Pynchon and commuters...

[Murthy Yenamandra]

Hi all,

    I joined the list only yesterday and I apologize if the following
has been mentioned already.

    I think the the driving idea behind the Luddites should be construed
as that of "intermediate" or "appropriate" technology (as put forth by
E.F. Schumacher) and not an irrational fear of machines. What provoked
such vicious reaction by the budding industrialists of the time and
the subsequent negative public perception of the Luddites was the fact
that they were not willing to go along with the idea of inherent
progress attached to technology and the perception of large scale profit
as a public good.

    There is actually a new book out (I don't know if anyone has
mentioned this) by Kirkpatrick Sale with the title "Luddites: Rebels
against the future" (or something like that). I haven't read it yet,
but it should be good reading.

TTFN,
Murthy

-- 
Murthy Yenamandra, Dept of CSci, Univ of Minnesota. Email: yenamand at cs.umn.edu
In America, any boy may become president and I suppose that's just one
of the risks he takes.
		-- Adlai Stevenson