The myth of the machine
by Lewis Mumford · first published 1967
83% recommend17% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Dense historical and philosophical account of how technology and social organization co-evolved, especially the idea of the modern megamachine; suited to readers interested in technology and society.
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Check out The Myth of the Machine by Lewis Mumford, specifically the second volume The Pentagon of Power, which gets into the idea of the modern "megamachine"
on “MailChimp deleted my account with no warning” ↗For Lewis Mumford [0] maybe "Myth of the Machine" - with his concept of "megatechnics" - is more readable than the earlier "Technics and Civilisation", but his earlier insights seem ever more relevant. For Neil Postman [1] the standard reader is "Technopoly",…
on “Ivan Illich: A Forgotten Prophet Whose Time Has Come (2021)” ↗This article doesn't actually seem to explore too much the deep origins and cultural impact of this mode of modeling. Lewis Mumford for instance in The Myth of the Machine all the way in 1970 wrote much better about the limitations of this way of thinking, that didn't do the heavy philosophizing of Baudrillard. The fact that models are necessary constructs, but are merely…
on “How much of the world is it possible to model?” ↗…positive transformation, then for me Aldous Huxley's "Heaven and Hell" (which contains "Doors of Perceptions"), Erich Fromm's "To Have or to Be", Lewis Mumford's "Technics and Civilization" and his "The Myth of the Machine". YMMV, but for me all of these were "radical" in challenging my purely rational, instrumental, and I think very limited ideas of knowledge, technology and "progress" that I held as a younger scientist/engineer.
on “What's the most radical book you've read?” ↗Walden, by Thoreau The Myth of the Machine, by Lewis Mumford Cloud Hidden, by Alan Watts Computer Lib/Dream Machines, by Ted Nelson (Technology purpose and arrow) The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, by William L. Shirer Small is Beautiful,…
on “Ask HN: What books influenced your moral compass?” ↗These are good questions. Here are some reading sources to help with your exploration of the subject: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Myth_of_the_Machine https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technics_and_Civilization https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Weber https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bureaucracy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systemantics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Question_Concerning_Techno...…
on “Eliminating Toil” ↗Lewis Mumford wrote some very interesting books about technology and society: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technics_and_Civilization https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Myth_of_the_Machine
on “Ask HN: Good Books on the History of Technology?” ↗…takeaway after a brief skimming is that the author is talking about how the modern world tries to solve social problems with technology, leading to bias in solutions that were assumed to be neutral (the myth of the machine)
on “The Myth of the Machine” ↗