Two-Handed Engine

Kuttner, Henry, and Catherine L. Moore. "Two-Handed Engine." F&SF 9.2 (Aug. 1955). Coll. No Boundaries. New York: Ballantine, 1955. For additional bibliographic information, see the Internet Speculative Fiction Database.[1]

Described by Sargent (1988), British and American Utopian Literature, 1516-1975: in a society ruled by machines, both cops and courts are "replaced by almost infallible machines."

Discussed briefly in Grech et al.'s "Sex in the Machine," p. 18, who see it showing one of the "ultimate VR environments," where "humans increasingly turn to virtual reality environments and cannot be bothered to procreate, since in their fantasy worlds, sexual urges are easily satisfied and families can be created at will" (p. 17). The anonymous author of "Schlock Value" sees this as a robot story in the tradition of — we will add — "With Folded Hands" and related stories of human stagnation from coddling technologies.[2]

RDE, initial & 26Jun21