So easy that the wonder goes out of the work, so efficient that the wonder goes out of the land and the working of it, and with the wonder the deep understanding and the relation.
– John Steinbeck
The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 11. Steinbeck is criticizing technology and tractors for the terrible effect they have had on migrant farming families. He is also mourning the loss of that close connection between the land and the men who used to work it with a horse and plow.