Technological Civilization 技术文明四

Though machine civilization has here been treated as if it were an order, it in fact differs from all others in that it is highly dynamic, containing within itself the seeds of constant reconstruction. Everywhere agricultural civilizations of the pre-machine age have changed only slowly with the fluctuations of markets, the fortunes of governments, and the vicissitudes of knowledge, keeping their basic institutions intact from century to century. Pre-machine urban civilizations have likewise retained their essential characteristics through long lapses of time. But machine civilization based on technology, science, invention, and expanding markets must of necessity change—and rapidly. The order of steam is hardly established before electricity invades it; electricity hardly gains a fair start before the internal combustion engine overtakes it. There has never been anywhere in the world any order comparable with it, and all analogies drawn from the Middle Ages, classical antiquity, and the Orient are utterly inapplicable to its potentialities, offering no revelations as to its future.
在此我们把机械文明看作一种秩序，但实际上，这种秩序不同于其他，其本身具有活力及不断重构的属性。机械文明之前是农业文明时代，那时候的农业文明只是随市场波动、政府更迭、知识更新而缓慢改变，以确保其文明结构世代完整。同样，前机械时代的城市文明，也在长期的发展过程中保留了重要特征。而基于技术、科学、发明还有市场扩张的机械文明必须做出改变，而且要快速改变。电力刚一介入，蒸汽就建立了自己的地位。电力方才崭露头角，内燃机就独领风骚了。世上任何地方的任何秩序都无法与之相比，中世纪、古代经典还有东方世界的所总结的规律都无法解释其内涵，也无法启示其未来。