People Used to Control Machines. In a world regulated by devices, humanity has become disconnected from the physical world--from stick-shift cars to postcards. If gratification is so easy, why don't you feel more gratified already? It's still easy to experience individual feats of gratification when you find them (or they find you). But the ordinary circumstances that once produced so much gratification have gradually receded. Unseen choices in design, business, and social life have made it harder for you to engage directly with the sensory world.

This article was featured in One Story to Read Today, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a single must-read from The Atlantic, Monday through Friday. I drive a stick shift. Clutching and shifting in bumper-to-bumper traffic wears you out. My wife can't drive my car, which limits our transit options. And when I'm at the wheel, I can't hold a cold, delicious slushie in one hand, at least not safely.

The 2021 Ford Mustang Mach 1 is the latest in a line of high performance Mustangs that dates back to 1969 and very different than the brand's other "Mach" model, according to Fox News Autos Editor Gary Gastelu. It is called a manual transmission, not a mani/pedi transmission, after all. Ford has filed a patent for a new manual transmission that would make the clutch pedal optional. Ford has filed a patent for a manual transmission that has a clutch pedal you only have to use when you feel like it. The design was first reported on by Muscle Cars & Trucks combines a conventional stick shift for changing gears with a pedal that's electronically connected to the clutch.