The Sisyphean cycle of technology panics
Orben observes that widespread concerns about new technologies, from novels to radio to smartphones, recur throughout history. Past panics now seem amusing, but current concerns bring large research investments and policy debate, which turn out to be inefficient and ineffective. She asks what makes technological panics reappear and why research fails to address them. The article examines the network of political, population and academic factors driving what she calls the Sisyphean cycle of technology panics.
Orben observes that widespread concerns about new technologies, from novels to radio to smartphones, recur throughout history. Past panics now seem amusing, but current concerns bring large research investments and policy debate, which turn out to be inefficient and ineffective. She asks what makes technological panics reappear and why research fails to address them. The article examines the network of political, population and academic factors driving what she calls the Sisyphean cycle of technology panics.
Written from the abstract as shown on the OpenAlex record, read 2026-11-04.
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Perspectives on Psychological Science. doi:10.1177/1745691620919372