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The Machine Pauses

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Re: The Machine Pauses

#3

Post by high_5 »

It's a pattern as old as the technology and civilization dependent on it:

    1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
    2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
    3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.
    4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
    5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
    6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
    7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.
    8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.

    9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
    — Genesis 11:1–9[6]
Replace the brick for silicon and slime for oil and here we are, dwelling up high in the sky, each in our own filter bubble, unable to discuss the important issues that build society, but managing to unravel it every time we try to fix it with more technological solutions.

Re: The Machine Pauses

#4

Post by plastic_teeth »

Sooner or later this is bound to happen and I think the problem is that are too used to things working smoothly and not considering an interruption. Also, time and time again we seem to find it easier to recover from a crisis than to prevent it. It's really strange...

Re: The Machine Pauses

#5

Post by SpicyLemonZest »

plastic_teeth wrote: post #4

Sooner or later this is bound to happen and I think the problem is that are too used to things working smoothly and not considering an interruption. Also, time and time again we seem to find it easier to recover from a crisis than to prevent it. It's really strange...

I used to worry about people not considering interruptions, but I think recent events have convinced me I was being too pessimistic. Almost everything I use, from chairs to obscure condiments to imported canned coffee, can apparently make it to store shelves or my doorstep during an interruption of everything with no precedent in living memory.

Re: The Machine Pauses

#6

Post by fartcannon »

high_5 wrote: post #3

It's a pattern as old as the technology and civilization dependent on it: 1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. 3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. 4 And they said…

Is the lord here just a dick? Why would he do that?

Re: The Machine Pauses

#7

Post by rangibaby »

fartcannon wrote: post #6
high_5 wrote: post #3

It's a pattern as old as the technology and civilization dependent on it: 1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. 3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. 4 And they said…

Is the lord here just a dick? Why would he do that?

“God does something just because he can” is a running theme throughout the Old Testament.

Re: The Machine Pauses

#8

Post by danharaj »

fartcannon wrote: post #6
high_5 wrote: post #3

It's a pattern as old as the technology and civilization dependent on it: 1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. 3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. 4 And they said…

Is the lord here just a dick? Why would he do that?

Why do monsoons knock down trees? God shouldn't be thought of like a very powerful human.

Re: The Machine Pauses

#9

Post by RodgerTheGreat »

fartcannon wrote: post #6
high_5 wrote: post #3

It's a pattern as old as the technology and civilization dependent on it: 1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. 3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. 4 And they said…

Is the lord here just a dick? Why would he do that?

The point of the story is that the humans should know their place. Aspiring to accomplish great things through cooperation, rather than prayer to god, is presented as hubris.

Compare to the older stories of Prometheus, who stole fire from the gods, made mankind less dependent upon the gods, and was thus consigned to eternal torture.

Tyrants hate collectivism more than anything.

Re: The Machine Pauses

#10

Post by theamk »

danharaj wrote: post #8
fartcannon wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is the lord here just a dick? Why would he do that?

Why do monsoons knock down trees? God shouldn't be thought of like a very powerful human.

Monsoons knock down the trees because they have no choice. Lacking any intelligence, they have to follow warm air and pressure differentials.

Is this how you see your god?

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