According to Priestly “this rapid process of knowledge… will, I doubt not, be the means, under god, of extirpating all error and prejudice, and of putting and end to all undue and usurped authority in the business of religion”(Johnson, P.148). He also states the english hierarchy has equal reason to tremble at an air pump, or electrical machine”(Johnson, P.148). As has become ever more clear today Priestley was theorizing 250 years ago, that through empirical study and science we shall come to know truth and dispel the existing power structures of the state/religion. And looking at the western world over the past 250 year is has become increasingly secular and democratic.
Even though “Social progress became associated with applied science. Electric appliances, for example, extended productivity and leisure pursuits”(Johnston, P.48-49) There are still going to be consequences sooner or later. “All technological manipulations amount, at best, to zero sum games in which the costs balance the derived gains”(Huesemann, P.8) For example with the advancement of technology we have needed to extract exponentially more resources to feed peoples hunger for new appliances, gadgets, and technology. This of course leading to our current situation on earth with global climate change having the potential to equalize all what we have taken from the earth by wiping out the human population as we know it.
Will Wright 
First off, nice title. Second off, I agree with your examples. In our quest to pursue technological conveniences, we see through regimes that smoke us with ignorance, and some people even see past religion. Whether or not that last part is a bad thing or not simply depends on who you ask. Regardless, it’s still interesting to see how technology and knowledge affect our history and future.
LikeLike