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Introduction
Research has been done to determine the link between imagination and reality. Knowledge enables human beings to understand and see what already exists, which is contrary to imagination. Imagination lets human beings create something or situations that have never been seen or existed before. Imagination allows one to create and think the impossible and is mainly shaped by what we hear and see. The current technological advancements that have become a necessity today were people’s imaginations in the past. None of them existed, but their imaginations have become a reality today. Innovators and researchers thrive on imagination to discover things that have never been discovered or create things that have never existed, respectively (Peters 4). “The Machine Stops” story by E.M. Forster is a known science fiction story that imagines the future with significant advancement in technology. Thus, there is a need to analyze the story’s accuracy and link it with the current future in which we live today.
The Machine Stops Plot
The Machine Stops is a science fiction story that was written in 1909 by Edward Morgan Forster. The story is set in times where human beings live underground with the help of a giant machine to provide all the needs, including shelter, food, clothing, and communication. The story portrays a picture where people cannot live on the earth’s surface, and everyone has to live in isolation underground in standard rooms (Forster 1). The omnipotent machine covers that whole world and contains all spiritual and bodily necessities vital for human survival. Communication occurs virtually where people send instant messages or video conferencing to share ideas, knowledge and talk to family members and friends. Even though traveling or movement from one place to another is not prohibited, people rarely travel and find it unnecessary to move from one place to another. This is because they can virtually talk or see whoever they wish to talk to or see with the aid of the machine.
The story has two main characters, Vashti and one of her sons Kuno. The two lived in the machine on different sides of the world, where they could only virtually talk and see each other. Kuno is not contented with the machine and is therefore rebellious, unlike his mother, who adores and worships the machine like many other people worldwide. Vashti is reluctant to leave her room where her life is concentrated and finds it hard to travel to see her son on the other side of the globe (Forster 5). From her room, she can talk to friends, family members and lecture her students in different parts of the world, among other day-to-day activities. Vashti gets angry after realizing her son has been visiting the surface of the earth where he saw other people living outside the machine. This makes Kuno be threatened with homelessness after being captured by the machine, and this would see him expelled out of the machine, which would risk his life.
The machine was treated like a god leading to Technopoly, a type of religion where people worshipped and adored the machine. Those who never embrace the deity of the machine were threatened with homelessness. As time passed, Kuno and Vashti started to live near each other in separate rooms where Kuno started to believe the machine was breaking down or stopping. Vashti ignores her son’s warnings and continues with her life activities normally. Defects on the machine start to appear and continue to deteriorate. People lose the knowledge on how to repair the machine, and after some time, the machine stops and collapses. This brings civilization and Technopoly down, destroying everyone living in it (Forster 20). Before their death, Kuno and Vashti realized that having a connection with the natural world was all that mattered because the surface dwellers will continue to exist even after the machine’s collapse (Forster 24). The two hoped that the surface dweller would learn from the mistake and prevent it from happening again.
The Machine Stops and The Current Future
Forster predicts the future where people will rely heavily on technology to carry out their daily activities and connect or communicate with each other. He visualized a future where human beings will be too artificial, which could end up destroying themselves and ending the civilization era. The machine is a metaphor that represents those at the top of a hierarchy or the government who control people and run all the activities within the system. Technology is an enabler that people rely on to communicate and interact with each other.
In today’s modern world, people have become more of automated machines. According to Góngora Alonso et al. in 2019, this is the current situation where people have become social robots and have started to forget the natural life where they physically interacted and communicated with friends and family members. Buying items, going to work, communicating, and interacting with each other have become involuntary and mechanical, especially after introducing the internet and instant messaging (Góngora Alonso 539). No one can individually question those in power or the government, and those who try to do so put their lives at risk and end up living an oppressed life. People are living in an illusion of happiness that thrives on humans’ greed, leaving a void that makes us slaves of ourselves. However, a few see this as a dangerous move like Kuno, but no one can listen to them, including those who are very close to them.
