Is knowledge, which is the base of human ingenuity and intelligence, also the factor which will bring upon humanity’s impending destruction? Knowledge today plays a key role in almost every facet of human existence, from food, to water, to providing the foundation for every piece technological equipment ever constructed. Knowledge though has also provided us with ever more imaginative and efficient means of killing and destroying each other and the planet, these means include nuclear weapons, and of course biological warfare. Therefore knowledge plays the role of the doubled-edged sword, bringing humanity luxuries and power beyond conception, as well as arming us with the tools to completely eradicate all life. In the novel of Oryx and Crake, a slightly more advanced civilization than ours, where biotechnology has brought numerous wonders to the world is brought into perspective. This civilization, wrought by corruption, has eliminated disease, and now is making synthetic viruses in order to cash in on the destruction, the perfect scheme. One of the protagonists, Crake, discovers this scheme, and with this knowledge, seeks to destroy the corrupted civilization, by performing the same atrocity. With Crake’s synthetic virus, he eliminates the entirety of human race, with the tools knowledge supplied him with. In the novel A Canticle for Leibowitz the human race is just an insignificant remnant of its former glory, after it obliterated itself with the use of nuclear weapons. This novel shows humanity’s rise out of the ashes, with focus being placed on the Order of St. Leibowitz, the sole caretakers’ of the hated knowledge from the age past. With the knowledge contained with the Order, humanity experiences a renaissance, in which ulte...
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...prized knowledge above all else.
In both Oryx and Crake and A Canticle for Leibowitz, knowledged acts as a doubled-edged sword bringing wonders and inventions that truly make life easy, and at the same time bringing death and destruction in the form of weapons and military advancements. It is quite evident in both novels that knowledge acts a god, to be worshiped and studied, and as a god, chooses when to deal out good and bad deeds. Knowledge provided mankind with miracles and massacres. Knowledge itself is not lethal, mankind is the hand that directs the pathways of knowledge. Humans cause massacres, with the aide of knowledge. But if mankind is truly born evil, than it is only a matter of time for it to destroys itself. As mankind delves more deeply in the the endless mine of knowledge, it must take caution, as it has within its grasp to become gods…or demons.
Knowledge can be the key to success and can lead people to happier life. However, there are some instances that you can not gain any more knowledge because of how it would change your whole life. The drive of wanting more and more knowledge is best portrayed through two well -known books. In Mary Shelley’s, Frankenstein, and in Daniel Keyes, Flowers for Algernon, both the creature and Charlie are ostracized by society because they are different from everyone else but this distinction gave way for distinct fallouts because of their quest for knowledge beyond their reach to achieve happiness.
Quinn made it clear that human behavior and culture are root causes of their increase in unsustainability. He describes that the story in which mankind is enacting is one that makes them the enemy of the world. Ishmael pushes the narrator to provide an explanation of how things came to be this way. How humans were able to cause so much destruction. The explanation given was that The world was created for man, man was made to conquer and rule it and turn the world into paradise under human rule. However, the paradise cannot be achieved because man is flawed (Quinn, 47). Ishmael compares the implication that humans are above any law to an airman who has built a flying contraption that does not obey the law of thermodynamics. He explains that man is on this craft and completely unaware of the law that must be complied to achieve civilizational flight (Quinn, 63). The first craft went well and they felt as if the flight was never going to end. However, they were in freefall because their craft was simply not in compliance with the law that makes flight possible. Their ignorance to the law continuous use of the same unstable craft will accelerate rate that which they are falling. This comparison is a metaphor to how humans live without considering the law of living which is what has brought them to the brink of catastrophe. The culprits for the biodiversity loss include climate change, habitat loss,
Pretend that you are class president. One day, you and your best friend since kindergarten have a huge fight, so as revenge, he releases one of your deepest, darkest secrets out into the world. The secret passes on all around and soon the whole school knows. Now it is too late to try and fix this because dark secrets are hard to forget. Ultimately, this causes all your peers to look at you in a different and bad way resulting in your reputation being ruined. You probably won’t be voted for class president ever again. This situation proves that “What you don’t know can’t hurt you,” is not always true and can do the exact opposite and cause destruction. William Golding’s The Lord of the Flies shows that ignorance can become a vicious monster and destroy. This can also be seen in many other novels, such as Ray Bradbury’s Farenheit 451 and in everyday life. Golding and Bradbury also provide characters that show knowledge, at times, is a good thing.
