How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Quote #4
MAJOR WALSH: Yes, sir. It's already been ordered.
MAN ON RADIO: Major Walsh, listen, I don't like to do this. We're in enough trouble with these cattlemen already. But if you can't get these folks off the mountain and out of the area by 2000 hours, start dusting with E-Z-four.
LACOMBE: What is E-Z-four?
MAJOR WALSH: It's a sleep aerosol. Same stuff we used with the livestock. Comes out of Riot Control. They'll sleep for six hours and wake up with a hell of a headache.
Technology isn't used just in the service of progress in Close Encounters. Here Major Walsh and his superiors use the latest and greatest stuff to try to knock out those invited to Devils Tower by our alien visitors. The worst of the fallout is a hangover, but it doesn't take much to imagine technologies with more serious side effects.
Quote #5
PROJECT LEADER: If everything's ready here on the dark side of the moon, play the five tones.
As the Project Leader's words suggest, our technology has taken us to uncharted territory, the "dark side of the moon." This is a huge problem with rapidly evolving technology. Sometimes we have the technology before we know what the consequences might be. No, we're not talking about cat videos and Instagram; HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey is what comes to mind. Ditto tinkering around with DNA. Some very smart people are pretty worried about this, despite the promise of tech to improve our lives.