Comparing The Machine Stops And Darwin Among The Machines

Butler (under the pseudonym Cellarius) wrote the letter, “Darwin among the Machines,” 46 years before Forster (whose story, “The Machine Stops,” was published 107 years ago). It is hard to believe that two stories with a similar tone could have been written so long ago. What is even more incredible is that they both seem to relate to present day society. How could two people (both from a time when technology was in its infancy) could write stories that could have been written about our time or even in our near future? The concept that machines will surpass mankind is something that society is dealing with right now. While “The Machine Stops” is more science fiction than “Darwin among the Machines”, it is no less concerning.
“The Machine Stops” and “Darwin among the Machines” are two different but similar stories. Butler’s could even be the introduction to Forster’s. “The
We are creating our successors. We give them life without the flaws of mankind; just as Forster’s machine was created. The difference between Butler’s idea of the machine and Forster’s is the fact that mankind did not feed the machine and become its slave (in “The Machine Stops”). The machine and then mankind died in Forster’s story, because they were co-dependent upon each other. They were like Butler’s example of man and dog. If the animals were to die then man would die. The same would happen in real life. Butler also wrote that if man dies then the machines will also “die” Even though machine will be supreme to mankind, they will still need us, which is also true to real life. That is not the case in “The Machine Stops.” The machine was in charge and oversaw all, but was more a slave to the people than the people to it. The people did not care for it or tend to its needs as one would