> > > Still, it is somewhat aggravating, and kind
> of
> > > scary, to realize just how dependent you've
> > > become on a machine...
> >
> > You're much more dependant on machines
> than that. You would probably starve to death
> without machines. Harvesting machines,
> packaging machines, freezers, trucks and
> planes and stuff to transport the food...
>
> ...and I realize that. That's part of what makes it
> a bit scary. Machines (more specifically,
> computers) have some control over almost
> every aspect of my life! I can operate my car
> and get where I need to go, but only because
> of a computer inside it that translates my
> inputs into actions. Computers run the traffic
> lights that keep me from crashing into other
> motorists every time I travel through a busy
> intersection.

I don't quite "get" that. Yes, machines do a lot of work - but it's not like they were beamed down here by an unknown alien race. We made them. We designed them specifically to do what they do. As such, the chances of the machines having some sort of sinister agenda of their own or somesuch are slim.

Basically, what it all comes down to is, man can't do everything by hand. In fact, in terms of simply raw physical ability, man has no right to be the dominant species on the planet - but there you are. Man's strength is that, while all the other animals on Earth evolve and adapt slowly over long periods of time, he can sort of "instantly" evolve through the use of tools. If an animal needs to be able to fly, its offspring tend more and more toward being able to fly over many generations until, finally, they can. If man needs to be able to fly, wackos build bicycles with wings and stuff until somebody finally gets the right design.

Machines aren't unnatural by any means. They are made by natural creatures from natural resources. I understand your concerns about mechanical failure, but, well, that's the entropy principle at work. And I think you'll find machines prone to a far smaller failure rate than men doing the same jobs - especially since many machines, like the aforementioned traffic lights and network hardware, work all the time.

Machines aren't "controlling" your life, as such; if anything, they're giving you *more* flexibility. Without machines, you'd not have a choice but to work within walking distance of your (unheated, uncooled) home. Unless, of course, you had a horse, which would expand your range to a few miles. More likely than not, you'd be working in agriculture, and you'd be working the fields entirely by hand.

So my point, as I said, is that I don't understand that feeling of "trapped by the machines" that you and many other people express. To my thinking, machines make the world a much less confining place, and allow us freedom and flexibility that we'd never have otherwise. For example, without machines, and without computers, you wouldn't even have the term "(cr)," and you *certainly* wouldn't be able to insert one at the end of every single line you type into a text entry field. ;-}

- D