Lacking Natural Simplicity

Lewis Pulsipher said in his post Origins 2012 — “Diminished”:

I asked if Hite was familiar enough with Steampunk to say what the story is in that (to me) obscure genre. He pointed out that it’s now more an aesthetic than a genre, the goggles and leather and glass and so forth (and corsets for women?). Yet he then made an erudite comparison, saying that just as fairy stories helped Victorians reconcile with what was a pretty ugly past (and where the real fairy stories were “don’t go out on the moor at night or they’ll eat you”), steampunk helps people reconcile with technology. Modern technology is a “black box” to most people, but most people can understand that hot steam expands and can move things, and feel comfortable with the steam engines and “clockwork” of Steampunk. Steampunk helps people come to terms with technology. A remarkable answer.