Blog #5

“A Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury, opens when a man named Eckels who enters the offices of Time Safari, Inc., a company that offers hunters a chance to go back in time to shoot dinosaurs which to them haven’t walked the earth since 60,002,055 years ago. Hunters must strictly obey their guides, shooting only what and when they are instructed to shoot. Any disobedience could cost them their lives plus a fine from the company and the government if they survive. They not to touch anything, and they are not to shoot at any animals unless Travis approves. When Eckels asks why Travis explains that the company does not want to take any chances by changing anything at all about the future. Destroying even a flower, an insect, a mouse, or any other living thing could cause potentially massive unforeseen consequences a ripple-like effect in the future. For example, if killing one living thing in the jungle would mean wiping out the potential offspring of that living thing, and thus the offspring’s offspring, and so on and on and on for countless generations. The results of you interacting with anything are literally unpredictable. I don’t how to feel about the idea of turning a time machine into tourism. It’s bizarre because if you ask anyone else they would use it for personal reasons only.