Matthew B. Crawford

These experiences of serendipity and faith feel a bit scarce in contemporary culture, and the language for articulating them seems to be fading from commun use. We have a vision of the future in which there would be little scope for such moments; the most authoritative voices in commerce and technology express a determination to eliminate contingency from life as much as possible, and replace it with machine-generated certainty. That’s what automation does, whatever else it may accomplish. Suddenly it is in the realm of mobility that this vision is being expresses. Suddenly driving is a topic that cries out for critical, humanistic inquiry.

Prelude. Without a Road, p. 3