Project Gutenberg 2016-03-25 Public domain in the USA. 98 Leiber, Fritz 1910 1992 Leiber, Fritz Reuter The Big Engine Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "The Big Engine" by Fritz Leiber is a short story written in the early 1960s, showcasing philosophical themes wrapped in a narrative format. This work can be classified as speculative fiction, as it explores complex ideas regarding the nature of existence and human consciousness. The likely topic of the book revolves around the concept of human beings as machines, devoid of genuine emotions or thoughts, and how society is structured around this mechanical view of life. In the story, a character known as the Professor reflects on the nature of humanity and existence, questioning why life seems mechanical and devoid of true connection. Drawing on various philosophical influences, he concludes that people are merely machines programmed to perform specific roles without authentic interaction or emotion. The narrative presents a bleak view of the world, depicted as a grand, indifferent engine where individuals are isolated from each other, living in a state of ignorance and disconnection. The Professor perceives a symphony of mechanical sounds that underscore this theme, ultimately suggesting that real engagement between people is scarce, and most exist as puppets in a complex machine, subtly critiquing the state of human existence in modern society. (This is an automatically generated summary.) en Science fiction Short stories Philosophy -- Fiction PS Text Science Fiction Browsing: Literature Browsing: Philosophy & Ethics Browsing: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Browsing: Fiction 35969 35972 2024-09-21T13:03:40.967132 2023-09-22T10:01:13.916054 text/html text/html 32440 2016-03-24T23:09:22 text/html; charset=us-ascii 118303 2016-03-24T23:09:22 text/html; charset=us-ascii application/zip 132831 2024-09-21T13:03:42.572021 application/epub+zip 131757 2024-09-21T13:03:41.322119 application/epub+zip 73398 2024-09-21T13:03:41.130115 application/epub+zip 163963 2024-09-21T13:03:43.721038 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 157422 2024-09-21T13:03:42.377036 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 99145 2022-09-23T13:15:30.775748 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 29983 29888 2024-09-21T13:03:40.880070 2023-09-22T10:01:13.796058 text/plain; charset=us-ascii text/plain 30237 2016-03-24T23:09:22 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 11608 2016-03-24T23:09:22 text/plain; charset=us-ascii application/zip 19297 2024-09-21T13:03:43.840037 application/rdf+xml 28778 2024-09-21T13:03:41.194138 image/jpeg 4825 2024-09-21T13:03:41.161131 image/jpeg 119186 2024-09-21T13:03:40.975053 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia