Interpret this quote?

Question

The quote is about creativity

Albert Einstein:

"Technological change is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal."

How would you describe it in plain words what he means and how is it relating to creativity.

Answer 1

He thought he discovered something great but turned into one of his worst enemies, a nuclear weapon, the atom bomb.

Answer 2

It is dangerous but effective.

Answer 3

His help in the creation of the Atom Bomb,

fall into the hands of Adolf Hitler. <}:-})

Answer 4

One theory:  He means we're going overboard with technology.  Calculators, computers and other machines take away the necessity of thinking.  That's just my initial reaction, though, and I'm a bit of a hippie.  

Answer 5

Technological change can be bad if used in a negative way.  It can relate to creativity, because creativity too can be used negatively.

Answer 6

I don't know the context, so I might not be able to fully interpret the quotation.  But as far as creativity goes, it reminds me of two things:

The first is the idea that it always hurts when something comes to life (e.g., childbirth or the feeling you get when you wake up with a hangover =P).  The second is a different quotation, by Franz Kafka, that literature is an "axe for the frozen sea within us."  In other words, the creativity exemplified by technology or literature is by its nature radical and destructive.  Even when giving birth to new modes of thinking, they break apart preconceptions and reshape what we know about things.