How the Industrial Revolution changed the world, and why its under attack | Dr Nikos Sotirakopoulos

The Industrial Revolution was the single greatest leap forward in
human history. As Nikos Sotirakopoulos argues in this talk, it
didn’t just give us more—more wealth, more technology, more life
expectancy—it gave us a different kind of life altogether. It
unleashed human ingenuity, freed individuals from drudgery, and
created a society where innovation and creativity could flourish.
But today, the very foundations of industrial civilisation are
under attack. Environmentalists, neo-Luddites, and cultural
elites see human progress as a sin. They tell us that reshaping
the world is destructive, that human impact on nature is evil,
and that industry is something to apologise for rather than
celebrate. Worse, even the defenders of industrial society fail
to grasp its full significance, reducing it to GDP charts rather
than recognising it as the ultimate triumph of human reason,
freedom, and ambition.


The intellectual foundations that made it possible—free speech,
free markets, and a belief in human mastery over nature—are
eroding. If we do not fight for these values, the industrial
world we take for granted will disappear.