The Question is “Should We Do It?”
Updated: Mar 22, 2025
In the Alien universe, in March of 2023, a young Peter Weyland gives a rather shocking TED Talk in which he proclaims that we are now "gods" and announces his intent to no longer be bound or held back by conventions or rules. He sees our knowledge and our capabilities as proof that we have arrived and that we should harness and exploit that knowledge and those capabilities to create. If you are familiar with the films, the graphic novels, the novels, the short films, the video games, the licensed tabletop roleplaying game, and other creative works of the Alien universe, you know that that arrogance and lack of humility will have serious repercussions for humanity.
Contrast that rather entrepreneurial view of science and what science can do for humanity with the chiding of Dr. Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park. In the movie Jurassic Park, Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Ian Malcolm chastises and cautions Richard Attenborough's Dr. John Hammond on the dangers of hubris and science unchecked by ethical thinking and standards. It represents a cold splash of water in the face of Hammond's dreams and ambitions. And the words of warning prove to be prophetic.
I took a science fiction class at East Carolina University in which Jurassic Park was part of the required reading. I was reminded that science fiction can serve as cautionary tales. Rather ironically, after viewing Jurassic Park I actually heard people and read accounts of people that had evidently seen the movie and/or read the novel that appeared to have completely missed the point.
I am hardly a neo-Luddite that has an unreasonable fear of technology and science. But I do think that humanity has its collective hands in some science and technology that has the potential to levy a heavy toll on us all if someone is careless or has malevolent intent. We must insist that scientists, ethics boards/committees, and the people that fund science keep potential negative consequences and ethical considerations at the forefront of their thinking. And considering that much research is funded publicly, we all have a stake in this and we all have a responsibility to hold those pushing the boundaries of science and technology accountable.
Click on the links below and give some thought to what you see and hear.
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