Our complete misunderstanding of machines

The US has been constantly speaking of building a wall that would cover the entire border to Mexico lately. It seems that fear is a predominant emotion for North Americans. We fear immigrants, terrorists (which to some are the same thing), hackers, murderers, rapists, getting old, bad drivers, collapsing bridges, etc..We fear what we don't understand, and what we don't control. We question everything, but never take the time to analyze it. I see this all the time at work. People hypothesize how the machine works. I've heard all sorts of theories.

I've actually heard people speak of the machine in terms of how the machine "thinks". This is one active metaphor I'm afraid of. Why do people believe machines to have a mind of their own? Why people even believe these machines to be thinking is beyond me. The worst is when they hypothesize two completely different theories and completely miss the obvious.

"It says 'Insert your card', but I already did! Maybe it thinks I haven't done it yet, or maybe it does but it's searching for my movie now. What do I do?"

The truth is machines are relatively simple concepts. As a matter of fact, all machines are simple. That's what makes them work so well, simplicity! The system at work is so simple, it's a wonder nobody thought of it earlier: You scroll through the database and reserve films under your acount, you close the database, and log in the dispenser using your card to retrieve your films. The card reader simply reads your card, access' your acount and retrieves the movies reserved.

I guess we do have fears of machines because we don't understand them. We don't know who built them, and how they were built. Maybe they're is a failsafe somewhere that records our every move! Maybe the boss' are using these machines to monitor everything we do! Actually, these machines were built to take over our jobs, and if we're not careful, they'll take over the world! The truth is they're here to simplify and they aren't thinking. I never feared my bike would somehow take control of my ride all of the sudden, or my car automatically driving itself to the edge of the world. That's because I understand the mechanic behind the engine. But of coruse, I fear fluids not functionning well, because nobody can trust them. I once heard gas call me an idiot! Can't trust those guys.