This makes me think of Clay Shirky's book "Here comes everybody". I think the example of the whale oil industry's feeling of superiority until their rapid decl

This makes me think of Clay Shirky's book "Here comes everybody". I think the example of the whale oil industry's feeling of superiority until their rapid decline, is similar to Clay's example of the feelings of scribes during the advent of the printing press. He talks about how the last people to be able to adapt were the people entrenched in the industry, who spent their energy justifying why change was bad rather than adapting and bringing their experience. Often change is inevitable but a big enough change such as petroleum or electricity (or the internet) make it hard to predict how the future will pan out. People don't like change because it's unpredictable, so it's easier to deny it will or should happen.