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In the essay, “The Terrifying Normalcy of Aids”, Stephen Jay Gould makes a claim about how people live in a fantasy land of technology and have a false hope about the speed and ability of it. Gould uses AIDS to show how humans can overlook the important things in the society just because of their reliance on technology. Throughout the essay, Gould educates the audience and makes them realize the severity of their beliefs about technology. He uses symbolism, scientific facts, extreme choice of words, and refutes the other side of the claim, to prove his point. Gould writes in a number of tones throughout the essay to bring the reader’s attention and fear into the whole aspect of what he is trying to prove. Throughout the essay, Gould uses a symbolic mechanism to show the fantasy world that people are revolved around in the world of technology. He does this by referring to the Epcot Center in Disney World to symbolize people’s myths on how the world will look like in the future and their theories on how fast technology will progress: “Disney’s Epcot Center in Orlando, Fla., is a technological tour de force and a conceptual desert. In this permanent World’s Fair, American industrial giants have built their versions of an unblemished future. This masterful entertainment conveys but one message, brilliantly packaged and relentlessly expressed: progress through technology is the solution to all human problems” (398). The Epcot Center is a place that was built around a fantasy world. It was a place made for children, and that is the time when most humans have the greatest imagination. The mascot for the Epcot Center is Fantasia; he is a purple dinosaur that helps one fantasize. By referring to the Epcot Center, Gould is giving a blunt view of the fantasy of technology people really have. Gould is also giving the readers an example that almost every person in the United States is familiar with so they can relate and understand what he is proving.
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