The Electric Monk was a labor-saving device, like a dishwasher or a video recorder. Dishwashers washed tedious dishes for you, thus savin you the bother of washing them yourself, video recorders watched tedious television for you, thus saving you the bother of lookinga t it yourself; Electric Monks believed things for you, thus saving you what was becoming an increasingly onerous task, that of beleiving all the things the world expeected you to believe.