> So a century, at least. The idea of automated mechanization goes much, much further back, at least as far as Proto-Indo-European language (ca. 4500 - 4000 BC

> So a century, at least. The idea of automated mechanization goes much, much further back, at least as far as Proto-Indo-European language (ca. 4500 - 4000 BC), predating even the Greek story of Talos. See: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H1n%CC%A5g%CA%B7nis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H1n%CC%A5g%CA%B7nis * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talos https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talos I researched this for a scene in my novel. (Alpha readers wanted, see profile for details.) If you trace the etymology of Hephaestus, the creator of Talos, you eventually end up at h1n̥gʷnis, if I recall correctly.