Machine of Death

(Redirected from Death Machine)

A Machine of Death, also known as a Death Machine is a device that is able to predict how an individual will die.  The machines are officially known as Oracles after the Delphic Oracle but the terms Machine of Death and Death Machine are widely used.  The machines were invented and first mass produced in the United States but are now found throughout the world.

                                                                      History                        [edit]

The inventor of the original Machine

Of Death is unknown.  When the existence of the machines became

Public there was a rumor that the

Inventor tested the first machine on himself. Upon receiving the result, he committed suicide and the original slip of paper was never found.  There is little or no evidence to support this and it is widely considered to be an urban legend.  With the machine going unclaimed, Vector Gate Medical Technologies filed for and received a patent, despite the objection of several of it’s key competitors.  Documentation at this point becomes much better and more reliable.  Vector Gate was able to duplicate the first machine and mass-produce them.  The company apparently did multiple studies to test the machines, although some believe that these were inadequate, see Criticism. 

First Release                                                      [edit]

When the first generations of machines were shipped they were highly priced and only a handful of hospitals across the United States owned one.  It seemed that the product would be doomed to failure.  However, as more people started using the machines faith in them grew and demand increased.  Due to the high price of the first wave of machines, hospitals charged large amounts for access to them.

Political and Social Turmoil                              [edit]

The high fee for use of the first machines was a point of fierce criticism for Vector Gate.  The company claimed that the price of the machines was so high because of their complexity, and that it had no responsibility for how much hospitals were charging.  When the plans for a machine were leaked to the press, it was discovered that most of the parts used in the machines’ construction were cheap and easy to assemble.  This lead to a massive public outrage and protests calling for government regulation.  Another point of tension was access to the machines.  Only the wealthy could afford access and because the technology was so unlike anything before, insurance companies did not cover anything like it, so the vast majority of people could not afford to use the machines.

Government Regulation                                    [edit]

Forced by public opinion, Congress enacted the Oracle Regulation Act, which brought the Oracles and any future machines like them under government standards.  The law forced the price of machines down as well as establishing a federal insurance program for those who could not afford access. This prompted objection from many major companies that the government had overstepped its bounds.  Despite these objections, access to the machines did improve and the Oracle Regulation Act has been widely hailed as a success.

Growth and Popularity                                                                                    [edit]

Shortly after the passage of the Oracle Regulation Act, Vector Gate as well as several other companies that had copied the design, began to market the Oracles outside the United States.  The success of the machines in the U.S. was mirrored in Japan, China, Europe and Australia.  When first released the machines were intended as medical equipment so purchases were restricted to hospitals, clinics and other medical institutions.  However, the popularity and falling price of the machines has seen their appearance in many non-medical places such as major shopping centers.

Criticism                                                              [edit]

Inadequate Testing                                                      [edit]

Some believe that to get the Oracle on the market so fast Vector Gate rushed its testing and development programs.  Critics say that the machines were never adequately tested because it would take the test subjects’ entire lives to record if the machines were accurate.  Because this could take decades Vector Gate forwent in depth studies. A fact that also draws criticism is that Vector has never released the documents detailing its testing studies.  Critics also claim that companies which produce the machines have little understanding of how they work.  A memo leaked to the press from Vector seems to indicate that this is indeed the case.  Another concern of critics is the fact that the machines require a blood sample. When the machines were exclusively in hospitals this was not a problem but now that the machines are seen in many public and commercial areas there is controversy that those operating the machines are not formally trained.

Religious                                                            [edit]

Some Christian as well as Jewish and Islamic groups believe that the machines are akin to idolatry.  Idolatry, or the worship of idols, is considered a sin in all three of the Abrahamic religions.  The massive popularity that the machines attracted has been compared to the following of a false prophet, which is forbidden in both the New Testament as well as the Hebrew Bible. Some Christian groups in the United States have even claimed that the process through which the machines function is Satanic in origin.

Inequality                                                                [edit]

The price of the machines has fallen but for many people in developing countries access to the machines is still out of reach.  Many believe that developed countries have not done enough to bring the machines to developing countries in Africa and South America.  Several organizations have been founded such as the Destiny Prediction Equality Foundation (DPEF) to raise money to bring machines to developing countries.

