![]() ![]() So consider this something like the convening of a Convivial Society reading group. In their exaggerated portrayals of a fictional future, they offer us a vantage point from which to better apprehend the true nature of our time. I tend also to assume that stories of this sort aren’t really about the future so much as they are a provocation to consider elements of our present condition. Rather, it is for the story to become an inducement to thought and reflection. ![]() The point, of course, is not simply to take a dystopian view of our situation. Today, in the midst of a crisis that has accelerated and deepened our dependence on digital media, it seems all the more relevant and the exaggerated quality less pronounced, if only because of the drastic measures we’ve been forced to take to curb the spread of COVID-19. Ten years ago or so, it seemed prescient in its anticipation, in exaggerated fashion, of a digitally mediated world. Forster, “The Machine Stops,” which depicted a world where people spend most of their time physically isolated from one another but technologically connected. A few years ago, I read and wrote briefly about a classic short story by E. ![]()
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