# Haldane Asked Whether Machines Would Supplant Humanity by J. B. S. Haldane > "Has mankind released from the womb of matter a Demogorgon which is already beginning to turn against him, and may at any moment hurl him into the bottomless void? Or is Samuel Butler's even more horrible vision correct, in which man becomes a mere parasite of machinery, an appendage of the reproductive system of huge and complicated engines which will successively usurp his activities, and end by ousting him from the mastery of this planet?" > **— J. B. S. Haldane**, *1923 lecture; 1924, Daedalus, or Science and the Future* ## Sources and Context - **Full source:** [J. B. S. Haldane, Daedalus, or Science and the Future, complete transcription](https://bactra.org/Daedalus.html). Haldane poses competing future scenarios, including Butler’s, as questions rather than established outcomes. The 1923 lecture appeared in book form in 1924; the historical forecast is not a present-day technical accomplishment. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley|The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley]] - **Article:** [[articles/We Were Never Going to Make It|We Were Never Going to Make It]] - **Article:** [[articles/Technologies for Consciousness Mapping and Transfer|Technologies for Consciousness Mapping and Transfer]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Daedalus, or Science and the Future|Daedalus, or Science and the Future]] - [[wiki/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] ## Share on Social Media ``` "Has mankind released from the womb of matter a Demogorgon which is already beginning to turn against him, and may at any moment hurl him into the bottomless void? Or is Samuel Butler's even more horrible vision correct, in which man becomes a mere parasite of machinery, an appendage of the reproductive system of huge and complicated engines which will successively usurp his activities, and end by ousting him from the mastery of this planet?" — J. B. S. Haldane, 1923 lecture; 1924, Daedalus, or Science and the Future https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-haldane-machines-supplant-humanity ```