Luddite?

[MASCARO at humnet.ucla.edu]

There's about a thousand levels of irony in this little gem you quote, Brett.  I can't pretend
 to fully figure out what he's getting at. But I can't believe that anyone simply *seduced* 
by the promise of such salvation would also be devoutly hoping that the masters of the 
technology (the brass, by which he maybe means the bosses of the  socio-political 
framework within which those researchers would be toiling?) would be caught flat-footed 
by it. 
And why would a luddite look forward to such salvation? If he were vulnerable to its 
tewchnological promise, he wouldn't be a luddite.   Maybe what will 
happen will be so revolutionary that it will destroy itself and the whole status quo, 
leaving way for some new, presumably more luddite-friendly, dispensation.
BTW, all those (which means all) of us who from time to time speculate on TP's shadowy
 presence among us might want to imagine that he really is a luddite, and might not even
 own a computer.  That's my bet, anyway.  Is there any evidence that he doesn't just write 
on an old Royal manual typrewriter?

john m

********************
Brett writes:

>
>Well, with all the news about cloning, sheep, and I thought I heard
>something on the radio about a rhesus monkey, I thought it was time to
>go read "Is It OK to Be a Luddite?" again.  On the web at:
>
>  http://www.pomona.edu/pynchon/uncollected/luddite.html
>
>What do you all think about this essay?  The last paragraph, in part
>
> If our world survives, the next great challenge to watch out for will
> come -- you heard it here first -- when the curves of research and
> development in artificial intelligence, molecular biology and robotics
> all converge.  Oboy.  It will be amazing and unpredictable, and even the
> biggest of brass, let us devoutly hope, are going to be caught
> flat-footed.  It is certainly something for all good Luddites to look
> forward to if, God willing, we should live so long.
>
>makes me wonder if he's been sucked in by a "false promise" of salvation
>held out by these technologies?  Does this paragraph make you think of
>something like the "Borg", or something more mind-expanding, liberating?
>
>Regards,
>Brett
>