The progress of technology
One of the purposes of this book is to gather up all the ways that technology has been evolving, detailing the effects that such changes have on people. He finds progress encouraging, but there is a sting. He feels that the progress of technology has implicit risks too, and he analyzes technological events in the past, analyzing also the way that technology has changed human governments and surveillance, not to mention security risks, which he also talks about. Still, the book paints a portrait of how technology has grown.
The biosphere and climate livability
One of the main ideas in the second half of the book is that technology has changed the livability of earth, because the changing technology changed emissions in the air, affecting the gases in the upper atmosphere. He feels that technology is doomed to hurt in this kind of way unless and until humans categorically accept that the livability of this planet is more important than economic motivations. He feels that there are risks that need to be moderated, and that scientists should expect the unexpected.
Time and life
Ultimately, the backbone of the book is the urgent desire for life, for more time, both to see the future, which seems ever more like science-fiction, but also because the problems of illness, death, poverty, sickness might eventually be fixed, if over time, people work together to solve problems scientifically. In Bridle's book, the point is very clearly that the reader should consider how to make the most of their time, because life could easily become dire if technology speeds up at a pace that people aren't ready for, which is has been and will continue doing.
