machine-tickling

Updated: May 2, 2025

This is the green tree; what then shall be done in the dry? "Who shall say that a man does see or hear? He is such a hive and swarm of parasites that it is doubtful whether his body is not more theirs than his, and whether he is anything but another kind of ant-heap after all. May not man himself become a sort of parasite upon the machines? An affectionate machine-tickling aphid?

Samuel Butler - Erewhon