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Definition of Idiom
An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on a literal interpretation of the words in the phrase. For... read full definition
An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on a literal interpretation of the... read full definition
An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on... read full definition
Chapter 8
Explanation and Analysis—Holding the Cards:
Distraught by his lost job, Bud Calhoun becomes the latest victim of mechanical outsourcing in Chapter 8. Equally frustrated, Paul realizes the weight of an unforgiving idiom as he grasps unsuccessfully for solutions:
“Maybe your university can help,” said Paul. “Maybe the grading machine needed new tubes when it went over your development aptitude test.” He spoke without conviction. Bud was beyond help. As an old old joke had it, the machines had all the cards.
Paul recommends Bud to search for a job at the university, and its uselessness makes cruel, corny sense of the “old old joke.” Both he and Bud know that the grading machines cannot err—meaningful job positions will never actually exist. In this case, the machines “[have] all the cards” in both senses of the tired expression. They bank literal cards—storing every individual’s test score reports and Achievement and Aptitude Profiles—but also deprive Bud of a potential job in doing so. Here, a saying that indicates strong leverage exposes humanity’s wildly lopsided struggle against their own creations.
Machines firmly hold the cards in this moment and beyond. They clean dishes but also determine supply and demand, heat the food and calculate the risks of war. Through two industrial revolutions, technology has done away with both menial labor and tedious intellectual tasks. They squeeze their makers into irrelevance, dealing humanity a largely hopeless hand.
Related Themes:
