Some point to the turn of the last century and note the many technological advances that occurred then. But while these inventions did appear in rapid succession, it took years more before they were woven into the fabric of modern life. As late as the 1950s, for example, televisions and telephones were absent from many American homes. By the time they did appear, people had had time to become accustomed to the new technology. Should they pause, they lose ground.
Careers seem particularly short-lived.
There comes a point where, if you slip up a couple of times, then you're out of it. Others suggest today's current anxiety about the future may be a kind of hangover from the economic recession that hit the country in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Even as late as April 1996, only one person in 100 rated the U.S. economy as excellent. Twenty times that many called it poor. Attitudes have become more upbeat since, but a deep foundation of concern and mistrust remains, said Walker Smith, managing partner of Yankelovich Parthers, a market research firm with offices in Norwalk.