What would J.R.R. Tolkien think of Palantir? (Level 1)

Many big technology companies use names from The Lord of the Rings. One famous company is Palantir. They make software that looks at large amounts of data. The military, the police, and big businesses use their software to make decisions. In the famous books by J.R.R. Tolkien, a "palantír" is a magical stone. People use it to see far away. However, bad leaders often use these stones to trick people and control the world. This makes the company's name very interesting. The company calls its offices "The Shire" and its workers "Hobbits." They want their workers to feel like heroes saving the world. But the writer Tolkien did not like big technology or spying. He loved simple, quiet living. Today, a company named after a magical stone has a lot of power. This technology can do good things or bad things. It depends on who uses it.