All Watched over by Machines of Loving Grace from Norm Friesen on Vimeo.
“All Watched over by Machines of Loving Grace” is the title of a 1967 poem by Richard Brautigan. Among other things, it is a rich record of what new technologies and technological ways of thinking can evoke. “All Watched over by Machines of Loving Grace” is also the title of a 2011 documentary by Adam Curtis. The video above, is where the latter references the former. Here is the full text of the original poem:
ALL WATCHED OVER BY MACHINES OF LOVING GRACE
Richard Brautigan
I like to think (and
the sooner the better!)
of a cybernetic meadow
where mammals and computers
live together in mutually
programming harmony
like pure water
touching clear sky.
I like to think
(right now, please!)
of a cybernetic forest
filled with pines and electronics
where deer stroll peacefully
past computers
as if they were flowers
with spinning blossoms.
I like to think
(it has to be!)
of a cybernetic ecology
where we are free of our labors
and joined back to nature,
returned to our mammal
brothers and sisters,
and all watched over
by machines of loving grace.