All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace

In Richard Brautigan's poem "All Watched over by Machines of Loving Grace," is a poem that talks about the ideas of nature and technology. Brautigan argues that he dislikes technology from the statement on lines 1, 9, and 17 “I like to think.” The reason he emphasizes this statement so much is to show that he prefers to think instead of relying technology to find the solution to his problems. He goes on to explain beautiful things about nature such as “like a pure water touching clear sky” (7-8) which talks about that nature is much different from technology because people might understand the true meaning of the pure water and pure sky by seeing with their eyes instead of using technology. Richard goes on to talk about “being free from labor and joined back to our nature, returned to our mammal brother and sisters” (21-23) meaning that people are free from technology related things and go out to discover more about nature such as seeing animals returning to their home and being independent.

However, Brautigan’s uses of “cybernetic” also show his pro-technology. “Where mammals and computer live together in mutually programming harmony” (4-6) emphasizes that mammals and computers can work together without creating problems. Technology also does not create a problem for animals such as deer because “deer stroll peacefully past computers” (13-14). There is no interference between both and Brautigan believes technology is good as long as it does not interfere with nature.

I view Brautigan’s poem as anti-technology since technology is not the solution to help me see the true meaning of nature. For example, I cannot use technology to see pure water or pure sky (7-8) because it relies on my perspective to actually see them. Also, when I do labor by using technology, I usually want to go outside after couple hours because it gives me an idea of what is happening on outside, understanding the beauty of nature, and returning home with your family.