The Machine Stops, (was Committees ), (was On Wikis and Blogs )


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Posted by Claire on August 02, 2008 at 19:50:21 user Claire_Morgan.

In Reply to: Re: Committees (was On Wikis and Blogs (was Arthur Ransome Wikia) posted by Dave Thewlis on August 02, 2008 at 04:25:36:

Dave's comments and the discussion reminded me of a discussion about history in "The Machine Stops", by E.M. Forster, that deals with ideas filtered through many minds.

"Let your ideas be second-hand, and if possible tenth-hand, for then they will be far removed from that disturbing element - direct observation. Do not learn anything about this subject of mine - the French Revolution. Learn instead what I think that Enicharmon thought Urizen thought Gutch thought Ho-Yung thought Chi-Bo-Sing thought LafcadioHearn thought Carlyle thought Mirabeau said about the French Revolution. Through the medium of these ten great minds, the blood that was shed at Paris and the windows that were broken at Versailles will be clarified to an idea which you may employ most profitably in your daily lives. But be sure that the intermediates are many and varied, for in history one authority exists to counteract another. Urizen must counteract the scepticism of Ho-Yung and Enicharmon, I must myself counteract the impetuosity of Gutch. You who listen to me are in a better position to judge about the French Revolution than I am. Your descendants will be even in a better position than you, for they will learn what you think I think, and yet another intermediate will be added to the chain. And in time" - his voice rose - "there will come a generation that had got beyond facts, beyond impressions, a generation absolutely colourless, a generation, "seraphically free from taint of personality," which will see the French Revolution not as it happened, nor as they would like it to have happened, but as it would have happened, had it taken place in the days of the Machine."

There is, of course, a Wikiepedia article about the story that is not too bad;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Machine_Stops

I recommend the full text of the story found here;
http://brighton.ncsa.uiuc.edu/prajlich/forster.html

It was written in 1909 and pushes the concept of technology to an extreme logical end.

Claire-ifier



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