# Machine Dependence Could Become Bondage Without a Shock by Samuel Butler > “The power of custom is enormous, and so gradual will be the change, that man’s sense of what is due to himself will be at no time rudely shocked; our bondage will steal upon us noiselessly and by imperceptible approaches; nor will there ever be such a clashing of desires between man and the machines as will lead to an encounter between them.” > **— Samuel Butler**, *1872, Erewhon, Chapter XXIV, “The Machines—continued”* ## Sources and Context - **Primary text:** [*Erewhon*, Chapter XXIV, Project Gutenberg](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1906/pg1906-images.html). The quotation retains the whole sentence: Batch 5 stopped after “approaches” and turned the following semicolon into a period. It is a fictional character's warning about gradual dependence, not empirical evidence of present machine bondage. - **Countervoice:** Chapter XXV presents an answering writer who instead describes machines as external human limbs; both positions belong to the novel's argument. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Article:** [[articles/AI Escape Is the Wrong Metaphor|AI Escape Is the Wrong Metaphor]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Next Interface Layer|The Next Interface Layer]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Erewhon|Erewhon]] - [[wiki/Samuel Butler|Samuel Butler]] - [[wiki/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “The power of custom is enormous, and so gradual will be the change, that man’s sense of what is due to himself will be at no time rudely shocked; our bondage will steal upon us noiselessly and by imperceptible approaches; nor will there ever be such a clashing of desires between man and the machines as will lead to an encounter between them.” — Samuel Butler, Erewhon, 1872 https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-butler-machine-dependence-bondage ```