[R. Salisbury]

I read Technics and Civilization quite recently and I thought one of the main points that Mumford was attempting to make was that what we think of as “machines” are actually the exception and not the rule. The form of machine that’s made up of humans and draft animals being ordered through social structure and threats of/actual violence are the classic machine, while the mechanical device made of nonliving, manufactured components is the new, exceptional machine. In fact I remember wishing he had come up with a neologism for the latter and talking about creating one among some anarchist friends who have also read the book. I don’t remember if we ever settled on a term, but it was probably something like “mechanical machine” if we did.

[Author]

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