Week 2 Post 2

Little Things that Jiggle

There was mainly one thing that I wanted to focus on from this video. It was the statement that technology is alchemy without superstition. I agree with this statement completely. I never thought of it that way, but it truly is that way. In the old days, alchemists were trying to turn lead into gold, and while we still haven't quite figured that out, we have learned many things through simple chemical reactions. I feel that Alchemy was the birth of modern technology. It gave us one of the most significant inventions of all time, gun powder. When gun powder was invented, the Chinese were trying to create the elixir of life, otherwise known as something that would give its holder eternal life and immortality.

The ironic thing about alchemy and technology, is that it was always fueled by necessity. Initially, it was used to try and create something to make the world better, turning lead into gold most certainly would have made the world a more interesting place. Then creating the elixir of life and instead creating gun powder. When it was discovered that these things could not be created, it was almost like a switch was flipped. They began to say to themselves, "If I cannot create it myself, I will simply create something that allows me to take it from those who have it." That is where the little things that jiggle come in. The little things that jiggle helped to create the atomic weapons which are often now used as a threat against nations to allow us to go in and take their liquid gold, or oil. It is a vicious cycle.