Machines are analyzed as social relations, not as natural objects

Evidence

Social relations have generally evolved from a concrete, interpersonal basis to the abstract mass anonymities of political economy, an evolution obscured by a modern usage which tends to objectify persons as abstractions, much as pre-industrial cultures personify objects. Social theorists perennially ask how qualities of trust, fairness, and cooperation which belong naturally to intimate social worlds might be projected on to the modern stage of markets and states. — Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking Cooperative…, 2423 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Social context shaped which mechanical ideas seemed plausible, not their content — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology,…, 768; A single encountered object discloses equipment, world, and shared sociality at once — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 219; Data relations are becoming as naturalized as labor relations — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection: How Data Is…, 132 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Objects are studied as social relations, not physical things #corroborates (0.95)
• Modern society abstracts persons just as pre-industrial cultures personified objects #complicates (0.72) — Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking Cooperative…, 2423