Reading the Logistical Surface

Abstract

The logistical surface is nimble and adaptable but illegible to its authors. To better understand the implications of this condition, this article makes connections between human and machine systems by looking first to Norbert Wiener and then two related short stories: Rudyard Kipling’s “With the Night Mail”and E.M. Forster’s “The Machine Stops.” The two texts establish political polarities that help to contextualize contemporary logistical worlds while also suggesting ways to discover alternative ones.