White argues that a mechanistic world view is very deeply embedded in Western culture, with evidence going back all the way into the 9th century:

The first symptom of this tendency to identify advanced technology with high morality appeared in the Utrecht Psalter (Utrecht University Library, Aevum med., script. eccles. 484), illuminated near Rheims between 816 and 834. Bruce Spiegelberg of Colby College has pointed out to me the clear implication of fol. 35v (Fig. 2) decorating Psalm 63 (64). On the right is the Psalmist being blessed by God and protected by an angel and a small band of the righteous. On the left are the evil-doers. Between them lies a pit (of Hell?) or snare (cf. verse 6). The central intrest of the picture lies in the sharpening of a sword in each camp (cf. verse 4), but by very different means. The iniquitous are content to employ an old fashioned whetstone. The virtuous, in spectacular contrast, are using the first known example of the rotary grindstone, and it is being turned by the first mechanical crank to appear outside China. Since the substitution of continuous rotary motion for reciprocating motion was basic to the development of machine design, this illumniation marks a great moment in the history of technology. But its psychological content is no less portentous than its purely technological import.”
185-186
Medieval Religion and Technology
collected essays
lynn white, Jr
university of california press, berkeley
1978