Clarity                                                                 [edit]

Perhaps the largest source of criticism for the Machines of Death is the wording and clarity of the results.  Because the result the machines produce is no longer than a few words it is often very vague as to the circumstances of one’s death.  Vector Gate has stated numerous times that it has attempted to correct this but has made little progress.  At the moment it is considered to be a design flaw.  Besides the length of machines’ results there is also criticism of the wording of these results.  The machines often use in their results words and phrases that have more than one meaning.  It has been made clear in several cases that the cause of death written by the machines is not always it’s literal meaning.  As a result, some have even assigned a consciousness to the machines, saying that they seem to “choose” words whose real meaning is unclear and that they “enjoy” using wordplay.

External Links                                                      [edit]

    Vector Gate Medical Technologies – Official Website

     DPEF– Official Website

    Oracle Regulation Act– Documentation

    Documentary: Frontline: The Modern Oracles  Chronicles the history of the machines as well as social responses.

Talk: Machine of Death

Please note that this is a talk page and is for the purpose of discussing the article on the Machine of Death and not the machines themselves.

Religion                                                               [edit]

I think there are grounds to add a section on how belief in the Death Machines could be considered a religion. Believing in the results that one receives implies that one believes in fate or destiny.

-- At most I think you could add a link to Fatalism or Fatalist Beliefs.  I’m not sure you could show that it could be classified as its own religion.

-- I disagree.  I think there is strong enough evidence to warrant a separate section about this.  There are plenty of beliefs and “rituals” involved with the machines.  Not only is there a belief in fatalism but there are also people who believe that the machines are controlled by a higher power.  I’ve even heard of people claiming that the machines were left here by extraterrestrials.  The same ones that helped build the pyramids and the statues on Easter Island.

Animals                                                               [edit]

I think we should add a section on animals.  I remember reading that there was a cattle rancher somewhere who had some of his cows tested with a machine.  Apparently they all came out “Made into delicious hamburger.”  This could also be referenced under the Clarity section.

-- A link to an article about this incident with the cows would be helpful.

-- http://www.itopic.com/news/ranch/machine.html

Needs some examples                                         [edit]

-- I think the section under criticism about the ambiguity of the machines’ results should have some examples.  I know most of us have heard of them but I think some general examples would be good.

Examples                                                            [edit]

I’ve been fascinated with this topic and I have a few examples of very unclear results.  Tell me what you think and I’ll add them to the article.  First I researched the case of a man whose result said CAR ACCIDENT.  The guy left his car running in the garage all night.  His house filled with carbon monoxide and he and his wife both died in their sleep.  Obviously this is not the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of a car accident but the machine was not wrong either, a accident did occur involving a car.  Consequently, this also shows the inconsistency of the machines’ results because his wife’s result was SUFFOCATED.  I have also heard of people dying of the same causes whose results were CARBON MONOXIDE or even CO.

Perhaps the most vague result I’ve heard about is one that simply said SLEEP.  Most people thought it meant the person would die in their sleep.  What actual happened was they developed insomnia that went untreated.  They eventually died from lack of sleep.

-- thanks for the examples.  I for one think they are great and you should add them to the article.

A thought                                                            [edit]

I’ve heard and from reading the article that the machines are simple to build but that no one understands how they work.  This reminds me of emergent properties which is the philosophical and scientific principle that something can more than the “sum of its parts.”  Just a thought.

Obsession with Death                                          [edit]

After reading the article I think this topic has not been addressed.  This is the reason the machines are so popular in the first place.  People who, by nature, usually fear death now live fearing the everyday because of these machines.  Knowing how but not when gives us an even greater fear, a persistent one that refuses to go away.  The fact that some of the results are not what they appear to be only adds to this fear.   It throws into doubt the one thing people thought they knew, the “how” of their death. 

-- You make an interesting point although not very encyclopedic. Maybe we could add a philosophical section to the criticism section.  In response to the results not always being what they seem.  Perhaps there is often a measure of irony in death and perhaps death could never be predicted in a way satisfying to us.