The Myth of the Machine, Volume 1An in-depth look at the forces that have shaped modern technology since prehistoric times. Mumford criticizes the modern trend of technology, which emphasizes constant, unrestricted expansion, production, and replacement. He contends that these goals work against technical perfection, durability, social efficiency, and overall human satisfaction. Modern technology fails to produce lasting, quality products by using devices such as consumer credit, installment buying, non-functioning and defective designs, built-in fragility, and frequent superficial "fashion" changes. "Without constant enticement by advertising," he writes, "production would slow down and level off to normal replacement demand. Otherwise many products could reach a plateau of efficient design which would call for only minimal changes from year to year." |
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Page 31
... whole story reads quite differently . Sentient creatures of any order , even the lowly amoeba , seem to be extremely rare and precious culminations of the whole cosmic process : so much so that the organism of a tiny ant , arrested in ...
... whole story reads quite differently . Sentient creatures of any order , even the lowly amoeba , seem to be extremely rare and precious culminations of the whole cosmic process : so much so that the organism of a tiny ant , arrested in ...
Page 42
... whole year must usually pass before an infant can walk : a still longer period before its babblings take form in ... whole over which the mind presides . Without contact with the greater whole - the domain of significance- man feels ...
... whole year must usually pass before an infant can walk : a still longer period before its babblings take form in ... whole over which the mind presides . Without contact with the greater whole - the domain of significance- man feels ...
Page 248
... whole period as backward in technology because of slavery reflects only a stereotyped academic judgement , which unfortunately was crystallized be- fore the contrary evidence came to light . Now what applies to the Greeks applies no ...
... whole period as backward in technology because of slavery reflects only a stereotyped academic judgement , which unfortunately was crystallized be- fore the contrary evidence came to light . Now what applies to the Greeks applies no ...
Contents
PROLOGUE | 3 |
THE MINDFULNESS OF MAN | 14 |
IN THE DREAMTIME LONG AGO | 48 |
Copyright | |
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abstract achieved activities agriculture ancestors ancient animal Aurignacian became beginning Benedictine Bertrand Gille brain Bushmen Çatal Hüyük cave cave paintings century cities civilization command complex consciousness cosmic creature cultivation divine domestication dream earliest economy economy of abundance effective effort Egypt Egyptian environment established esthetic evidence existence fact functions gods Homo sapiens human culture hunter hunting images institution interpretation Iron Age king kingship labor language later Leonardo London machine Magdalenian magic means megamachine ment merely mesolithic Mesopotamia military mind mode modern myth nature needed neolithic Oakes Ames observation once organization original paintings paleolithic paleolithic art pattern performed physical plants play possible practice primitive production rational religion ritual royal sacred sacrifice sexual significant social society species speech stone Sumer Sumerian survival symbolic technical thousand tion tool-making traits village watermill weapons whole words York