There are two equally dumb ways to think about the future. There's either blind optimism that every single change is for the better ("The invention of the atomic bomb will surely end the concept of war forever!") or blind panic that every new innovation will send society into a tailspin. But, while it makes sense to get worried when scientists start breeding strains of genetically modified, superintelligent flying spiders, there have been panics about even the most mundane, common-sense advancements. For example ...

8 They Said Street Lighting Would Destroy Our Concept of Day and Night

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For millennia, the nights belonged to murderers, perverts, and thieves. Back when sunset was regarded with as much unease in the real world as it is in Minecraft today, people would scurry back to their homes, lock their doors, and hide under the covers, with candles lit as, presumably, life outside resembled a scene from The Purge. That was until cities came up with the idea of street lighting, which was originally achieved by installing gas lamps along city streets. Beyond the public safety benefits, there was just the fact that you could finally leave your house without carrying a flaming torch with you, as if you were on your way to storm Frankenstein's castle.

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"Either an angry mob's coming to burn down my house,

or Steve from down the street needed to go get milk."

Yet, many authorities opposed the idea for reasons ranging from health concerns to theological implications. For one thing, people were afraid that keeping cities lit up after the sun went down would create a health crisis, as citizens staying up past their cosmically-dictated bedtime would cause them to catch cold. To be fair, people on the cusp of the 18th century could be forgiven for not realizing that's not how colds work, and they actually weren't too far off the mark in predicting a sleep-deprived future (if only they could have foreseen Netflix's reckless policy of auto-playing the next episode in a series -- we have to get to work, goddammit!).

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But then, there was the Catholic Church, who opposed street lighting on the grounds that God very clearly established the delineation between night and day, and putting lights up after sundown was like spitting right in Jesus' face, while cats chase dogs and giant wieners ladle mustard over screaming human beings. In 1831, Pope Gregory XVI went so far as to ban gas lighting in Papal states, fearing that the extra hours of visibility might enable rebellion against the church.

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"We were going to rebel during the day, but this is so much more scenic."

Unsurprisingly, he was unable to fight one of the most basic and obvious advancements of human civilization, and, today, we're able to complain about too much light while we're trying to get some goddamn sleep. (WHY DO ALL OF OUR ELECTRONICS HAVE BRIGHT BLUE LED LIGHTS?!? That shit lights up the whole house!)