From coupler-flange to spindle-guide I see Thy Hand, O God
Predestination in the stride o' yon connectin'-rod. ~~~ Rudyard KiplingFrom coupler-flange to spindle-guide I see Thy Hand, O God
Predestination in the stride o' yon connectin'-rod. ~~~ Rudyard Kipling
i beat my machine
it's a part of me
it's inside of me
i'm stuck in this dream
it's changing me
i am becoming...
all pain disappears
it's the nature of my circuitry
drowns out all i hear
there's no escape from this
my new consciousness ~~~ Trent Reznor "the becoming"
Man, upon investigating himself, was enamored of and amazed at the bioprocesses at work within him. The process of conception and creation of life was ever a source of amazement. As technology advanced, curiosity grew, and the process of creating new life--not from biological reproduction but from mechanical production--tempted us into the realm of God. To create life is to have power; to create sentience is to posess magic. Science failed man in the creation of life, but not in the imitation of it. Using his abilities in physics, mechanics, biology, man tinkered with the machinery of God and made imitations of humankind; golems of various sorts. He produced machines that improved the quality of life, and wondering at the possibilities beyond mere mechanical function, conceived robots and androids as servants and companions. These creatures were endowed with strength, language, emotion, and other human or sometimes superhuman attributes. In seeing the productivity and efficiency of these creations, we speculated at the consequences of organic and mechanical enhancements of our biological form and thus a new species of man, Homo machina, was born.
The relationship of Man to Machine is a complex and multilayered one. Man is a creation of God, and Machinery is a creation of Man; therefore, for man to combine the two is somehow at once a sin and a salvation. We trespass the territory of God, and yet begin to free ourselves from the ugliness and inefficiency of humanity. The tendency, however, seems to be that the products of our attempts at perfecting or simply imitating creation become aberrations.
In the realm of Speculative Fiction, the interrelationship mentioned above is treated in a variety of ways. The label on the creation carries certain connotations, and in order to avoid confusion, certain terms must be defined. The concept of a machine and the qualities of machinery are more important for my purposes than are mechanical components (the actual cogs and wheels, nuts and bolts). Associated traits such as emotional coldness, precision, accuracy, durabilility, and dependability transfer with relative ease to the organic system. As a result, the organic machine is programmable and predictable, yet has a more pleasing aesthetic quality about it than does a mere appliance or tool. When we bestow upon the machine human characteristics, our ability to interact with them is enhanced; through coupling those traits with human form, the ability to interact is heightened further. They become more user friendly, at times entering into the position of "pets" or even "companions." As the ratio of human form to mechanical function increases, we relate to the new machine on a diferent sociological level. If the division between human and machine is sufficiently blurred, the otherness of the organic machine may become indistinguishable or even irrelevant.
The center of conflict between man and his creations revolves around not only the issue of sameness, but around slavery as well. With any machine, there is a master/slave relationship. Man dictates processes and programs to be carried out, and the machine complies without hesitation. When the machine malfunctions and aborts or mishandles instructions, it becomes a threat and is dismantled or repaired. The organic machine, however, presents a special problem. There are often variables of self-consciousness, reason, and memory. The development of true sentience, of true life, relies self-awareness of the creation. And once the creation becomes self-aware, it may become dissatisfied with its status in the heirarchical structure. Recognizing its perfected enhanced form as one that surpasses ordinary human capacities, it may elect to establish itself as a sociologically higher order being.
*Homo ex machina is a play on the phrase "Deus Ex Machina" meaning Machinery from God. Here, it becomes Machinery from Man. **te be explained further in a coming revision**
deus ex machina: `god from the machina' (the device by which gods were suspended above the stage in the Greek theatre): cf. machine sb. 6.] A power, event, person, or thing that comes in the nick of time to solve a difficulty; providential interposition, esp. in a novel or play.
The mêchanê was used under various circumstances; but the most ordinary occasion for its employment was to introduce the `deus ex machina' at the end of a play, when affairs had reached such a complicated condition that only divine interference could put them right again.