Our 21st Century Hammer
A bid to simplicity, longevity and mass adoption.
As humans, we evolve. Continually observing, hypothesizing, experimenting and embracing. Questioning phenomena. Tinkering. Sprinting to acquire new knowledge. Throughout this cycle of understanding, we have come reliant on tools to aide our development.
The history of human tools dates back almost 3.4 million years. Unlike countless peers, the hammer in its various forms—arguably our ancestors earliest instrument—has endured mankind’s volatile timeline of maturity. A tool a cavemen crafted, still in use today.
Tracing common causality; tools arrive and serve their purpose. Quickly, they become replaced. Rarely does the life cycle of a device span centuries, let alone milleniums. But epochs? That’s some endurance. The hammer is a rudimentary innovation that has stood the test of time. Not only did this hand-held device help directly shape us as humans, but more importantly, the hammer forever changed our behavior.
“Tool use fundamentally altered the way our early ancestors interacted with nature, allowing them to eat new types of food and exploit new territories.”
Before continuing, it’s probably smart to clear up any uncertainty.What exactly constitutes a tool anyway? Loosely speaking, I love Bret Victor’s definition:
“A tool addresses human needs by amplifying human capabilities. That is, a tool converts what we can do into what we want to do.”
Tools influence our behavior. Tools shape the way we address challenges. Tools help us grow.
In a time where industrial inventions are outnumbered by system innovations, I wonder; what modern tools will endure with our intelligent evolution? What modern tools will mimic the hammer’s characteristics; delivering empowerment alongside accessibility? What modern tool will weave itself into the everyday fabric of society? What modern tool fundamentally changes the way we behave as humans? What modern tool pushes humanity forward?
I believe Twitter is our 21st century hammer. A tool so simple yet so mighty. An enabler; used to connect, build, and even destroy.With Twitter, power comes in the form of scale, speed, and usability. A utility, offering humans the capability to communicate quickly and limitlessly. Twitter merges primal communication with tribal participation.
If you don’t understand the value of Twitter, you don’t understand the human race.
“At the end of the day, the human animal is a social animal. Our very survival depends on our ability to form communities. To form cultures. What’s a community? What’s a culture? A group of people with a common set of values and beliefs.”—Simon Snek
Prior to its development, the possibility of participating in globally-public conversations was sparse. And in real-time? Forget it. With Twitter, humans co-create—connecting, sharing and engaging live amongst the communities they most care about. Whether it’s battling governmental surpression, or coping with natural crises, the humble blue-bird continues to deliver usefulness.
Civilization’s past few centuries have seen sheerly incredible breakthroughs. Printing presses, internal combustion engines, airplanes ,semi-conductors, the list goes on. Significant successes that have improved our species progress. The essence of Twitter is in its extraordinary ability to connect the dots; uniting the intangibles. Democratizing communication, organizing information—Twitter has transformed the way society operates. For good.
Mankind’s kernel to thinking collectively
Information communication technology (ICT) is propelling us into a golden age of innovation. The timing couldn’t be better. Problems now are much more complex then they were 4,500, 200, even 20 years ago. Today, sustainable solutions demand cooperation, matching unique hybrids of disciplines.
Our most prized tools (for the foreseeable future) will continue to focus around optimizing two components; information and communication. Twitter was the first tool to recognize the web’s unifying potential; enabling a democracy of borderless collaboration. 140 characters of focused thought has forever changed the way we behave.
Freedom of expression has never felt more tangible. Twitter extends the reach of humans. A new body part, liberating paths for communities and cultures to think and share ideas like never before.
Twitter is a historic medium of communication—one that deserves fundamental merit.
*Cover illustration is a tribute to @YiyingLu’s legendary piece. For proper use of Twitter’s logo, see their brand guidelines.
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