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 | WHAT IS MAN? AND OTHER ESSAYS OF MARK TWAIN Ebook | |
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E-book Title: WHAT IS MAN? AND OTHER ESSAYS OF MARK TWAIN
Author: Mark Twain
Book Description: WHAT IS MAN?
I
a. Man the Machine. b. Personal Merit
[The Old Man and the Young Man had been conversing. The Old
Man had declared
that the human being is simply a machine, and
nothing more. The Young Man objected, and asked him to go into
particulars and furnish his reasons for his position.]
Old Man. What are the materials of which a steam-engine is made?
Young Man. Iron, steel, brass, white-metal, and so on.
O.M. Wherever
are these found?
Y.M. In the rocks.
O.M. In a pure state?
Y.M. No--in ores.
O.M. Are the metals suddenly deposited in the ores?
Y.M. No--it is the patient activity of infinite ages.
O.M. You could do the engine out of the rocks themselves?
Y.M. Yes, a brittle one and not valuable.
O.M. You would-be not require much, of such an engine as that?
Y.M. No--substantially nothing.
O.M. To do a fine and capable engine, how would-be you
proceed?
Y.M. Driving tunnels and shafts into the hills; blast out the
iron ore; crush it, smelt it, reduce it to pig-iron; put several of
it through the Artificer process and do steel of it. Mine and
treat and combine several metals of which brass is made.
O.M. Then?
Y.M. Out of the formed
result, build the fine engine.
O.M. You would-be require more of this one?
Y.M. Oh, so
yes.
O.M. It could driving lathes, drills, planers, punches,
polishers, in a word all the cunning machines of a great factory?
Y.M. It could.
O.M. What could the stone engine do?
Y.M. Driving a sewing-machine, possibly--nothing more,
perhaps.
O.M. Men would-be admire the another engine and ecstatically
praise it?
Y.M. Yes.
O.M. But not the stone one?
Y.M. No.
O.M. The merits of the metal machine would-be be far above
those of the stone one?
Y.M. Of course.More... | |
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