The more machines there are to replace men, the more men there will be in society who are nothing but machines.
- Louis de Bonald
The more machines there are to replace men, the more men there will be in society who are nothing but machines.
- Louis de Bonald
Written in 1802, before the Jacquard loom. I wonder what machines he had in mind? "Modern administrations, busy trying to provoke the invention of machines that can multiply human labor and make it easier," apparently.
I guess this sort of thing: https://www.panmurehouse.org/media/0j0ljqdl/pin-factory.jpg (that is an approximate illustration of Adam Smith's pin factory.)
He goes on to advocate for large families full of peasants doing manual labor, praises the ministers of the church and state, and says that painters and bankers are unnecessary. https://archive.org/details/lgislationprim00bona/page/372/mo...
Brilliantly poignant. Before AI, I don't think this would've resonated with me, but it sure does now.