A Chilling Look at How Urban Dwellers in 1978 Might Survive Without Modern Technology

In “Trigger Effect”, the chilling first episode of the 1978 BBC series Connections, science host James Burke considered how an ill-prepared urban dweller would survive if a disaster rendered technology moot.

James Burke considers just how dependent 20th century humans are on technology, and how ill-equipped we are when it fails.

The episode was influenced by and cited the infamous 1977 blackout, which cut off all the power throughout most of New York City, and presented as information to ponder.

The New York City blackouts of 1977 gave us a rare opportunity to witness what can happen when technology fails on a massive scale in a modern day city, and James uses this as a starting point for a thought experiment.

The Full Episode

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.