The story starts by introducing a woman named Vashti who lives in a world of technology called "The Machine" and hasn't been out in the real world for a long time. In the story, her son named Kuno is the complete opposite, and he expresses in the reading that he wants to visit the surface of the earth. Kuno has multiple conversations with his mother throughout the reading, that express the two opposing views regarding the machine. The story highlights that Vashti depends completely on technology and her son Kuno is the complete opposite. He tries to convince her to step out into the real world and also expresses that she is depending too much on "The Machine".
In the story, Kuno convinces his mother to visit him so he could meet her in person because he was not satisfied with virtual conversations, therefore, he wanted to see her in person. Vashti then traveled on an air train to visit her son. It was uncomfortable for Vashti to travel, and upon her arrival, she realized that her son had a completely different mindset and wanted to live in a world outside of "The Machine". Kuno tried convincing his mother to stop living life depending on the machine but she overlooked his opinion and reasoning.
The story was quite fascinating because it had such advanced technology and it overlaps with the technology we have now. I think it is uncomfortable for me to picture a world with just technology and nothing natural. I would feel like being stuck in a machine. This also reminds me of Dubai, because it has made great advancements in the past years and has constructed everything on a pure desert and has also introduced artificial rain. Technology has its advantages but it can also have a negative impact on our overall health and natural environment. Also, we can see in the reading that depending too much on the machine can completely isolate a person from the outside world.
In one of the parts in the story where Vashti is traveling through the air train, the readers are reminded that she is not allowed to touch anyone. It kind of ties to the concept of covid19 and the time during the pandemic when social distancing was implemented and it was restricted to have any physical contact with others. Vashti's view of technology would represent the starting years of the pandemic when everyone was appreciating staying indoors and having virtual meetings. But over time, humans got frustrated and desperate for a regular lifestyle. People missed communicating, touching, and emotionally sharing their feelings in person. I think anyone that went through the pandemic can relate to how Kuno felt when he wasn't able to meet his mother in person. It does not matter how many virtual meetings or phone calls one has with another person, but when it comes to meeting in person, the interaction is totally different and unique. I think this is why Kuno kept insisting on his mother upon meeting him in person because technology can not fulfill that interaction.
This story also reminded me of a movie named "Oxygen" I had watched on Netflix in 2021. The concepts were a bit similar to the story because a woman lived in a pod and the pod acted like a robotic machine that talked to her and monitored her health, had buttons and a screen through which she communicated with the outside world. Vashti also has similar connections to resources in the machine but one of the major differences in this movie is that the main character is trapped whereas Vashti is willingly living a life depending on the machine. Also, the movie displays the concept of the oxygen level in her pod, getting reduced over time. This also relates to the story where Vashti needs health aid and the machine helps her receive medicines and monitors her health as well. I have attached a link to the trailer of the movie "Oxygen":
Lastly, I think this story expresses the vision that Scientists and Computer Programmers envision as our future. I think the story fully captures the two types of humans in our society, the ones that want to stay in touch with nature, while others that will completely depend on the tech and immerse themselves in the world of technology in the upcoming future.