Comparing Aldous Huxley's 'Time And The Machine'
Technology: Lifes Simplifier
In Aldous Huxley’s, “Time and the Machine” he speaks of time in such a way that nobody would think to appreciate it. Although, some say that time technology has increased our workloads and made us as a society “dumber”: technology has undeniably improved our life style and made knowledge much more accessible. Some say that people today can’t survive in the wilderness as humans used to; I agree 100%. People may not be able to build a house of sticks and mud, but we can have someone build us a fully insulated home equipped with storm shelters, an alarm system, and baby safe toys. People today work as a team to get things accomplished and keep advancing. This bit of Huxley’s, “Time and the Machine” make time, structure, and our whole way of living seem flawed. …show more content…
Time is our tyrant.
We are chronically aware of the moving minute hand, even of the moving second hand. We have to be. There are trains to be caught, clocks to be punched, and tasks to be done in specified periods, records to be broken by fractions of second, machines that set the pace and have to be kept up with. Our consciousness of the smallest units of time is now acute. To us, for example, the moment 8:17 A.M. means something(something very important, if it happens to be the starting time of our daily train. To our ancestors, such an odd eccentric instant was without significance - did not even exist. In inventing the locomotive, Watt and Stevenson were part inventors of time. (Huxley
370-371) In this excerpt Huxley talks about society being aware of this so called “Time Tyrant” because of the advances in technology. He spoke as if humans turned to robots as society advanced. Although, Huxley may have seen the nothing but the bad; whereas I look towards the great! Technology has made advances in Medicine that would make Huxley change his views. Between the advancements in the EKG to a simple flu shot would blow anybody’s mind. It is said, that some people spend too much time on the internet. I don’t remember when the U.S. became communist, but what I do know, is that compared to other countries, the American people try to control everyone else. Last time I checked, if the so called “computer nerds” want to be on the internet then there is no problem with them doing so. You have to remember, that it is this fine group of “brainiacs” that create our excellent audio and video software that we possess today; these being just a few of many wonderful items created by this labeled group of extraordinary people. There are a few advancements in Technology that some families couldn’t mentally live without; one of those items being the web cam. There are many business people that travel very often and many which have families. Being away from your family for extended periods of time can be very tough; if you don’t own a web cam, chances are that you do own a cell phone. I’ve heard cell phones called a computer in your pocket, and with that you can stay connected everywhere you go. Even though it seems frustrating when it doesn’t stop ringing, it’s even more frustrating when you don’t have it when you need it. On a more serious note, being able to stay in touch with family that is in the military is more important than anything any other technological advancement for me personally. I have three family members in the military and a hand full of my closest friends so being able to keep in touch with them is very important to me. There are advancements in our food industry that would blow people of the 19th centuries mind out of the water. Between our two thousand mile overnight pizza deliveries to food from every culture on each block corner. The extended variety of produce has given people across the world the opportunity to enjoy different foods that they wouldn’t be able to enjoy. The employment opportunities that the food industry has created are tremendous in numbers; according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and Employment, “In 2006, the food manufacturing industry provided 1.5 million jobs. Almost all employees were wage and salary workers; only a few were self-employed and unpaid family workers.” These numbers are consistent for the U.S. alone. Although we may not live a perfect world, this is the best that we humans have made it. We will always keep moving forward and keep doing what we feel is best. Benjamin Franklin once said, “Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.” With Technology we have, and will continue to improve our lives, achieve our goals, and stay successful within ourselves. It seems if Technology has no negatives, but in today’s society people need something to complain about, so why not?
Works Cited
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Career Guide to Industries, 2008-09 Edition, Food Manufacturing, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/cgs011.htm (visited July 30, 2009 ).
Huxley, Aldous, Time and the Machine (370-371)
Reading Literature & Writing Argument, Third Edition
By Missy James and Alan P. Merickel
Copyright 2008, 2005,2002 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Published by Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
ThinkExist.com Quotations, Benjamin Franklin Quotes, on the Internet at http://thinkexist.com/quotation/the_only_thing_more_expensive_than_education_is/154988.html (visited July 30, 2009).
