We are coming upon a number of “horse manure moments.” What does that mean? Back when horses wandered city streets, major cities were about to be engulfed.
In 1894, the Times of London estimated that by 1950 every street in the city would be buried nine feet deep in horse manure. One New York prognosticator of the 1890s concluded that by 1930 the horse droppings would rise to Manhattan’s third-story windows.
What happened? The car appeared and made the horse manure problem go away overnight. We will hurt ourselves until we fix ourselves. It has always been thus.
We’re All Probably Wrong
by John Biggs
http://techcrunch.com/gallery/my-2016-tech-predictions/slide/2/
My 2016 Tech Predictions
6. We’re All Probably Wrong
Seed slump! Unicorns dying! War over water! The end of the world! The ice caps melting! Look: we’re smart animals even though we seem mostly dumb. I am a techno-optimist: I believe technology is the engine of positive change. We are coming upon a number of “horse manure moments.” What does that mean? Back when horses wandered city streets, major cities were about to be engulfed.
What happened? The car appeared and made the horse manure problem go away overnight. We will hurt ourselves until we fix ourselves. It has always been thus. Happy New Year and here’s to a great 2016.
The Great Horse Manure Crisis of 1894
Bytes Daily
http://bytesdaily.blogspot.jp/2011/07/great-horse-manure-crisis-of-1894.html
The Great Horse Manure Crisis of 1894
Writing in the Times of London in 1894, one writer estimated that in 50 years every street in London would be buried under nine feet of manure.
It seemed that The End of Civilisation As We Know It would be brought about, not by a meteor strike, global sickness or warfare, but by an excess of manure, by the urban equine.
Steven Davies, a senior lecturer in history at Manchester Metropolitan University in England, has written about this crisis and drawn some lessons from it, referring to it as the Great Horse Manure Crisis of 1894, the name it is known by in internet discussions.