As much as I love science fiction, I admit that it often scares me as well. Even though most of us would like to believe that sci-fi is nothing more than fun fiction, the truth is that it often gives us an all too realistic glimpse into a very possible future.
I still remember the first time that I saw the movie “Frankenstein.” Although I enjoyed the film it as a child for its entertainment value, I now watch similar stories with an odd sense of impending doom.
While as far as we know science isn’t anywhere near to animating the dead, I personally have no doubt that there are experiments happening out there attempting to do just that. After all, just a few decades ago who would have believed that we could start life in a test tube?
It is doubtful that Mary Shelley intended her novel to result in the kind of horrific sci-fi vein that it did. I think her story was meant as a way to get mankind to ponder the responsibility attached to the act of creation and to issue a warning about how quickly such experiments could run amok.
There is no denying that her novel interestingly mapped out the way man would progress in his search to become one with God (or whatever deity he served). Man, much like the curious Victor Frankenstein, is always in search of the next best thing that can elevate him into the realm of the original creator.
Like Dr. Frankenstein, humanity has made some useful contributions as well as some horrific mistakes. Cloning is a wonderful example. While most of us understand how cloning might ultimately benefit humanity, the fact remains that – – much like Shelley’s dubious doctor, science seems reluctant to accept responsibility for some of the mistakes that it makes along the way.
The excuse offered is that, because we have supposedly only experimented with animals and not human beings, there should be no shame in putting those unsuccessful attempts to death. But I think we have to seriously ask ourselves the question: “Would human experimentation really be that different?”
History indicates that the answer to that question is probably no. If you doubt that fact, you might want to read an earlier article of mine that dealt with true stories of human experimentation. Man often seems willing to do virtually anything in order to reach his ultimate goal. The reason given is “what is a few human lives in order to save millions?” I can’t even begin to express my contempt over this kind of reasoning.
We must, whether we want to or not, realize that in man’s rush to “create” like a god he also runs the risk of believing himself to actually be a god. And like Dr. Frankenstein found out, that paradigm shift in our minds could end up being our undoing.
Cloning, however, isn’t the only scientific discovery that we must look at realistically. Even more people, both inside and outside of the scientific field of study, are concerned about the increasingly popular field of robotics.
Most science fiction writers understood that robotics would, at some time or another, become a reality. It was never a matter of “if” it would occur, but more simply “when” it would occur.
Mankind has also dealt with this eventual reality in a literature as well as film. Sometimes it was approached from a humorous point of view like Rosie the Robot from the Jetsons. Other times it was approached from a pragmatic point of view like the Robin Williams film “Bicentennial Man.” Still other books and movies seemed to issue a very real warning; like the Will Smith movie “I Robot.”
Robotics are by no means new to mankind. The very first examples of the technology are, in fact, over 50 years old. So far man has managed to keep this growing technology in check. While it has become useful in industry, we have avoided unleashing it into the mainstream where it could escalate out of humanity’s control.
A few primitive examples of robotics, however, have begun to make their way into our homes. Robotic vacuum cleaners, like Roomba, can already be set up to automatically clean any space set up within its parameter field. Most people would agree that this kind of robotic use is totally innocuous. So why does there continue to be such fear attached to a potential robotic future?
Perhaps the very science fiction that so many of us mock as unrealistic has answered that question with an honesty we just don’t care to recognize. Humans have proven over and over again, throughout all of history, a shocking unwillingness to accept and learn from our mistakes. Until we can do that, the truth is that we simply don’t have the capability to handle advanced technology.
While nothing is every likely to stop science from progressing, nor should we ever want it to, let’s hope that we face future discoveries with our eyes wide open. Let’s pray that we become willing to hold ourselves accountable. Let’s have faith in one another and man’s enduring love not only for himself but also for that of his brother. Otherwise, that sense of impending doom could become an all too true reality.
