How is the lifestyle from The Machine Stops related to our world today?
The Machine Stops is set in the future in an age where aboveground Earth is uninhabitable. Thanks to advancements in technology, residents have the privilege of living in hexagonal-shaped rooms equipped to serve all of their needs. All lives are surrounded by the Machine, which controls their thoughts and performs their actions so they don't have to. Ultimately, the heavy reliance on the Machine leads to the downfall of civilization. From our perspective, such a civilization far from our own. We may think that we are nowhere near reaching the level of codependency on technology in The Machine Stops. But realistically, the path we're continuing down says otherwise. To properly assess our current state in comparison to The Machine Stops, we must take a step back and ask ourselves, how different are we really from the society in The Machine Stops?
One of the most striking differences in The Machine Stops is the lack of human interaction. Individuals communicate via the Machine, where facial expressions and nuances
of the human voice are incapable of being captured. Some even prefer isolation and being in control of who, when, and how they interact with others. The preference of communicating behind screens manifests itself in today's world in a manner that many of us are far too familiar with. Texting-- which does not necessitate an immediate response-- gives us a sense of control over the conversation and is therefore preferable to speaking at times. Occasionally, human interaction even seems like a chore. After all, why should we communicate in person when we have the power of FaceTime at our fingertips? Both The Machine Stops and the modern day share the same preference of being antisocial. The same way Vashti favored video calling over traveling to see Kuno in person, many of us would rather communicate via technology than see our friends in person.
The Machine Stops is set in the future in an age where aboveground Earth is uninhabitable. Thanks to advancements in technology, residents have the privilege of living in hexagonal-shaped rooms equipped to serve all of their needs. All lives are surrounded by the Machine, which controls their thoughts and performs their actions so they don't have to. Ultimately, the heavy reliance on the Machine leads to the downfall of civilization. From our perspective, such a civilization far from our own. We may think that we are nowhere near reaching the level of codependency on technology in The Machine Stops. But realistically, the path we're continuing down says otherwise. To properly assess our current state in comparison to The Machine Stops, we must take a step back and ask ourselves, how different are we really from the society in The Machine Stops?
One of the most striking differences in The Machine Stops is the lack of human interaction. Individuals communicate via the Machine, where facial expressions and nuances
of the human voice are incapable of being captured. Some even prefer isolation and being in control of who, when, and how they interact with others. The preference of communicating behind screens manifests itself in today's world in a manner that many of us are far too familiar with. Texting-- which does not necessitate an immediate response-- gives us a sense of control over the conversation and is therefore preferable to speaking at times. Occasionally, human interaction even seems like a chore. After all, why should we communicate in person when we have the power of FaceTime at our fingertips? Both The Machine Stops and the modern day share the same preference of being antisocial. The same way Vashti favored video calling over traveling to see Kuno in person, many of us would rather communicate via technology than see our friends in person.
Vashti, described as a "swaddled lump of flesh," is depicted as such due to her sedentary lifestyle. By reducing Vashti to a pile of mush, Forster emphasizes the dehumanizing nature of the Machine. Our appearances have definitely changed, too, to say the least. Advancements in technology make tasks that would ordinarily require movement doable with the click of a button. Movies can be viewed from the comfort of our beds rather than going to the movie theater. Online shopping is rapidly replacing in-store shopping. The convenience of technology is responsible for the lack of activity among society, and thereby also responsible for our ever-expanding bodies. Like the individuals in The Machine Stops, we spend our days locked in a room and staring at a screen.
Perhaps the most relevant of all is the level of technological dependence seen in The Machine Stops. Being away from their rooms is deeply uncomfortable for the habitants, as shown by Vashti's feelings while in the airship. Vashti reacts strongly to anything out of the ordinary-- from a malfunctioning blind to inadvertent human contact. Vashti, like the rest of us, is a creature of habit. When anything deviates from the norm, she responds with discomfort and even hostility. Vashti's experience on the airship is comparable to visiting a place without WiFi. Without the comforts of her the Machine and our WiFi, we feel as if we've lost connection (literally) with the rest of the world. Vashti's ignorant reliance on technology will eventually lead to her downfall. Having lived with the Machine for all of her life, she cannot bear to be independent from it-- the same way we feel incomplete without WiFi.
Despite being written in 1909, The Machine Stops shares a surprising amount of parallels with our world today. Although the world of the Machine seems millenniums away, it's closer than we think. The next time you critique a dystopia, don't forget to reflect on the one you're living in.
