# technology-impact

Runs a technology through McLuhan's tetrad: what it amplifies, what it displaces, what it brings back, and what it turns into at the extreme.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 370 installs · ★ 176
- Author: jwynia
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/jwynia/agent-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/general/analysis/technology-impact/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-02-24
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/technology-impact

## What it does

The skill walks four questions: enhancement, obsolescence, retrieval, reversal. Each one gets applied across six domains, from economic and social to healthcare and environmental. Then it maps the effects onto demographic groups and time horizons, from the next two years out past ten.

You get a template to fill: a domain table, a stakeholder table, temporal projections, and a short list of key uncertainties. A worked smartphone example runs the whole thing end to end, and a section on anti-patterns flags the two common failures — looking only at the upside, and stopping at first-order effects.

This is a thinking tool, not a data tool. It asks the questions and holds the structure; the evidence and the numbers come from you. If you need a forecast with figures attached, gather those first, because the skill will not produce them.

Install it with `npx skills`, and the file lands at `~/.claude/skills/technology-impact/SKILL.md`.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add jwynia/agent-skills --skill technology-impact -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/technology-impact/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/technology-impact/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add jwynia/agent-skills --skill technology-impact -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/technology-impact/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add jwynia/agent-skills --skill technology-impact -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/technology-impact/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install jwynia/agent-skills technology-impact
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/technology-impact/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add jwynia/agent-skills --skill technology-impact -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/jwynia/agent-skills --path skills/general/analysis/technology-impact
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/technology-impact/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add jwynia/agent-skills --skill technology-impact -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/jwynia/agent-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/general/analysis/technology-impact/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- assess what a technology displaces, not just what it enables
- trace second-order effects across economic, political and environmental domains
- spot historical practices a new tool revives in a different form
- separate near-term effects from ones that show up a decade out
- list key uncertainties before committing to adoption

## Example prompts
- run a McLuhan tetrad on our move to AI coding assistants
- analyze automated code review: what it enhances, obsoletes, retrieves, reverses
- map the societal impact of telemedicine across domains and stakeholder groups

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: 443aca13d3a6edef.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE 443aca13d3a6edef
```text
---
name: technology-impact
description: Systematically analyze societal impacts of technologies using McLuhan's Tetrad of Media Effects. Use when evaluating new technology, planning technology adoption, or analyzing technology policy.
license: MIT
metadata:
  author: jwynia
  version: "1.0"
  type: utility
  mode: evaluative
  domain: worldbuilding
---

# Technology Impact Analysis (McLuhan Tetrad)

## Purpose

Systematically analyze the societal impacts of technologies using McLuhan's Tetrad of Media Effects. Examines what technology enhances, obsoletes, retrieves, and reverses to reveal non-obvious consequences.

## Core Framework: The Tetrad

Every technology simultaneously has four effects:

| Effect | Question | What It Reveals |
|--------|----------|-----------------|
| **Enhancement** | What does it amplify? | Primary capabilities increased |
| **Obsolescence** | What does it displace? | What becomes less relevant |
| **Retrieval** | What does it bring back? | Historical patterns revived |
| **Reversal** | What does it become when pushed to extreme? | Paradoxical consequences |

---

## Core Tetrad Questions

### Enhancement
- What capabilities, processes, or tendencies does this technology amplify?
- How does enhancement manifest across different contexts?
- What are primary and secondary enhancement effects?

### Obsolescence
- What existing systems, skills, or practices does it displace?
- Which displaced elements might persist in modified forms?
- What are the implications of these obsolescences?

### Retrieval
- What historical practices or patterns does it revive in new forms?
- How do these retrievals manifest differently from originals?
- What historical understanding informs our analysis?

### Reversal
- What happens when enhancement effects are pushed to extremes?
- What paradoxical effects emerge from widespread adoption?
- How might current trends reverse themselves?

---

## Analysis Dimensions

### 1. Domain Analysis

Examine each societal domain:

**Economic**
- Production systems
- Labor markets
- Financial systems
- Business models
- Consumer behavior

**Social**
- Interpersonal relationships
- Community structures
- Social mobility
- Cultural expression
- Identity formation

**Political**
- Governance systems
- Democratic processes
- Power distribution
- Policy formation
- Civic engagement

**Educational**
- Learning systems
- Knowledge transfer
- Skill development
- Educational access

**Healthcare**
- Care delivery
- Medical research
- Health management
- Healthcare access

**Environmental**
- Resource usage
- Sustainability practices
- Climate impact
- Ecosystem management
```
END THIRD-PARTY FILE 443aca13d3a6edef

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