misunderstood tradition of pushing back against the machines that define our existence.
Dekeyser frames his study through the lens of what he calls “techno-abolitionism,” a drive to strip away the aura of inevitability that surrounds new technology. The book breaks this down into three distinct movements: Sovereignty, or how states regulate tech; Revolt, detailing the history of individual sabotage; and Withdrawal, the radical attempt to step outside society’s technological cage entirely. It is a dense, intellectual journey that occasionally leans into heavy academic theory, yet its core message hits home with surprising force. The goal isn’t necessarily to stop change itself, but to fundamentally remake the character of our relationship with the tools we use, forcing us to question why we accept them so blindly.
“There is insufficient hatred for this technological world,” Dekeyser writes in a manifesto that feels tailor-made for our current moment.
Historically, the fear of the machine wasn’t always viewed with the skepticism it faces today. The ancient Greeks, for instance, harbored deep suspicions of *technē*—their term for the practice of engineering and skilled crafts—viewing it as a dark, potentially sinister force that threatened to displace the beauty of humanity itself. This wasn’t mere superstition; it was a philosophical stance. Even the medieval Catholic Church once flirted with these ideas, framing technological pride as a form of devilish temptation. It’s a fascinating, if sometimes eerie, lineage that suggests our current frustration with ChatGPT or invasive data harvesting is simply the latest chapter in a very old, very human story about maintaining our autonomy against the cold logic of the machine.
Honestly, reading these accounts provides a strange sense of solace. We are often told that resistance is futile and that those who reject modern advancements are merely “backward” or “uncivilized.” Yet, by tracing this history back through centuries of struggle—from the Luddites to those who refused colonial mechanical gifts—US News Hub Misryoum finds that Dekeyser effectively validates the urge to opt out. While many of the rebellions he documents end in tragedy or failure, their importance lies in the act of refusal itself. In a world increasingly dominated by user-generated location data and automated systems, maybe the most radical thing you can do is simply look at your smartphone and choose, for a moment, to walk away.