Newfangled Contraptions

Using examples from “The Euphio Question” and current events evaluate the statement:

“Do you know what a Luddite is? That’s a person who doesn’t like newfangled contraptions. Contraptions like nuclear submarines armed with Poseidon missiles that have H-bombs in their warheads, and like computers that cheat you out of becoming. Bill Gates says, “Wait till you can see what your computer can become.” But it’s you who should be doing the becoming. What you can become is the miracle you were born to work—not the damn fool computer.”

- Kurt Vonnegut

Vonnegut is right because, even though the people build the computers, there are thousands of people that do not build those computers and just sit around for the computer to do it for them. For example, calculators have taken over this era of math basically. A teacher of mine said that when she was a kid, people used to always use pencil and paper to figure out math problems. However, now, we are not so good at mental math because we expect the calculators to do it for us. As well as that, people also just have another excuse for war when they have those nuclear bombs and “newfangled contraptions” that can destroy anything that gets in their way. People could become something better if they didn’t have the constant worry of what’s going to happen to them next. For example, the Americans in Iraq are using weapons and what-not to help defend themselves and to destroy places in Iraq and vice versa.