The Machine Stops
Reading Group Guidelines
https://www.canterbury-cathedral.org/the-machine-stops/
Introductory Note
Over a century ago, when World War I was yet to happen, E.M. Forster wrote The Machine Stops. He predicted a future scenario not unlike that in which we find ourselves today. Forster's portrayal of the ultimate end of technological progress coupled with apathetic materialism is deceptively easy to read. Like all his writing, however, it is beautifully crafted,
According to Wikipedia, the Fantasy Book Review calls The Machine Stops "dystopic and quite brilliant" and says "In such a short novel The Machine Stops holds more horror than any number of gothic ghost stories. Everybody should read it, and consider how far we may go ourselves down the road of technological ‘advancement’ and forget what it truly means to be alive." and rates it as 10 out of 10.
The story is "a chilling tale of a futuristic information-oriented society that grinds to a bloody halt, literally. Some aspects of the story no longer seem so distant in the future." A lecturer in the story provides "a chilling premonition of the George W. Bush administration's derogation of "the reality-based community". (If you have no idea what George W. Bush's administration might have suggested, you can look it up on the internet.)
When I first studied The Machine Stops as a student in the 60s it made very little sense. Video-conferencing, the internet and Artificial Intelligence were still way into the future. By 2020 Will Gompertz could observe: "The Machine Stops is not simply prescient; it is a jaw-droppingly, gob-smackingly, breath-takingly accurate literary description of lockdown life in 2020.
Forster's short story is a gift to today's concerned parent, home-maker, artist, farmer and citizen. It raises every subject of concern today, from care of the land, care of the child, mental and physical health, respect for the arts, nature, to the spiritual life. Above all, he provides a platform for opening up debate on the crucial issue of the role of finance in determining civic rights and responsibilities.
The question is - is it logically inevitable that technological progress will produce a society that cannot sustain itself?
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See below STUDY DOCUMENT 1 by Arshin Adib-Moghaddam (below) "AI can't replace empathy that makes us all human" Catholic Universe, 5 Feb 2021
by Arshin Adib-Moghaddam
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See also: https://www.canterbury-cathedral.org/the-machine-stops/
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Preparation
The first task is to read the story through at least a couple of times - there is so much hidden in each phrase and sentence. Note points you would like to explore. Obviously, the scenario Forster presents is totally unworkable. No human society could function with individuals living in total isolation from each other and from nature. Nevertheless, as Forster so uncannily foretold, that is the way things are going. And if so, it will indeed grind "to a bloody halt".
Forster's scenario is unworkable because the cultural sphere has been denied resources and eliminated by the political and economic spheres working hand in hand. (See eg "Towards a Threefold Commonwealth", New View 98, Winter 2020-2021, and elsewhere in these texts.)
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