Abstract
Data processing threatens autonomy, but it shares the ambivalence of all technology between constructiveness and destructivity. It is the ambivalence of human will of which technology is an objectified social form. Such ambivalence inspires the kind of general reflection on man that can be presented in novels. No wonder then that computer technology and data processing have become subjects of best-selling novels in countries where data processing is most advanced and most threatening, in the USA and China. Let’s have a look at two prominent novels on data processing in these two countries, Dave Eggers’ The Circle and Hu Fayun’s novel on SARS mentioned earlier. Though not explicitly discussing pride, they do show the crucial role of proper pride as an antagonist to the administrative utility that propels data processing.