The Positive Potential of Human Cloning

1107 Words3 Pages

Long after Shelley wrote her classic masterpiece Frankenstein and Huxley wrote Brave New World, the ethical controversy of cloning conflicts with modern artificial intelligence research. The question that challenges the idea of negative or positive behavior in a replicated machine relies on its similarity to the source of the clone, whether it emulates human behavior or acts as a “superintelligence” with supernatural characteristics void of human error. Humanity will not know the absolute answers concerning behavioral outcome without creating a physical being, an idea portrayed in Shelley’s Frankenstein in which the creation of a monster emulates from his creator’s attempts to generate life. At the time of the novel’s publication, the idea of replicating a soul portrayed a nightmarish theme with little consideration for the potential scientific advancements to facilitate in reality. It lead the genetic idea of manmade intelligence and its ethics emerging from the relativity of space, time, and original life on the planet. The debate of the existing possibility of sentient machines continues to progress, but the consideration of ethical questions such as “Should we create these artificial people?” and “How does this enactment define the soul and mind?” warranted from primitive questions about machine learning within the last century. After the initial proof of possibility for sentient machines, the perfection of cloning will generate “good” behavior at its perfect state several generations from now. The perfect machine portrays the potential for sensible human behaviors including compassion, mentality, empathy, alertness, and love. Humanity of the twenty-first century possesses the knowledge to fantasize the idea of artificial ...

... middle of paper ...

.... Until a successful attempt of creating life emerges in upcoming history, the possibility of cloning may never reveal its truth. Matters of opinion judge the positive and negative outcomes of artificial animal reproduction, and numerous instances prove its everlasting positive outlook for world community, science, and theology.

Works Cited

The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments. Trenton: I. Collins, 1791. Print.
Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York: Harper & Bros., 1946. Print.
Johnson, Mike. "Veteran's New Artificial Leg Has Artificial Intelligence." Veteran's New Artificial Leg Has Artificial Intelligence. Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel, 11 Apr. 2007. Web.
Krill, Paul. "The Age of the Sentient Machine Is upon Us." InfoWorld. 14 Mar. 2013. Web.
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Philippe Munch. Frankenstein. New York: Viking, 1998. Print.

Show More
Related

  • Never Let Me Go Vs Frankenstein

    220 Words  | 1 Pages

    At first sight, there may not seem to be any similarities between the contemporary novel Never Let Me Go and the time-worn classic Frankenstein; but while Mary Shelly chooses to highlight the consequences of impetuous action in a harrowing tale about a hideous monster, Kazuo Ishiguro exemplifies the same principles in a heart wrenching tale about human clones. As a result of advancing societies, there is a common drive to create the “next best thing” whether it be monsters or clones; but the issue with this does not lie in the fact that scientists are pushing harder; but, that often there is little to no forethought regarding the consequences of creating a living thing, especially if it is created to be as human-like as possible. And, to worsen

    Read More

  • Frankenstein Today

    1112 Words  | 3 Pages

    When the novel “Frankenstein”, by Mary Shelley came out in 1831 the general public was introduced to the idea of man creating another man, scientifically without the use of reproduction. The disasters that followed, in the novel, demonstrated the horrid fact that creating humans was not natural. That was in 1831, when the knowledge of science had not yet evolved enough to act on such an idea. Now as the start of a new millenium approaches, having the capability to scientifically produce one human who is genetically identical to another, or cloning a human, has a lot of people questioning weather or not it is our moral right to do such a thing. It is a classic debate between principles of science and principles of religion.

    Read More

  • AI vs Frankenstein

    712 Words  | 2 Pages

    Artificial Intelligence is very similar to Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein in that the underlying themes, questions asked, and moral issues raised are the same.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Human Cloning

    1524 Words  | 4 Pages

    The objective of this essay is to inform the reader(s) about human cloning. I believe that human cloning is morally wrong because one should not have the right to avoid daily responsibilities by getting someone else to handle them. There will be four sections of this paper that will be discussed. Firstly, there is an argumentative section, which will have premises along with a conclusion for an argument made against human cloning. Secondly, an explanation section, which explains how the argument against human cloning obeys the rules for a good argument. Thirdly, an objection section to where there are arguments that violates mine in order to demonstrate how objectors might object to the argument. Lastly, there will be a conclusion where I discuss

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Cloning

    860 Words  | 2 Pages

    Human and animal cloning is still a debatable issue. People believe that cloning is playing God, just as Victor Frankenstein did when he created the Monster. While Victor Frankenstein’s creation ended in catastrophe, cloning’s seemly innocent side effects can still disrupt and alter the entire world.

    Read More

  • Playing God in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    1250 Words  | 3 Pages

    Over two centuries ago, Mary Shelley created a gruesome tale of the horrific ramifications that result when man over steps his bounds and manipulates nature. In her classic tale, Frankenstein, Shelley weaves together the terrifying implications of a young scientist playing God and creating life, only to be haunted for the duration of his life by the monster of his own sordid creation. Reading Shelley in the context of present technologically advanced times, her tale of monstrous creation provides a very gruesome caution. For today, it is not merely a human being the sciences are lusting blindly to bring to life, as was the deranged quest of Victor Frankenstein, but rather to generate something potentially even more dangerous and horrifying with implications that could endanger the entire world and human population.

