Blog #1 Comparing Vicente and Vonnegut

There’s almost no one in today’s world that is not affected by advances in technology. To most people advancement seems like a great thing, but if it’s looked at more closely it becomes easy to see how technology and the decisions of humans can be very dangerous. This topic is discussed in the book The Human Factor, by Kim Vicente. She explains how disasters like Chernobyl are caused by human error and how the effects of human error can be felt all over the world. She also explains how not all humans are intelligent enough to use our advanced technology thus causing people to trust that our advancements are good and will continue to improve our way of life. Vicente wants to alarm readers of the destruction that could result from a dependency on technology. Kurt Vonnegut shares a similar pessimism in his story The Cat’s Cradle. John, the main character, is a writer who is trying to compile a story about the first atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. He is researching Dr. Hoenikker, the inventor of the bomb. This is where the two books start to show similarities. Dr. Hoenikker is dead, but while interviewing his kids and colleagues John starts to realize that Dr. Hoenikker is a very bizarre man and seems crazy but is actually a genius. I felt that the doctor shows how one person can be extremely smart and can invent something amazing, but the drawback is that it can be used by less intelligent people to inflict death and destruction. This goes back to the point Vicente was trying to convey to her readers, as the inventions continue to grow more complex, amazing, and helpful to our way of life; they also could wipe us off the planet. Even our greatest creations and smartest humans can not always prevent disasters like Chernobyl. Dr. Hoenikker is a great example of how history could repeat itself. Something like nanotechnology could be used to destroy carbon in the atmosphere preventing global warming or even cure cancer. However it could also be used to destroy organic materials and obliterate another country or even everything on earth. The main point from this assignment was to show that technological advancements can be a great thing, but only if we fully understand what it is that were creating and know the repercussions it cant have on our way of life.