Michael Hanlon The Golden Brain Summary

Technological stagnation seemed like an absurd concept to me at first as I looked around. Everyone that surrounded me was either on his or her phone and laptop. The students that occupied the student center were the very evidence that we have come a long way since the first phone and the first computer. How can Hanlon say that we have ceased to create anything new? We are the innovating generation. Or so I thought. Michael Hanlon’s article, The Golden Quarter, changed my way of thinking. Hanlon does a great job in demonstrating that what we are seeing today is not technological innovation; instead it is the improvement of already existent technology. According to Hanlon, we are in the midst of a technological stagnation. Progress in technology has stalled, at least for the time being.
He states, “Well, take a look around. Look up and the airliners you see are basically updated versions…”(Hanlon, The Golden Quarter). He continues by stating that airplanes are no faster than the ones that flew in 1971. Hanlon also uses the example of cars. Cars might be safer, faster, and much more sufficient; but they are not at all that different from the ones from the year of 1971. Everything that seems like a new technological breakthrough is actually an extension of some sort of technology that was created during the Golden Quarter. This Golden Quarter took place approximately around the years of 1945 to 1971. Hanlon describes this time period as a time of great innovation. Everything that was being created was new and