Technology has brought numerous benefits to all sectors, including healthcare, agriculture, and business. However, with the speed at which technology is advancing daily, governments around the world, especially among the superpowers, are becoming reluctant to control the negative use of technology. Advancement in war and terror machinery and equipment might lead to our destruction if the necessary measures are never put in place. Torres, Phil in 2019 revealed that the information hazards and agential risks are likely to become uncontrollable and will eventually lead to mass destruction of humans, plants, and animals shortly (Torres, Phil 133). Several countries that including the United States, Russia, and the United Kingdom, possess nuclear bombs capable of destroying the world in a blink of an eye. All these risks caused by technological advancement are likely to destroy the world or the society run by governments.
Apart from technological advancement, generational mistakes and ignorance are a significant aspect in the story. At the end of the story, Vashti and her son Kuno lay dying together in Vashti’s room, watching the machine and everyone in it being buried under the earth. The machine was built by their forefathers and had been in existence over the years, and as generations came, they embraced what their parents and grandparents upheld without questioning. Those who did were harshly condemned as foolish and uncivilized, just like Kuno, who was being threatened to be made homeless by the Committee that was making decisions on which punishment those who violated the laid rules would be facing. This has been when those who criticize or challenge the current systems and governments are assassinated or threatened in one way or another to a point where whatever they say becomes meaningless. The majority follow the systems and those in government or the created technologies with no questioning, just like Vashti and other people who lived in the machine.
Even when things are not going in the right way, they live in ignorance and assumption that things are still okay just the way they are. For instance, gas companies in the world continue to produce gas even when it is well known that the gas supply is likely to deplete in about fifty years to come (Seele, Peter 5). This will kill the world’s ozone layer leading to incurable diseases like cancer and irreversible climatic changes, which are likely to wipe humanity out of the face of the earth. Unfortunately, no one questions their activities, and governments continue to give them all the necessary legal support due to the income they generate. This will eventually destroy everyone, the good and the bad, just like in the story where Vashti and her son collapsed with the machine.
Finally, the way people define and express love is significantly drifting from the natural way of life. From the story, Vashti lives on the opposite side of the world with her son, who lives thousands of miles away. In a normal family setting, it is expected that she should be living with her son and show him motherly love. This indicates that family and love will be a thing of the past where people will be more concerned with their jobs and other individual activities and forget their loved ones. Currently, many family members are living in different regions or countries. They are forced to communicate and interact through various mediums such as social media or video conferencing. Unfortunately, people come together when they are faced with a challenge, just like when Vashti and her son lived in one room when they realized that the machine had stopped and was collapsing, but it was too late to make the necessary adjustments.
Conclusion
Life before civilization is completely different from the life that people are living today. A lot has changed, especially in how people live with each other and their families. Even though civilization has brought numerous benefits that could never be achieved, it also has its cons which are portrayed by the story. This is an indication that regardless of the advancements we make as human beings, we should always remember that nature is not threatened in any manner. Our instincts should always be alive regardless of the progress we make. Those who challenge the norm should be listened to because if Vashti listened to his son, she could have taken the necessary actions because she was influential and could easily reach other people in the machine who some of them were her students. ‘The Machine Stops’ is an eye-opener to humanity that predicts how the future might be if no measures are taken.
References
Forster, Edward Morgan. The machine stops. Open Road Media, 2020, pp. 1-25
Góngora Alonso, Susel, et al. “Social robots for people with ageing and dementia: a systematic review of literature.” Telemedicine and e-Health vol. 25, no. 7, 2019, pp. 533-540.
Peters, Michael A. ” ‘Reality is an activity of the most august imagination’. When the world stops, it’s not a complete disaster–we can hear the birds sing!.” 2020, pp. 1-4.
Seele, Peter. “The Long Shadow of Fatalism: A philosophical speculation on forster’s “The Machine Stops” (1909) on the disintegration of technologically advanced societies back then and today.” Philosophy of Management 2021, pp. 1-9.
Torres, Phil. “Who would destroy the world? Omnicidal agents and related phenomena.” Aggression and Violent Behavior Vol. 39, 2018, pp. 129-138.
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