    Read More

  • Science, Technology, and Morality in Shelley's Frankenstein

    1101 Words  | 3 Pages

    Proponents of cloning humans today should remind themselves of the lesson of Victor Frankenstein before they have to deal with the products of their research and learn the hard way. & nbsp;

    Read More

  • Creating Life by Cloning is Immoral

    1635 Words  | 4 Pages

    The idea of creating life has intrigued people since the beginning of time. Mary Shelly in her novel Frankenstein brought this idea to life. In this novel, Victor Frankenstein created life by using advanced science and spare body parts. The idea of creating life is a current controversy. Technology now allows for the cloning of sheep. Certainly, the ability to clone humans cannot be far away. It is necessary to place restrictions on cloning research and to ban humans cloning because human cloning is immoral. Furthermore, the expectations placed on a cloned creature by society would be unbearable for the creature, and would lead to its psychological demise.

    Read More

  • Frankenstein

    1002 Words  | 3 Pages

    In today’s world of genetically engineered hearts and genetically altered glowing rats, the story of Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, seems as if it could be seen in the newspapers in our near future. The discoveries seen in modern science, as well as in the novel, often have controversy and negative consequences that follow them, the biggest of which being the responsibility the creator of life has to what has been created. Victor Frankenstein suffers from a variety of internal and external conflicts stemming from the creation of his monster, which in return also experiences similar problems. Shelley uses these tumultuous issues to portray the discrepancies between right and wrong, particularly through romanticism and the knowledge of science.

    Read More

  • Ethical Issues in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    1228 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mary Shelley expresses various ethical issues by creating a mythical monster called Frankenstein. There is some controversy on how Mary Shelley defines human nature in the novel, there are many features of the way humans react in situations. Shelley uses a relationship between morality and science, she brings the two subjects together when writing Frankenstein, and she shows the amount of controversy with the advancement of science. There are said to be some limits to the scientific inquiry that could have restrained the quantity of scientific implications that Mary Shelley was able to make, along with the types of scientific restraints. Mary Shelley wrote this classic novel in such a way that it depicted some amounts foreshadowing of the world today. This paper will concentrate on the definition of human nature, the controversy of morality and science, the limits to scientific inquiry and how this novel ties in with today’s world.

    Read More

  • Frankenstein: Mary Shelley's Ability to Create Sympathy for the Monster

    1840 Words  | 4 Pages

    Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is ‘one of the pioneering works of modern science fiction’, and is also a frightening story that speaks to the ‘mysterious fears of our nature’. Mary Shelley mocks the idea of “playing God”, the idea that came from the Greek myth of Prometheus, of the Greek titan who stole Zeus’ gift of life. Both the story of Frankenstein and Prometheus reveal the dark side of human nature and the dangerous effects of creating artificial life. Frankenstein reveals the shocking reality of the consequences to prejudging someone. The creature’s first-person narration reveals to us his humanity, and his want to be accepted by others even though he is different.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Cloning

    929 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...cloning can be divided into two broad category: potential safety risk and moral problems, and these concerns overweigh its achievement.

    Read More

  • Cloning: The Double-Edged Sword

    445 Words  | 1 Pages

    Such a furore was created when the birth of Dolly the sheep; the first successfully cloned mammal, was announced to the world in 1997, that the scientific community was gasping for air. Time and space seemed to have come to a virtual standstill as scientists vigorously, not to mention obsessively, hypothesized the cosmic future potential of Dr. Wilmut's team's revolutionary breakthrough in the dynamic realm of science. The euphoria of the moment, it seems, took some time to settle before scientists began to unravel the possible detrimental ramifications of the discovery. Have Dr. Wilmut and team then generated a scientific miracle on one hand, while opening a Pandora's box on the other?

    Read More

  • Dangers of Technology Exposed in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    1592 Words  | 4 Pages

    Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was a literary piece that touched on many different issues, not only in her time, but also today. The creation of life in Frankenstein was Shelley’s symbolic warning to the new industrialized era. “It also [can] be seen to be warning about the dangers of uncontrolled application of technology and its use without proper morality” (Brachneos). The warning in Frankenstein applies today more than ever because of the creation of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and computers that “think for themselves” The two are connected in a sense. Some would argue that Victor, the character that created the monster wanting to play od, is like the programmers of AI computers today.

    Read More

  • Comparing the Theme of Technology Versus Nature in Frankenstein and Neuromancer

    4534 Words  | 10 Pages

    Michie, Donald and Johnston, Rory. The Knowledge Machine. Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Man. William Morrow and Company, Inc., NY., 1985.

    Read More

More about The Positive Potential of Human Cloning

Open Document