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In Aldous Huxley’s, “Time and the Machine” he speaks of time in such a way that nobody would think to appreciate it. Although, some say that time technology has increased our workloads and made us as a society “dumber”: technology has undeniably improved our life style and made knowledge much more accessible. Some say that people today can’t survive in the wilderness as humans used to; I agree 100%. People may not be able to build a house of sticks and mud, but we can have someone build us a fully insulated home equipped with storm shelters, an alarm system, and baby safe toys. People today work as a team to get things accomplished and keep advancing. This bit of Huxley’s, “Time and the Machine” make time, structure, and our whole way of living seem flawed. …show more content…
Time is our tyrant.
We are chronically aware of the moving minute hand, even of the moving second hand. We have to be. There are trains to be caught, clocks to be punched, and tasks to be done in specified periods, records to be broken by fractions of second, machines that set the pace and have to be kept up with. Our consciousness of the smallest units of time is now acute. To us, for example, the moment 8:17 A.M. means something(something very important, if it happens to be the starting time of our daily train. To our ancestors, such an odd eccentric instant was without significance - did not even exist. In inventing the locomotive, Watt and Stevenson were part inventors of time. (Huxley
370-371) In this excerpt Huxley talks about society being aware of this so called “Time Tyrant” because of the advances in technology. He spoke as if humans turned to robots as society advanced. Although, Huxley may have seen the nothing but the bad; whereas I look towards the great! Technology has made advances in Medicine that would make Huxley change his views. Between the advancements in the EKG to a simple flu shot would blow anybody’s mind. It is said, that some people spend too much time on the internet. I don’t remember when the U.S. became communist, but what I do know, is that compared to other countries, the American people try to control everyone else. Last time I checked, if the so called “computer nerds” want to be on the internet then there is no problem with them doing so. You have to remember, that it is this fine group of “brainiacs” that create our excellent audio and video software that we possess today; these being just a few of many wonderful items created by this labeled group of extraordinary people. There are a few advancements in Technology that some families couldn’t mentally live without; one of those items being the web cam. There are many business people that travel very often and many which have families. Being away from your family for extended periods of time can be very tough; if you don’t own a web cam, chances are that you do own a cell phone. I’ve heard cell phones called a computer in your pocket, and with that you can stay connected everywhere you go. Even though it seems frustrating when it doesn’t stop ringing, it’s even more frustrating when you don’t have it when you need it. On a more serious note, being able to stay in touch with family that is in the military is more important than anything any other technological advancement for me personally. I have three family members in the military and a hand full of my closest friends so being able to keep in touch with them is very important to me. There are advancements in our food industry that would blow people of the 19th centuries mind out of the water. Between our two thousand mile overnight pizza deliveries to food from every culture on each block corner. The extended variety of produce has given people across the world the opportunity to enjoy different foods that they wouldn’t be able to enjoy. The employment opportunities that the food industry has created are tremendous in numbers; according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and Employment, “In 2006, the food manufacturing industry provided 1.5 million jobs. Almost all employees were wage and salary workers; only a few were self-employed and unpaid family workers.” These numbers are consistent for the U.S. alone. Although we may not live a perfect world, this is the best that we humans have made it. We will always keep moving forward and keep doing what we feel is best. Benjamin Franklin once said, “Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.” With Technology we have, and will continue to improve our lives, achieve our goals, and stay successful within ourselves. It seems if Technology has no negatives, but in today’s society people need something to complain about, so why not?
Works Cited
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Career Guide to Industries, 2008-09 Edition, Food Manufacturing, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/cgs011.htm (visited July 30, 2009 ).
Huxley, Aldous, Time and the Machine (370-371)
Reading Literature & Writing Argument, Third Edition
By Missy James and Alan P. Merickel
Copyright 2008, 2005,2002 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Published by Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
ThinkExist.com Quotations, Benjamin Franklin Quotes, on the Internet at http://thinkexist.com/quotation/the_only_thing_more_expensive_than_education_is/154988.html (visited July 30, 2009).
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