The Machine Stops

When I was about 16 I had an English teacher who in many ways was responsible for my main interests. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was one book he lent to me which has had a lasting impact.  The other book was a very slight volume he lent to me when he knew I loved science fiction. I read almost anything I could get from the library: Lem, Ballard, Herbert, and I positively devoured Arthur C Clarke. When he said it was written between the wars and was by an author more notable for his novels exploring the class system, I was less than enthusiastic but I tried it. It was called "The Machine Stops"

The world in 1927 cannot be imagined now, it was before the Wall Street crash and all its global ramifications and technology appeared to be the solution of so many problems both of the individual and society. It must have been a time of optimism; the horrors of the Great War were receding, the League of Nations was flourishing and travel was getting easier and quicker. Many writers created utopias out of these trends but "The Machine Stops" took a dystopian view.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvrGUnIFuRs


Forster's future world was an underground hive of cells, interconnected electrically so that information, music, pictures and films could be shared. The human body had become flabby and weak from lack of exercise. The machine in the title was a sort of centralised computer which ran everyone's lives, it fed them, and gave them every bodily comfort. The surface of the world was believed to be too dangerous even to visit without safety equipment. With all the entertainment and information anyone could desire available on a screen, almost everyone in this world stayed in their cells. The book is only fifty odd pages and the very faithful 1960's film is less than an hour. Please read or watch it!


Draw your own comparisons with our world as it is now but please bear in mind that it was written nearly ninety years ago.

When I reread it a week or so ago I realised how good the book was and how I think it should be required reading for teachers, software developers and anyone who cares about being fully human. We're products of the world: we evolved intelligence as a means of survival. We made tools to change our world, and far wiser people* than me have raised the problems of over reliance on the newer tools full of silicon processors. As Forster so presciently showed, our children need to get out there and explore our wonderful world, not just sit at screens pretending to do so. We need to engage in reality to be fully healthy, and I don't mean just physical health. I grew up in a world where I was encouraged to explore and put myself at risk. As my mum said very recently: "You've always managed to do dangerous things safely". Risk is to be managed and enjoyed, not to be run away from.


*Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C Clarke for two.