The terms "potential trouble source" and "loose cannon" can be considered synonimous and thus interchangeable: the first, literal, is more technical; the second, figurative, is more familiar; both indicate the same condition.
There is a specific condition called Potential Trouble Source. It is defined as one who is subject to a suppression and who can't do anything about it to fight back. [...] There can be many a reason why one can't do anything about it, but chief amongst them is that one is not aware of being suppressed – one does not detect suppression for what it is: suppression; or one considers one can’t do anything about it – that consideration prevents any attempt and thus any possible success: apathy. To that degree, one is a potential trouble source: one is liable to make mistakes, to cause troubles, maybe convinced to be doing the right thing or the only possible thing.
[...] Another very important observation is that the real suppressives are a minority, and the suppressive has no actual force of his or her own; all of his or her force is that of those he or she can turn into potential trouble sources. That’s why in my view being a potential trouble source is even far more a serious matter than being suppressive: if it wasn’t for the potential trouble source, the suppressive would be harmless.
[...] A suppressive is one who originates a suppressive pressure against one’s fellows; a potential trouble source is one who receives that pressure and, instead of prevent its spreading by detecting it and stopping it, relays it against self and others. A suppressive is cause, a potential trouble source is effect instead of being cause.
But what’s even worse is that the potential trouble source does not restrict himself or herself to relay, which is already inexcusable in itself, but, as if that were not enough, he or she amplifies it. And we know that the power of the signal getting out of an amplifier equals a thousand, a million times the power of the signal entering it.
[...] The suppressive is the cause responsible for the potentially lethal disease, the potential trouble source is the cause responsible for its actually lethal epidemics, each one of us is the cause responsible for allowing any potential trouble source to be one, and thus to do so.
source: The Suppressive and the Potential Trouble Source (3 pages)
It has been said that, of all our duties and skills, differentiating and detecting the social and the antisocial personalities, and holding the social safe from undue restrain while restraining the antisocial from suppressing, ranks the highest since failing that civilisation won't be here any more to support anything at all. The dystopian future envisioned by predictive artists, and our fast heading for just that, are the hard evidence. This then is our basic make or break point, and our ensuing first duty as individuals is paying the price of freedom and being constantly alert about just that, and being constantly willing to fight back and eradicate it. If the potential trouble source is the key factor in conveying suppression, then part of this basic point and duty is paying the price of freedom about that too, and being constantly alert about anyone, and ourselves in the first place, becoming or being a potential trouble source, of whatever “winning”, “losing” or any other kind, and being constantly willing to fight back, pull that individual out of that condition and eradicate it.
In summary, we have three key advances here:
1: tracing the root cause to the common denominator of the suppressive, the potential trouble source and their relationship;
2: realising the seriousness and the order of magnitude of the fallout of that root cause;
3: realising that successfully handling that root cause, or lacking to do it, is the make−break point of all human existences, civilisations, endeavours, and anything, and thus ranks FIRST among ALL human knowledge and duties.
