The Machine is epitomised in a friend's stressful encounter. A £2.50 toll paid to use a short tunnel was not recorded by 'the Machine' and this is has now escalated into a fine of £100s for 'non/late payment', orchestrated by a contracted-out private debt-collector firm working on behalf of the privatised tunnel owner. Repeated phone-calls to try and sort out the mess die a death in the auto-machine response algorithm.
I should add, I like your notion of “mythos” better than, say, terms like “worldview”. The latter term is not wrong, but mythos captures the sense not only of the wider view (narrative/story) we have about the world, but it’s larger-than-life quality, its monumental implications—literally, the mythic. In this sense, we can rightfully say that even the purely rationalist view is a mythos, not because there is any god in rationalism, but because, like a god, it has an all-encompassing power over an individual’s perspective and how they see the world.
Peco- Thanks so much for your comment here. Yes, I wrestled with using the term "worldview" but to your point it didn't feel right. I got the sense that worldview was more of an internally worked out opinion about the world rather than something that exists outside of persons or society.
I’ve always thought of “the Machine” as the physical manifestations of demonic forces. Yes I believe in demons, and their end goal is the destruction of the human soul. Exactly what the Machine is doing.
> This is a good place to start but we cannot end there because it is hard to resist something that we do not understand.
On the other hand, it's even harder to resist something if you need to understand it with great nuance in order to do so.
At least it's harder to have people resist something like that in any great number.
What The Machine is should be conveyed as to be easy to grasp - and easy to intuitively recognize and identify in the misfortunes and ills in one's personal experience.
Well, glad that something good came of my misunderstanding at least. I’ll do my best to appreciate the clarity.
I think it was the Tower of Babel metaphor that actually made me get it: looking at the Machine not just as an apparatus but a spirit of the age. Not hard to see the Tower of Babel parallels today, of course.
The Machine is epitomised in a friend's stressful encounter. A £2.50 toll paid to use a short tunnel was not recorded by 'the Machine' and this is has now escalated into a fine of £100s for 'non/late payment', orchestrated by a contracted-out private debt-collector firm working on behalf of the privatised tunnel owner. Repeated phone-calls to try and sort out the mess die a death in the auto-machine response algorithm.
I'm reminded of a phrase used by historian James Connelly ... it is "so sweeping and inclusive as to be vague in its full dimensions."
Wow. Great quote.
James- What was this quote in reference to?
Grant, Connelly, writing in 1960, was speaking of "Modernism." best wishes, Jim.
Thanks for these reflections, Grant.
My own thoughts on the Machine are sketched out here:
https://pilgrimsinthemachine.substack.com/p/build-a-songbird-compass-agency-communion
I should add, I like your notion of “mythos” better than, say, terms like “worldview”. The latter term is not wrong, but mythos captures the sense not only of the wider view (narrative/story) we have about the world, but it’s larger-than-life quality, its monumental implications—literally, the mythic. In this sense, we can rightfully say that even the purely rationalist view is a mythos, not because there is any god in rationalism, but because, like a god, it has an all-encompassing power over an individual’s perspective and how they see the world.
Peco- Thanks so much for your comment here. Yes, I wrestled with using the term "worldview" but to your point it didn't feel right. I got the sense that worldview was more of an internally worked out opinion about the world rather than something that exists outside of persons or society.
I'm going to have to borrow your "mythos" term at some point!
I’ve always thought of “the Machine” as the physical manifestations of demonic forces. Yes I believe in demons, and their end goal is the destruction of the human soul. Exactly what the Machine is doing.
Great essay. Have you read "Technopoly" by Postman? I just finished it, and I can see the intersections with what you've laid out here.
> This is a good place to start but we cannot end there because it is hard to resist something that we do not understand.
On the other hand, it's even harder to resist something if you need to understand it with great nuance in order to do so.
At least it's harder to have people resist something like that in any great number.
What The Machine is should be conveyed as to be easy to grasp - and easy to intuitively recognize and identify in the misfortunes and ills in one's personal experience.
Nick- Thanks so much for this insight.
Well, glad that something good came of my misunderstanding at least. I’ll do my best to appreciate the clarity.
I think it was the Tower of Babel metaphor that actually made me get it: looking at the Machine not just as an apparatus but a spirit of the age. Not hard to see the Tower of Babel parallels today, of course.
I wouldn't call it a mistake. I use the "machine" in similiar ways. Trying to get to the heart of the matter.