“As the Liberty lads o’er the sea Bought their freedom, and cheaply, with blood So we, boys, we Will die fighting, or live free, And down with all kings but King Ludd.”
Lord Byron
I resemble a Luddite, even though I had no idea what it meant when my sister called me one. Originally it was a social movement in England in the late 18th century to early 19th century. It has evolved to now mean someone who is opposed to technology.
I’m not opposed to modern technology. Some of it’s great. But I don’t want it to rule me, just like the protagonist, Alex Scire, in my books. Like him, I grew up without television. I didn’t have reliable internet until three years ago (except at work) and was one of the last adopters of cell phones. I designed and managed the implementation of several state-of-the-art computer systems in my work career but always left the development and ongoing management to someone else. And even though I’m very gentle on my cell phones, mainly because I rarely have one on me (just ask my kids), I switch whenever my wife does because I want to make sure she can help me manage mine.
One other example of my Luddite tendencies is when my daughter and I go on research trips. I often feel guilty about my technology limitations because when we’re wandering through the streets of some foreign city, she has her phone out and is directing our every step while I’m gawking at the sights. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to ask her where we’re going. I give her the locations I want to visit, and she plans how to get there.
Alex, my protagonist, is just a more extreme version of me in this regard. I’ve modeled Diana Bennet’s technology skills after my younger daughter, who works with two computer screens going and several dozen programs open. And they both go through cell phones rather often.
According to legend, the real Luddites took their name from a Ned Ludd, who supposedly went on a rampage in 1779 and smashed two knitting frames. The problem with this tale is that there is no evidence of its authenticity. However, the rapid mechanization in England over the next thirty years, and the financial aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, led to social conditions that scared and angered workers, who then formed the Luddite movement. The movement started with displaced weavers and textile workers but grew to include factory workers. Violence peaked from 1811 to 1817, when the British Army frequently clashed with workers. The movement started receding by 1813 and died out in the 1817 Pentrich rising uprising, with the execution of the movement’s leaders.
The picture below is from my first book trip. My youngest daughter and I are at
, a really cool site in Peru’s Sacred Valley. If you look closely, I have one of the few pieces of advanced technology I owned ten years ago – a small camera.
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