The Lessons of
Science Fiction
This past weekend,
there was an excellent series of episodes of a show called “Prophets of Science
Fiction” narrated by Ridley Scott on the Science Channel. He covered all my
favorite sci-fi authors from Philip K. Dick to Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, and
Arthur C. Clarke devoting an hour to each of these great men. He showed how
much of their visionary and fanciful imaginings turned out to very prophetic
and are now scientific reality. He gives them credit for ideas that scientists
later ran with and made it happen. Most of these ideas were used for the
betterment of mankind. Science fiction has always been ahead of the curve with
either speculation that seemed to be utterly fantastical at the time, or as
cautionary tales warning of the danger that may lie ahead for us if we continue
to pursue current trends. One of the first works of fiction that fell in the
cautionary sci-fi genre was Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”. Another good example
of this is “Terminator”. A cautionary tale if there ever was one. The only
problem with these is that we don’t seem to be paying much attention to what
these authors were trying to tell us. We are at this very moment performing all
sorts of experiments with DNA manipulation and modifications even on humans.
Mary Shelley would be rolling over in her grave. DARPA is right now developing
robots that will think and act independently on the battlefield. Is Skynet very
far behind? Is RoboCop next on the agenda? The purpose of robocops being that
they would be easily programed to go after me and you without the worry of
human compassion getting in the way of them obeying orders. So you can see
where I’m going with this and what my concerns are. What good is a cautionary
tale if no one is paying attention to it? In the scientific community these
days, it appears that it is full speed ahead and to hell with the consequences.
Here’s the latest so-called advance that really has me nervous. You can check
it out here and see that I’m not just being paranoid. Go check it out and get back with me:
So, my question is this: Didn’t
these guys ever watch “Stargate” when the episodes featured the replicators?
Those bad boys wiped out whole advanced civilizations! Or there’s Michael
Crichton’s book Prey which is a dire warning against the use of
nano-technology. And here we are talking about creating something that sounds
just like them with the same capabilities. Anyone else besides me who thinks it
might be a very bad idea?
I love science fiction and always have. My mind has always entertained
the question of “What if?” even in my earliest memories. And I also think that
advancements in science are often wonderful things that benefit us all. But I
hold out that just because we can do a thing, doesn’t always mean that we
should.
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