Photo credits:
“Antisocial Woman Pretends to Be Blind for 28 Years So She Wouldn't Have to Greet People.” Oddity Central - Collecting Oddities, 2 June 2017, www.odditycentral.com/news/antisocial-woman-pretends-to-be-blind-for-28-years-so-she-wouldnt-have-to-greet-people.html.
I must say, your topic is RATHER SIMILAR TO MINE (just kidding, I guess great minds just think alike). One part of your post I really agreed with was when you were talking about how texting can sometimes be way easier than talking to people in person. I definitely find myself having more of my serious conversations through text, because it's more comfortable. I can think about my messages and read through them a bunch of times before sending them, so that I'm confident about what I'm saying. I find that the "thinking on your feet" aspect of in-person conversations can honestly be pretty difficult, and it'll probably just get worse as we get older and talk about different things.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog post May!
ReplyDeleteI agree with your points -- as mentioned in our class discussion, the concept of the story is alarmingly similar to how we live our lives today, but obviously a bit more exaggerated. But I could definitely see something like this happening in the near future if we continue to live how we do today. I found it kind of scary how it was written in 1909 but kind of predicted the decrease in human interaction and our extreme dependency on technology today.
Hi May,
ReplyDeleteYour points make sense and are well-supported. I particularly like (and agreed with) the last point relating our reliance on WiFi to this world's reliance on the machine. You also consider lack of human interaction and exercise, but I object slightly to these points. I personally still prefer meeting up with friends and person, and exercising for fitness is still quite important.
I wonder whether if you analyzed the homogeneity of our society, how we would measure up to the world of "The Machine Stops". The story emphasizes how uniform humans are over the globe, and I don't think that is quite the case for us. In fact, we are celebrating our differences more and more as the time passes (I hope). Either way, a thought-provoking post. Nice job!
Given that the main purpose of this post is to relate the Machine to our present times, I believe that you have wonderfully succeeded in doing so. You do a great job highlighting what exactly makes us eerily similar to Vashti - depending a bit too much on technology, often preferring to not leave our homes to go visit friends, etc. Your last paragraph makes me wonder if Forster meant to predict how technology would affect us. I think we’ve already discussed that already in class, but it’s still an interesting thing to think about. Overall, great post!
ReplyDeleteI think another gawking similarity to our modern world is the idea that primary information is bad in some way. Credibility is one thing, but learning hands on can be important too. It's interesting to see how Vashti as a "lump of flesh" rejects completely the idea of visiting places because of humanity's dependency on the Machine.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the connection you made with wifi through the machine. Even though this story was written before out time, it's almost as if it was written for our predictable future. I never thought how the machine was a function for connecting to other people much like Wifi nowadays.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your points! I think the "Machine" in our lives is our phones. Just like in the story, we are reliant on it. We use it to get places (GPS or Uber), to order food, taking pictures, and, like you said, to communicate with people (rather than talking to people face to face), along wth a million other things. I think most people would be lost without their phones, and it would be interesting to see our society if we suddenly didn't have smartphones anymore.
ReplyDeleteI liked your ending where you mentioned that we might be living in a dystopia of our own. As you pointed out, our modern world shares eerily similar features to those of The Machine Stop (Such as your Wifi Comparison). I also find your ideas regarding social interactions noteworthy. With so much technology that enables communication such as cell phones or video calling, its only natural that humans shift away from actual interaction to our screens. However I also think that, for more interpersonal matters, face to face interactions will remain the norm. (Unless we get holograms that simulate it).
ReplyDeleteI agree that, through the medium of text, we lose most emotion, and that we sit in our rooms all day is also factual. However, for me personally, I vastly prefer talking to someone in person over text, for that exact reason. Its much easier for me to react to the situation and in general its more fun. I also dissent from your idea that our lack of WiFi is equivalent to Vashti's discomfort at being away from the machine. I do not think the two are quite comparable, as even though they both vastly change the way we live, The Machine is much more so, controlling essentially every aspect of your life.
ReplyDeleteDo you ever find it eye-opening when we have a power outage? Most people are stuck in a haze, unsure of what to do. It's quite funny when you think of it.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the way we interact today has become detrimental to our physical lives. We're addicted to the convenience of technology. We don't have to be afraid of writing out what we think since we can edit our comments later. We can ignore someone or be emotionally detached from our opinions. Whether we'll actually reach the point where we become like the machine is something I can't predict, however, our awareness is already proof we'll be alright for this generation.