Connections (TV Mini Series)

The Trigger Effect (1978)

James Burke: Self - Presenter

Quotes 

• James Burke : The story of the events and the people who, over centuries, came together to bring us in from the cold and to wrap us in a warm blanket of technology is a matter of vital importance, since more and more of that technology infiltrates every aspect of our lives. It's become a life-support system without which we can't survive. And yet, how much of it do we understand?

  [steps into a lift] 

  James Burke : Do I bother myself with the reality of what happens when I get in to a big steel box, press a button, and rise into the sky? Of course I don't.

• James Burke : This is one of the more perfect examples of the kind of technological trap that we set for ourselves: The lift. The elevator. I mean, what is it? It's a steel box with some buttons in it and, maybe, a trap door for emergencies, but whoever looks that close? Except, when this happens...

  [the power dies] 

  James Burke : ...Where is it? And even in this situation - closed in, with an escape route that we can't handle - we behave like many of those New Yorkers did. We...

  [ignites a small lighter] 

  James Burke : ...Strike a light, and we look around to see how badly things are. And if we find, in this case, an emergency button... Absolutely great, we sit back and we wait for help to come; we wait for *technology* to come back and save our lives. Because it's inconceivable that it won't, isn't it? I mean, if you admit that, you've got to admit that every single day of your life, in some form or other, you unconsciously walk yourself into a technology trap. Because that's the only way to live in the modern world. So you don't admit it. You say, "Oh, well, in this situation, we'll cope." But what happens when the effects become widespread, irreversible, devastating? What happens when what little resources you have to help you cope...

  [the lighter goes out] 

  James Burke : ...Give up? Then what?

• James Burke : You saw, just now that the plow and irrigation kicked us all off. And that an invention acts rather like a trigger, because once it's there, it changes the way things are, and that change stimulates production of another invention, which in turn causes change, and so on. Why those inventions happened, between 6000 years ago and now, where they happened and when they happened is a fascinating blend of... accident, genius, craftsmanship, geography, religion, war, money, ambition... Above all, at some point, everybody is involved in the business of change. Not just the so-called "great men". Given what they knew at the time, and a moderate amount of what's up here, I hope to show you that, you or I could have done just what they did, or come close to it. Because at no time did an invention come out of thin air in somebody's head, like that:

  [light bulb flashes on the screen] 

  James Burke : . You just had to put a number of bits and pieces that were already there, together, in the right way.

• James Burke : The minute you decide to move, you're on your own... in a way that no modern 20th century city dweller has ever been in his life. And then the traps begin to close. To start with, do you even know where to go in order to survive? Did you manage to get a map before you left? And if you did, how do you get out? Walk? Drive until you run out of fuel? Are you ahead of the millions of other people pouring down these roads, trying to do just what you're trying to do? And if they catch up with you, have you got something they need? And if you have, can you protect yourself? Did you bring enough food and drink to last as long as necessary? And if you didn't, where will you get it? Steal? How far out will you have to push on until you're far enough out to be safe? And can you be sure that's far enough? And even if, by some miracle, you finally make it, do you know enough to recognize a place to stop when you see it? I mean, what does survival without technology look like? There'd be no signs up!

• James Burke : So let's say that finally, somewhere far out into the country, you come across a place that looks right. And let's say that you've had the good sense and the good luck to look for a farm... because that's where food comes from, doesn't it? Okay. So it's a farm, so you decide to stop. Has anybody got there first? Or are the owners still here? Because you're going to need shelter. And people don't give their homes away, they barricade themselves in. So, sooner or later, exhausted and desperate, you may have to make the decision to give up and die, or to make somebody else give up and die, because they won't accept you in their home voluntarily. And what in your comfortable urban life has ever prepared you for that decision?