The Animal Testing Vs. the Technology Advancement

The Animal Testing vs. the Technology Advancement

In the book Visions of Tomorrow, Jeff Hecht and Thomas A. Easton have written two science fiction predictions that come true. Though both share similar backgrounds, each story has a unique style that reveal to us, the readers, the mysterious aspect of science fiction. The purpose of this essay is to compare the similarity of both stories based on animals, and contrast the difference of whether the story raises any debates on testing on animals in order to help with human’s scientific technology.

The remarkable similarity of these two stories is that they are both related to animals, though “Matchmaker” involves genimals. “Directed Energy” is a science fiction story based on laser technology. In this story, Bernie shows her sister Ellen how a laser fly swatter works to kill bugs by near-infrared beams. In “Matchmaker,” gengineers attempt to train computer-controlled dogs to carry out commands such as trucking. Jimmy Brane discovers first that dogs are so smart that they understand what one wants them to do, and then he decides to train Tige truck tricks while plugging Tige’s brain to computers (106) in the truck farm. The aim is to have total control of the [Macks’] movements on the road.

The second significant similarity is that the prototypes in both science fiction stories have been built already, unlike other inventions mentioned in the book do not exist before. The prototype of the laser swatter is a regular mosquito swatter, which is widely used in our everyday life to kill insects. The prototype of the chain-controlled dogs is simply dogs that are known for their intelligence and obedience.

In both science fiction stories, the attitudes of the characters have changed due to situations they are faced with. In “Directed Energy,” Ellen’s attitude is “disapproval at her errant brother” (99) as she “frowns” when Bernie starts to talk about defending the spread of disease-carrying bugs. After Bernie proves that the laser box does a great job destroying incoming disease-carrying insects, Ellen’s attitude changes to “simply incredible” (101). In “Matchmakers,” Jimmy grinned with delight as he was surprised to see that the genimals are so smart and they perform as follows: “Blackie stood still and cocked her head attentively. Now Tige barked once, softly, and sat. Blackie promptly followed suit. Tige shifted into the begging posture, and so did Blackie” (113). Later on, however, Jimmy’s face slumped as he realizes that they can drive the trucks without the help of computers, as long as they train the genimals do what they want them to, so they really don’t need to enslave the genimals.

There is a growing consensus that it is not humane to experiment on animals for scientific purposes. The foremost argument presented with animal