American Lit: What's your thought?

“The semantic shock the sentence is likely to give us today is rooted not only in the shift from human to machine labor, but also in the feeling that a kinship category essential to human society has been violated….My mother was a computer can be understood as alluding to the displacement of Mother Nature by the Universal Computer.”

I was shocked to learn that at one point in time computers were referred to as people who were paid to do calculation. This change in the definition/classification of computer shows our shift from human labor to machine labor. Machines and technology are slowly taking over almost every facet of our life where all sorts of devices do things once done by hand. We are relying more and more on technology losing touch with skills we once did by hand.

Looking at Kiley’s blog she references the idea of computers taking over the role of Mother Nature, and computers now raising children. While I agree that computers are not literally raising children, kids are turning to computers to solve their problems rather than talking to their parents or others. In my own experience whenever I am having a problem I primarily turn to the web to get my answers or hear other people’s opinions. Computers and the Internet are quickly becoming the primary source for children looking to solve their problems.