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How the Industrial Revolution changed the world, and why its under attack | Dr Nikos Sotirakopoulos
Manage episode 497752013 series 3290875
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The Industrial Revolution was the single greatest leap forward in human history. As Nikos Sotirakopoulos argues in this talk, it didn’t just give us more—more wealth, more technology, more life expectancy—it gave us a different kind of life altogether. It unleashed human ingenuity, freed individuals from drudgery, and created a society where innovation and creativity could flourish. But today, the very foundations of industrial civilisation are under attack. Environmentalists, neo-Luddites, and cultural elites see human progress as a sin. They tell us that reshaping the world is destructive, that human impact on nature is evil, and that industry is something to apologise for rather than celebrate. Worse, even the defenders of industrial society fail to grasp its full significance, reducing it to GDP charts rather than recognising it as the ultimate triumph of human reason, freedom, and ambition.
The intellectual foundations that made it possible—free speech, free markets, and a belief in human mastery over nature—are eroding. If we do not fight for these values, the industrial world we take for granted will disappear.
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