The Machine Stops

Initiated by:
• Ceit

Details

This book can be found online, either for purchase or free PDF reading, and probably in that venerable institution of your local library. Some might recognize the title, some might recognize the author. When you read the story, you will recognize the story! After more than a hundred years, it seems closer than ever to our present, and probably our future. What can we say about "The Machine Stops"? These questions are not essential to the discussion, they're just a starting point. They came off the top of my head. Participants can bring up their own questions in-hangout. 1. Why do you think humans can no longer live on the surface of the Earth? What disaster changed the environment that a pre-nuclear writer would have been thinking about? 2. Why have people become so adverse to first-person experiences? 3. Is there a significance to the beds always being uncomfortable? 4. What is your impression of Vashti's trip? 5. Is the Machine sentient, like HAL or Skynet? Is it merely following its programming like some other sci-fi mechanical monsters? 6. It turns out there are still surface people! How did they survive the disaster that sent the rest underground? 7. What do you understand about society and humanity after reading this story? What are our greatest challenges? Have we avoided the pitfalls Forster thought might exist, or have we run right into them (like some say we have with Orwell's and Huxley's visions of the future)?