AboutGeoff Expertise I have read most of the short stories and books produced by the Top 80-100 authors in the SF field, as well as more obscure authors such as Robert Sheckley, and can answer any queries regarding author, title or theme of a short story(or novel). I can also answer questions on the history and influence of Science Fiction past to present, as well as on specific SF genres such as Cyberpunk,Golden Age SF, H G Wells-style scientific romances etc.
Experience Am currently doing a writing course for writing Science Fiction Books, with the Writer's Bureau in the UK.<
Expert: Geoff Date: 5/9/2008 Subject: science fiction short story
Question I am trying to find a specific story but cannot remember title or author. The story is set in the near future and the totalitarian government controls the daily lives of the people. Those who have superior abilities are held back to a level to equal a common standard. For example entertainers who are great dancers must wear sand bags to hold them down, and very intelligent people must wear headphones that emit continuous noise to keep them from concentrating. In the story a pair of these dancers throw off their restraints and are killed by the authorities.
Answer The story you're looking for is called "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut. Here's a short description on Wikipedia:-
