E.M. Forster’s “The Machine Stops” closely relates to our society today. In the short story, what is left of their society is a broken world controlled by one singular machine. As our own world progresses into this new era filled with the internet and social media, people are slowly becoming more glued to their cellular devices and less involved with other people. This can be compared to the story, as Vashti refuses to see Kuno because they can easily communicate with each other through the Machine. I personally thought that the specific part where Kuno longs to see his mother can be very relatable to kids in our own world. Vashti thinks that it is enough to only talk to her son through a mechanical device, whereas Kuno demands a face to face interaction, even though it is highly risky, because their society took advantage of The Machine so heavily, leaving their own world to rot. Like many children to their parents in reality, many kids feel the longing need to see their family, but only to have their parents give the excuse that they must work, and that communication can be easily done through any video call app, such as FaceTime or Skype. In the story, the reader can see how in the end, as people take advantage of The Machine, the human race deteriorates and the world ends up crumbling apart. If we ourselves cannot control the way we utilize the advantageous tools we have, we are set up for the same fate. A similar example can be the way people rely on cars that consume gas to get from place to place. We consciously send gasses into the air, depleting our ozone layer one step at a time. The same can be applied for factories and any other unit that releases toxic gas in the air. The way that our society uses the internet/electronic devices to complete everyday tasks can lead humans to become dependent on the internet, rather than only referring to it as an assisting aide. Many things that come with the age of the internet come with many advantages yes, but if used in a manipulative manner that controls everyone’s lives, it can very easily lead to the world’s destruction, relating to the same ending as “The Machine Stops”.
Week 1: Response to “The Machine Stops” E.M. Foerster – Hannah Kasak-Gliboff
Machine and technology exist for the most part to improve lives and diminish the hardships or discomfort of completing tasks. In “The Machine Stops” Foerster invents a world in which people have delegated all tasks and reduced all interactions to the Machine. Vashti’s thoughts and dialogue demonstrate an ironic contrast between the uneventfulness of her life and the urgency with which they seek to come up with ideas. Meanwhile, anything that might inspire ideas is hurriedly dismissed. While we use machinery to reduce the effort of completing tasks and leave ourselves time to develop ideas, the development of ideas requires interaction with others in a way that the Machine destroyed. The value and importance of machinery and media is not just the interactiveness between the user and the media but the interaction it facilitates with other people. The story is a grim cautionary tale about human dependence on machinery and a statement that connection, communications, and free thought are put at risk by a life of pure comfort and ease. In relation to this class, the story emphasizes the importance of interpersonal interaction and communication through media, rather than mere interaction with media itself.
Week 1: Response to “The Machine Stops” E.M Forster – Xavier Juhala
This reading was an interesting take on what has become our societies dependence on technology to perform even the most basic human tasks. I think that the fact that Forster is illustrating this in such a way; by showing us this in a dystopian type of story enhances the argument that society is heading towards total dependence on technology. The fact that it is a story makes it interesting to read and puts the argument in a space separate from our own so that we are able to see the truth in it. I think if this was just a rhetorical piece it wouldn’t be nearly as effective as it could easily be dismissed as over the top and just an article trying to scare people. Vashti’s character accurately shows in today’s world our human interactions are becoming diminished as rather than living in the moment we become absorbed in the world within our devices, this is represented in her not even wanting to see her son. Even seeing her son becomes a hassle for her as it seems she would rather stay in her home, absorbed in her comfortable protected world. The “machine” represents this world which we are heading towards and I think that this story serves as a powerful warning that we shouldn’t forget about our human needs and emotions and that we should be cautious on over-reliance of our technology.
Week 1 : Response to “The Machine Stops” E.M. Forster – Samantha Cui
I was fascinated by Forster’s reading “The Machine Stops”. While reading it, I thought it to be futuristic considering the time it was published and it felt like it was really close to everyday life nowadays. Especially for the first part when Kuno and Vashti were having a conversation through the machine. While reading this part, I thought of it to be a useful tool. But then I realized that we do have this “machine” now, facetime on our iPhone. It appears that Vashti is extremely reliant to this machine. Forster writes this reflecting on the issue that someday people will be “controlled” that they can’t live a day without the machine. Even this story was written and published over 100 years, but it is scaringly similar to present day. It shows the ugliness of how some people even choose technology over their family and friends. It emphasizes the damage and changes machines would bring. Living in a time where we are surrounded by machine, it really makes you think a lot.
Week 1: Response to “The Machine Stops” E.M. Foerster – Lily Deng
I can’t help but feel mesmerized when reading Foerster’s “The Machine Stops”. This story vividly insinuates the dependence of people on technology in a dark and sarcastic way, with an interesting conversation between Kuno and Vashti. After finishing this reading, I remembered a saying that’ the furthest distance in the world is that we are together materially, yet we are both absorbed in our cell phones as if we were apart. Inevitably, a great preponderance of people are too addicted to technology that they have lost the abilities of real-life communication in one way or another. At the same time, they blame technology for manipulating them. However, it is not technology’s fault but theirs. The way they rely on tech to a great extent is inappropriate. I am looking forward to reading such fascinating passages next time!