Technology: Precaution or Acceleration?

Where the library sits on this axis

The 112 written profiles are each stored with one value for this axis, written by hand. These are the ones furthest toward either end, and the ones closest to the middle.

These are editorial readings of the positions, not measurements of any party, movement or voter, and every vector is open to disagreement. Every profile, all three sets →

The statements that measure this axis

The question bank holds 10 statements for technology: 5 coded so that agreement counts toward Acceleration, and 5 coded the other way, toward Precaution. The Short version draws 3 of them, Standard 5 and Deep 10.

• “Slowing down useful technology costs more lives than deploying it quickly.” agreeing counts toward Acceleration
• “New technologies should be proven safe before they are widely released.” agreeing counts toward Precaution
• “Artificial intelligence and biotechnology will solve problems that politics cannot.” agreeing counts toward Acceleration
• “Automation is being deployed faster than societies can adapt.” agreeing counts toward Precaution
• “Regulating emerging technology usually helps incumbents and hurts newcomers.” agreeing counts toward Acceleration
• “Governments should be able to pause a technology they cannot control.” agreeing counts toward Precaution
• “Space exploration and frontier research justify their cost.” agreeing counts toward Acceleration
• “Platforms that reshape public debate should be accountable for the results.” agreeing counts toward Precaution
• “People should be free to enhance their own bodies and minds.” agreeing counts toward Acceleration
• “Facial recognition and predictive policing go a step too far.” agreeing counts toward Precaution

How this axis is scored

Each statement is answered on a five-point scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree. On this axis, 5 statements count agreement toward Acceleration and 5 count it toward Precaution, so a run where you agree with everything does not drift to one end.

The two directions are averaged separately and then weighted equally, and the result is reported between −100 and +100: negative toward Precaution, positive toward Acceleration. A statement you skip is not counted on this axis at all, so skipping never moves the score. Anything inside ±12 is recorded as centred rather than as a lean.

The same twelve values are what your result is matched against. How scoring works, in full →