When your only tool is a hammer, every problem becomes a nail.
Mark Twain
Problems are often turned into technological problems, to the point that all problems are technological for which a technological solution will be found soon enough.
The average living space per person has more than doubled in the past 50 years. While one person lived on an average of 22.1 sqm in 1965, by 2017 the figure had risen to 46.5 sqm in Germany. The increasing amount of speculation with real estate is certainly the main reason for the continuously rising rental prices, but it is also the increasing demand for more individual space in housing situations. The demand for larger living quarters is therefore also the demand for
Mark Twain's Hammer
; we will continue to build larger houses and apartments for declining numbers of occupants.. Alternative forms of communal living and needs-oriented allocations of living space are not considered at all.
Driving a car results in the destruction of forests, people getting poisoned by carbon monoxide, more and more CO2 contributing to climate change, and NOx irritating mucous membranes. The fine dust of tire abrasion introduces toxic heavy metals into the bloodstream,an ever-increasing number of ground surfaces are sealed by wear and tear, and people continue to travel further and further to places where they stay shorter and shorter amounts of time. Last but not least, travelling by car continues to be a leading cause of death. All these problems can be solved by
Mark Twain's Hammer
, that is, by using even newer technology such as unleaded petrol, controlled catalytic converters, AdBlue, alternative tyre compounds, airbags, autonomous driving and more air travel. Confusingly, the simple, obvious, non-technical solution of simply driving less is completely overlooked.