deus ex machina/ghost in the machine

[deus]

wot does it mean, i know it's Latin. deus is ghost and machina is machine, but they didn't have machines?

[pinus]

"Deus" is "God" an explanation here http://newark.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Terms/deusexmachina.html

[thewillow]

Latin 'machina' - "Any artificial contrivance for performing work.

[deus]

thank you for your pinus... oops! answer pinus

[jenstar]

Sure they had machines. Roman civilisation wasn't that backward, you know. Besides, they nicked a lot of technology from the Greeks.

[rekstout]

"ghost in the machine" is a different phrase - typically used in sci-fi and technology to convey a sense that a complex machine (usually a computer or similar is more than the sum of its parts - sometimes used as a more esoteric version of saying gremlins.

[deus]

look up deus in here, im gnu http://www.thecage-uk.com/

[beale]

I read that it means "Machine of the Gods" And is actually a literary device used by novelists for clearing up complex plots easily. Apparently it comes from Ancient Greek theatre when to a "God" would be winched down and decree how a complicated section of the play would be resolved. A cheat for a playwrite basically!

[willprentice]

Rene Descartes - Philosopy. The ghost is the spirit & the shell is the body. Similar to the original question of ghost in the machine. see link below: http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Shrine/8509/posthum1.html