Log #2

All over the world, a technological revolution is taking place.  In the past century and a half, we have gone from lightbulbs to automobiles to nuclear weapons, and it only continues to become more complex and powerful.  In many cases, it seems, technology has become so powerful that it can be extremely dangerous in the wrong hands.  This idea was emphasized in two of the short stories we have read, “The Weapon” by Fredric Brown and “Teething Ring” by James Causey.  In “The Weapon,” a reporter comes to interview a scientist about the ultimate weapon he is creating and tries to convince him to stop his work on it.  He is unable to get through to the scientist, but before he leaves, he gives the scientist’s mentally ill child a loaded revolver.  Similarly, in “Teething Ring,” an alien comes to interview Melinda about her culture and gives Harry Jr., Melinda’s Son, a neural distorter, which causes Harry Jr. to have desires to take over the world.  Both stories use the danger of children with weapons as a metaphor for the danger of technology in everyday society.  With more and more powerful technologies being created, it can easily end up in the wrong hands and become dangerous.  I liked both of these stories in particular because I agree with the idea that new innovations can be extremely unsafe, and I really liked now the authors used children as a metaphor to society to help convey their message.