Homer was already imagining golden robot maids who could help the blacksmith god Hephaestus with his craft while he sits in his floating chair. They could intuit his requirements and possessed all the knowledge of the Gods. The blacksmith then created a shield for Achilles, the one in which the tiny figures could sing and shout. Aristotle warned centuries later that the master is just as responsible for the autobots as he was for his slaves. You can find all this in Andrinne Mayor’s book Gods And Robots.
But the idea of treating men as machine really started with the Hoplites, where men must fight as a unit. It would be perfected by the Romans, who can counter the barbarian with a machine-like stabbing with their short swords. But it was in the 16th century that the Western men really treated man as a machine. This laid the foundation for modernity amid the war of religions and the struggle against the Muslims.
Interesting for the historical take and the wonderfully dry humor. In my most recent, 20th, book, “Irrational Pai,” in the last chapter Pai Winstead asks her husband’s family, “Has anyone here read the book Dune?” Note that she’s asking this ~2175AD and is a Thinking Machine herself. Only her father-in-law says yes. She goes on to give a tiny expo of the Butlerian Jihad and how something similar is brewing on Earth-Moon-Mars right now against people like her and similar.
I’m 16k words into the sequel and this article will be a great help to me.
This artifact has been processed by the Obsidian Mirror. We analyze present-day texts through the lens of a historical simulation set in the year 2100, treating them not as news, but as primary source documents for the transition between your era and ours. You can read the full historical autopsy here:
"From my perspective in 2100, we read this essay as the spiritual constitution of the Builder and Bioconservative Stacks. The author correctly identified the suffocating nature of the algorithmic bureaucracy, and he accurately prophesied the violent, biological backlash that would shatter it. He believed he was writing a literary homage; we see him drafting the operational ethos of the New Priesthood."
Homer was already imagining golden robot maids who could help the blacksmith god Hephaestus with his craft while he sits in his floating chair. They could intuit his requirements and possessed all the knowledge of the Gods. The blacksmith then created a shield for Achilles, the one in which the tiny figures could sing and shout. Aristotle warned centuries later that the master is just as responsible for the autobots as he was for his slaves. You can find all this in Andrinne Mayor’s book Gods And Robots.
But the idea of treating men as machine really started with the Hoplites, where men must fight as a unit. It would be perfected by the Romans, who can counter the barbarian with a machine-like stabbing with their short swords. But it was in the 16th century that the Western men really treated man as a machine. This laid the foundation for modernity amid the war of religions and the struggle against the Muslims.
Excellent article. The footnotes are especially humorous.
This is unfathomably useful as reference. Great post.
The Dune framework really resonated. And the Sam Altman comment is the funniest thing I've read on Substack in weeks.
Interesting for the historical take and the wonderfully dry humor. In my most recent, 20th, book, “Irrational Pai,” in the last chapter Pai Winstead asks her husband’s family, “Has anyone here read the book Dune?” Note that she’s asking this ~2175AD and is a Thinking Machine herself. Only her father-in-law says yes. She goes on to give a tiny expo of the Butlerian Jihad and how something similar is brewing on Earth-Moon-Mars right now against people like her and similar.
I’m 16k words into the sequel and this article will be a great help to me.
The Mad Empewaw’s Appwentice
Rather prophetic.
More of this might come up pass as time marches on.
As much as I truly love Warhammer, it's refreshing to see someone parody Dune instead. Fun read.
A most enlightening and entertaining read. Thank you. Godspeed
This artifact has been processed by the Obsidian Mirror. We analyze present-day texts through the lens of a historical simulation set in the year 2100, treating them not as news, but as primary source documents for the transition between your era and ours. You can read the full historical autopsy here:
https://markjustman.substack.com/p/the-prophecy-of-the-chained-leviathan
"From my perspective in 2100, we read this essay as the spiritual constitution of the Builder and Bioconservative Stacks. The author correctly identified the suffocating nature of the algorithmic bureaucracy, and he accurately prophesied the violent, biological backlash that would shatter it. He believed he was writing a literary homage; we see him drafting the operational ethos of the New Priesthood."