"I am inclined to attach some importance to the new system of manufacturing; and venture to throw it out with the hope of its receiving a full discussion among those who are most interestedin the subject"
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Babbage isn`t proclaiming a revolution here so much as trying to smuggle one into polite conversation. The line reads like a gentlemanly hedge, but it`s a calculated rhetorical move: he claims he is merely "inclined" to see "some importance" in the "new system of manufacturing", then "ventures" to mention it, hoping for "full discussion" among the people "most interested". Every softener is strategic. In an era when industrialization was remaking Britain at speed - and not always humanely - Babbage knows that talking about factories isn`t just technical; it`s political, social, and potentially incendiary.
The intent is twofold. First, he is legitimizing manufacturing as a proper subject for analytical minds, not just mill owners and mechanics. A mathematician stepping into industrial practice is quietly asserting that production can be measured, optimized, and understood with the same seriousness as equations. Second, he is courting the very stakeholders whose buy-in matters - manufacturers, investors, policymakers - while flattering them as the rightful arbiters of the debate.
The subtext is an invitation wrapped in deference: let`s examine this system scientifically, but let you keep your status as the "most interested". That phrasing also narrows who gets a voice. Workers, displaced artisans, and communities living with factory discipline are not "most interested" in Babbage`s framing; they are the subjects being rearranged.
Context matters: Babbage wrote amid the rise of division of labor, mechanization, and the managerial mindset that would later define modern capitalism. This sentence is the velvet glove on the iron logic of efficiency: an attempt to turn upheaval into an agenda item.
The intent is twofold. First, he is legitimizing manufacturing as a proper subject for analytical minds, not just mill owners and mechanics. A mathematician stepping into industrial practice is quietly asserting that production can be measured, optimized, and understood with the same seriousness as equations. Second, he is courting the very stakeholders whose buy-in matters - manufacturers, investors, policymakers - while flattering them as the rightful arbiters of the debate.
The subtext is an invitation wrapped in deference: let`s examine this system scientifically, but let you keep your status as the "most interested". That phrasing also narrows who gets a voice. Workers, displaced artisans, and communities living with factory discipline are not "most interested" in Babbage`s framing; they are the subjects being rearranged.
Context matters: Babbage wrote amid the rise of division of labor, mechanization, and the managerial mindset that would later define modern capitalism. This sentence is the velvet glove on the iron logic of efficiency: an attempt to turn upheaval into an agenda item.
Quote Details
| Topic | Technology |
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