Paper 1

Christian Hernandez

ENC 1102: English Composition II

February 3rd, 2024

Paper 1: Assessing Technology

E. M. Forster’s story, “The Machine Stops,” portrays a society entirely dependent on

technology. Humans are entirely dependent on an entity known as “The Machine,” to the point

that, for the most part, they very literally cannot live without it. A man named Kuno implores his

mother to visit him, in person and not through the video call like functionality of the titular

“Machine,” believing “The Machine” to have only cheap imitations of genuine human

interactions, and that it acts as a sort of pseudo-god to people, including his own mother, and

clouds their judgement, despite “The Machine” being a man made thing lacking in any kind of

divinity. Some years later after this visit, “The Machine” begins to break apart. Eventually, it

stops working entirely and Kuno and his mother meet their demise, his mother stating “Oh, to-

morrow — some fool will start the Machine again, to-morrow.” To which he replies “Never,”

said Kuno, “never. Humanity has learnt its lesson.” Although Kuno has faith of humanity

learning from the downfall technology has brought upon them, reality may not be quite the same.

While perhaps not resulting in the same apocalyptic downfall as Forster’s story, it can be inferred

from works such as Jeff Dietrich’s “Refusing to Hope in a God of Technology” that humanity is

unlikely to learn from the mistakes its made with advancing technology, with increasingly

harmful effects on the environment, everlasting wars, and endless corporate greed, there is no

reason to believe in Kuno’s assertion.

 For starters, the sorts of harmful effects on the natural landscape illustrated in E. M.

Forster’s “The Machine Stops,” can already be observed in the modern era. Jeff Dietrich

mentions pollution as a result of advancing technologies many times, such as stating that air

pollution as a secondary effect of the highway system in America is one of the more

recognizable drawbacks to what has been created at this point in society. Since the dawn of the

industrial revolution, factories across the world have poured waste into the seas and pumped

noxious fumes into the skies of planet earth, causing greenhouse gases to increase the

temperature of the earth’s climate. According to National Geographic, the Amazon Rainforest

“absorbs one fourth of CO2 absorbed by all the land on Earth,” but that amount has gone down

by 30% since the 1990s due to increasing consumer demands resulting in deforestation. Dietrich

also cites urban sprawl as a major source of struggle and strife, not dissimilar from the damaged

natural landscape depicted in Forster’s story.

Another point brought up in Dietrich’s narrative of painting a picture of humanity’s

downfall coinciding with the advancement of technology is the wars fought on this planet.

Forster’s story “The Machine Stops” delves deep into the themes of rationality and efficiency,

and how an emphasis on those things drives apart the emotional and interpersonal connections

between people. Such an emotionless and impersonal divide can be seen in the advancement of

how wars are waged. Since essentially the dawn of time, humans have tried to find more and

more efficient ways to kill each other. Sticks and stones turned into swords and spears. Swords

and spears became guns and bombs, and then the guns and bombs became bigger, deadlier guns

and bigger, deadlier bombs. In the words of renowned physicist Albert Einstein, “I do not know

with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks

and stones,” alluding to the destructive nuclear technology humanity has created obliterating all
the progress it has made to that point. The end of “The Machine Stops” sees a conclusion similar

to this phrase. Before the air ship crashed into the city, killing Kuno and his mother, the two of

them imply that the people living on the surface, people known as “the Homeless,” who were

scorned by society and seen as less civilized, would continue humanity, hopefully without any

kind of dependence on “The Machine.” The real world counterpart of Einstein and his warning

about nuclear weapons makes Kuno and his mother’s assertion that humanity will move on

without “The Machine” seem unlikely. Despite the warning signs, humanity still made the

atomic bombs. Developed nations of the world did not immediately retire this technology even

after dropping these bombs on real living, breathing fellow human beings. Then they made even

bigger bombs afterwards. Human desire shapes the future, and desire to create greater

technologies, regardless of even greater dangers, ceases to slow down.

The desire to further technology and human greed are intrinsically linked to one another.

Jeff Dietrich’s “Refusing to Hope in a God of Technology,” dives deep into this greed, and

particularly the class divide created by it. He states, “here in Los Angeles anyone without an

automobile is a de facto second-class citizen.” America’s car-centric society has been

problematic to many citizens for a long time, especially when compared to nations with

improved public transportation systems. Much like Dietrich said, automobile related deaths

throughout the years are ever increasing, and those who cannot afford a car have lesser access to

higher paying jobs, the convenience of fast travel and the social status accompanied with

ownership of something like a vehicle. Despite these facts, little has been done to improve public

transportation or reduce any kind of need for automobiles to improve the lives of poorer citizens.

Functionally, humanity has not “learnt its lesson” as said in Forster’s “The Machine Stops.”
Changes to the existent principles of today’s society to grow and advance technology further, as

well as advance their greed further, are unlikely to occur.

Forster’s “The Machine Stops,” can teach a valuable lesson. A lesson about an obsession

with technology. The obsessive desire and reliance on technology that could lead to devastating

repercussions for humanity. Repercussions such as the destruction of nature, war, and growing

inequality. However, humanity is unlikely to stray from this path. Kuno was mistaken when he

implied no one would ever restart the machine. Human nature is far too cyclical to manage to

avoid becoming greedy, even if such greed could result in repeated calamity.
Works Cited

Forster, E. M. (Edward Morgan), and Rod Mengham. The Machine Stops and Other

Stories. André Deutsch, 1997.

Nardi, Bonnie A., and O’Day Vicki., Framing Conversations about Technology, Cambridge,

Mass, 1999.

Dietrich, Jeff, Refusing to Hope in a God of Technology, National Catholic Reporter, 1997.

“Amazon Deforestation and Climate Change.” Education,

education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/amazon-deforestation-and-climate-change/.

Accessed 3 Feb. 2024.