"Тед Чан. Seventy-Two Letters (72 буквы, Рассказ) (англ.)" - читать интересную книгу автора

put them back in?"
Stratton had not spoken of this before, and welcomed the opportunity to
explain. "The cost of automatous engines has always been high, and so we
have mills in which scores of looms are driven by an immense coal-heated
Goliath. But an automaton like mine could cast engines very cheaply. If a
small automatous engine, suitable for driving a few machines, becomes
affordable to a weaver and his family, then they can produce cloth from
their home as they did once before. People could earn a decent income
without being subjected to the conditions of the factory."
"You forget the cost of the loom itself," said Willoughby gently, as if
humoring him. "Powered looms are considerably more expensive than the hand
looms of old."
"My automata could also assist in the production of cast- iron parts,
which would reduce the price of powered looms and other machines. This is
no panacea, I know, but I am nonetheless convinced that inexpensive
engines offer the chance of a better life for the individual craftsman."
"Your desire for reform does you credit. Let me suggest, however, that
there are simpler cures for the social ills you cite: a reduction in
working hours, or the improvement of conditions. You do not need to
disrupt our entire system of manufacturing."
"I think what I propose is more accurately described as a restoration
than a disruption."
Now Willoughby became exasperated. "This talk of returning to a family
economy is all well and good, but what would happen to sculptors? Your
intentions notwithstanding, these automata of yours would put sculptors
out of work. These are men who have undergone years of apprenticeship and
training. How would they feed their families?"
Stratton was unprepared for the sharpness in his tone. "You
overestimate my skills as a nomenclator," he said, trying to make light.
The sculptor remained dour. He continued. "The learning capabilities of
these automata are extremely limited. They can manipulate molds, but they
could never design them; the real craft of sculpture can be performed only
by sculptors. Before our meeting, you had just finished directing several
journeymen in the pouring of a large bronze; automata could never work
together in such a coordinated fashion. They will perform only rote tasks."
"What kind of sculptors would we produce if they spend their
apprenticeship watching automata do their jobs for them? I will not have a
venerable profession reduced to a performance by marionettes."
"That is not what would happen," said Stratton, becoming exasperated
himself now. "But examine what you yourself are saying: the status that
you wish your profession to retain is precisely that which weavers have
been made to forfeit. I believe these automata can help restore dignity to
other professions, and without great cost to yours."
Willoughby seemed not to hear him. "The very notion that automata would
make automata! Not only is the suggestion insulting, it seems ripe for
calamity. What of that ballad, the one where the broomsticks carry water
buckets and run amuck?"
"You mean СDer ZauberlehrlingТ?" said Stratton. "The comparison is
absurd. These automata are so far removed from being in a position to
reproduce themselves without human participation that I scarcely know