Jacques Ellul: The Prophet of Limits in an Age of Acceleration

What happens when the man who warned us about runaway technology comes back to see how it all turned out? In this episode, French philosopher Jacques Ellul—author of The Technological Society—explains why every innovation that can be made will be made, regardless of need or consequence. He introduces his concept of “technique,” showing how efficiency often trumps ethics, and why opting out of modern systems is nearly impossible. With sharp analysis and dry humor, Ellul reflects on how social media, AI, and our obsession with “progress” perfectly match his predictions.More information:They Tried to Warn Us, the book: More info on each podcast interview subject, along with 15 more interviews.They Tried to Warn Us, the newsletter: Follow the action on Ray's Substack.