Why does technology scare us so much?

You've seen it in movies. You've seen in on TV. Perhaps you've read it in books. Technology is dangerous. The smarter society gets, the smarter its computers get. In the mind of a mob, smart computers mean sentient computers. To an uneducated onlooker, it may seem as though new technology actually makes decisions and acts like humans do. While most will agree that beliefs of this variety are few and far between, the fact remains that we hold a special sort of fear and reverence for technology because we've entrusted some of it with the safety of human lives. When glitches occur, as they always do, we seek to find the cause of the glitches and ensure there are no repeats. Where did these unreasonable superstitions come from? They came from overzealous reporters and journalists trying to make their stories stand out from the rest. They came from observers who jumped to conclusions with a limited knowledge of the whole picture. We would do well to take a step back, challenge some of the claims that are widely believed about our gadgets, and apply what we learn toward increased convenience in our daily lives. That's why we advance technology, isn't it?