Chapter 305: Classical Mechanics

People are more difficult to work with

than machines. And when you break a

person, he cannot be fixed.

Rick Riordan, The Battle of the Labyrinth

-o0o-

So, in the interests of survival, they trained

themselves to be agreeing machines instead

of thinking machines. All their minds had to do

was to discover what other people were thinking,

and then they thought that, too.

Kurt Vonnegut, Breakfast of Champions

-o0o-

The study of thinking machines teaches us more

about the brain than we can learn by

introspective methods. Western man is

externalizing himself in the form of gadgets.

William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch

-o0o-

In a properly automated and educated world,

then, machines may prove to be the true

humanizing influence. It may be that machines

will do the work that makes life possible

and that human beings will do other things

that make life pleasant and worthwhile.

Isaac Asimov, Robot Visions

-o0o-

As nature has uncovered from under this hard

shell the seed for which she most tenderly

cares -- the propensity and vocation to free

thinking -- this gradually works back upon

the character of the people, who thereby

gradually become capable of managing freedom;

finally, it affects the principles of government,

which finds it to its advantage to treat men,

who are now more than machines,

in accordance with their dignity.

Immanuel Kant, An Answer to the Question:

What is Enlightment

-o0o-

We don't value craftsmanship anymore!

All we value is ruthless efficiency, and I say we

deny our own humanity that way!

Without appreciation for grace and beauty,

there's no pleasure in creating things and no

pleasure in having them! Our lives are made

drearier, rather than richer! How can a person

take pride in his work when skill and care

are considered luxuries! We are not machines!

We have a human need for craftmanship!

Bill Watterson, There's Treasure Everywhere

(Calvin and Hobbes)

-o0o-

But neither money nor machines can create.

They shuttle tokens of energy, but they do not

transform. A civilization based on them puts

people out of touch with their creative powers.

Lewis Hyde, Alcohol and Poetry:

John Berryman and the Bronze Talking

-o0o-

"Did you ever notice that all machines are made

for some reason?" he asked Isabelle.

"They are built to make you laugh, like the

mouse here, or to tell the time, like clocks,

or to fill ypu with wonder like the automation.

Maybe that's why a broken machine always

makes me a little sad, because it isn't able

to do what it was made to do."

Isabelle picked up the mouse, 

and wound it again, and set it down.

"Maybe it's the same with people," Hugo

continued. "If you lose your purpose . . .

it's like your broken."

Brian Selznick, The Invention of Hugo Cabret

-o0o-

For God's sake, let us be men

not monkeys minding machines

or sitting with our tails curled

 while the machine amuses us, the

radio or film or gramophone.

Monkeys with our bland grin

on our faces.

D.H. Lawrence, Selected Letters

-o0o-

The World Fair's audience tended to think

of the machine as unqualifiedly good, strong,

stupid, and obedient. They thought of it as

a giant slave, an untiring steel Negro,

controlled by Reason in a world

of infinite resources.

Robert Hughes, The Shock of the New

-o0o-

The best use of time is to enjoy it,

as I do when working in peaceful silence.

I am surprised that anyone with a love for

growing things will take up with artificial

contrivances that come between him and

nature, which break the spell woven by all the

delicate garden influences, the songs of birds

and insects, the sound of rustling leaves,

the smell of freshly turned soil,

the direct contact with the earth. 

What is he in the garden for?

Harlan Hubbard, Payne Hollow:

Llife on the Fringe of Society

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The Chapter is sponsored by Off-White.