During the first English industrial revolution, those most likely to be opposed to innovation in the form of labour-saving machinery were poor, working-class men. A typical luddite today, if the latest survey is to be believed, is more likely to be a woman with an interest in society.
At first glance, today's report from Nesta, the innovation charity, confirms every gender stereotype about the way men and women perceive new technology. Men were more likely to be interested in science and technology and, when asked what innovation they used in their everyday lives, most likely to say computer programming; women were more interested in social care, and much more likely to be looking at online recipes. The survey of more than 4,000 adults found that men, and particularly the most affluent, were far more likely to believe in innovation as an overall good thing, even if it didn't have any obvious purpose, while women were more likely to want to know what it was actually good for.
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