Thursday, March 12, 2015

Traps of Power

Lord Dunsany, The Last Revolution (Part 3)

One of the themes in this book is the interchangeability of blessings of curses, of strength and weakness.  In this way, Lord Dunsany inverts the assumption that the practice of slavery is a sign of (abusive) strength, portraying it instead as a sign of weakness.  The formula has implications for technology, as well: “For a long time machines had been growing more and more powerful, while Man was no stronger than ever he was, though believing that he was stronger because of all the things that were done for him by machines, as lazy Romans believed they were strong as ever when Rome was half full of slaves.”


Likewise, the boon of intelligence has a shadowy side.  Towards the end of the story, the narrator reflects, “the cleverness of the human race has been increasing its power to destroy itself for a long time…. I don’t think that cleverness will save us.”  In some ways, it boils down to a lack of awareness – the need for a thoughtfulness that goes beyond being smart or clever.  Fearing the dangers of Pender’s intelligent automatons, the narrator muses, “How curious… that the man who knows all the devilry in these machines should still work for them, when it is his job to do so…. And, after all… are there not thousands of men making bayonets who hate war…?”

Image: British Library

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