In Brave New World, Aldous Huxley tries to convey the belief that every invention or improvement for the “betterment” of mankind is only an instrument for his ultimate destruction. “We are,” he said, “on the horns of an ethical dilemma and to find the middle way will require all out intelligence and all out good will.” This goes for all fields of life, medical, technical, social, etc. Not only in the book, but also in real life, one can see that this belief is evidently true.
Kurt Vonnegut's Galapagos was written one million years ahead of the year 1986 AD. In this book, Vonnegut argues that the ultimate effect of humanity's sociological problems with technology is that man's intelligence will be the downfall and destruction of the human race. The essential point made by Vonnegut in this work is that the "great big brains" of humanity drives people to go further into technology and create new weapons that will lead to the demolition of man kind; Vonnegut disagreed against virtually every technological development (made by “big brains”).
John Markoff's "The Doomsday Machine" is an intriguing view on how our technology may exponentially improve into the future, but the essay fails to support the thesis statement that our technology will eventually destroy the human race. His dire predictions for our future are based on theories as well as conclusions that are themselves based on theories. These predictions do not account for how other simultaneous technological advancements and the desire for profit will affect our world. It ignores the power of human imagination, ingenuity, feelings, and personal motivation. There is also a complete disregard for God's plan.
Mary Shelley brings about both the positive and negative aspects of knowledge through her characters in Frankenstein. The use of knowledge usually has many benefits, but here Shelley illustrates how seeking knowledge beyond its limits takes away from the natural pleasures of known knowledge. She suggests that knowledge without mortality and uncontrolled passions will lead to destruction. Victor and his monster experience this destruction following their desires and losing self control. Walton, on the other hand, becomes of aware of the consequences and is able to turn back before it’s too late. Shelley also suggests that without enjoying the natural pleasures of life, pursuing knowledge is limited, but how can knowledge be limited if it is infinite?
Destruction is caused by Weapons. The technological advancement throughout history are amazing. During the french revolution the guillotine is introduced. The guillotine was created as a cleaner, more humane alternative to an axe to the back of the neck. The guillotine was created for all classes. It was done so no matter how low class or how high of class if you were to be killed it would be by guillotine. The guillotine promoted equality and was a staple throughout the revolution to advocate for equality. Other technology advances began earlier during the scientific revolution. Copernicus proved the church wrong when they said that the earth was at the center of the universe. Copernicus proved using a telescope that the earth revolves around the sun. This advance sparked others to see the world in a different way. Changing the perspective of the people allowed them to think more creatively and discover more. Another technological advancement that changed history and society was the industrial revolution that struck through Europe creating more jobs and manufacturing more goods at a higher rate. One of the greatest to come to the western world was the industrial revolution the incredible advancements made during the time that affected the world we live in today. The world went from hand crafted goodness to machine manufactured goods in a lifetime. This quick and drastic change was an extreme advancement. As machinery grew
The novel Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood provides a dystopic vision of the outcome of unregulated pursuit of knowledge and control over nature. It is unlikely that the scenario portrayed in the novel would ever occur beyond fiction. The reason being the United States and many other countries already have regulating agencies and oversight commissions that would prevent scientists such as Crake from ever developing his ideas into reality. Atwood incorporates realistic experimental methods into her novel, which eventually lead to pigs being able to grow human organs, and creating “pigoons” that appear to be more horrific than Frankenstein himself. Consumers are the ones to decide what is put to use and what is not. There is a fine line between benefiting society and damaging society. This novel illustrates what may happen when that line is crossed a thousand times over; a horrific image. Atwood takes many of today’s scientific ideas with the potential to benefit society and turns them into tomorrow’s nightmare and creates a false paranoia. However, without new scientific advancements or technology, there will be no hopes for those who are in critical health conditions; therefore, we should overlook the arbitrary ethical proclamations of certain groups of people, for genetic technological progression is the only key to the sustenance of the population in terms of being able to be cured from the infestation of nature.
The society in the novel is controlled by the government. The absence of knowledge is what allows the government to maintain control over society. The government destroys all possible forms of knowledge
Our knowledge is a key to our success and happiness in our life to give us personal satisfaction. Knowledge is power but not always. Sometimes our self-awareness and growth as an individual gives us negative thoughts that make us want to go back to undo it. Everyone wants to unlearn a part in our life that brought us pain and problems. Good or bad experiences brought by true wisdom can be used for our self-acceptance, self-fulfillment and these experiences would make us stronger as we walk to the road of our so called “life”, but Douglas’s and my experience about knowledge confirmed his belief that “Knowledge is a curse”. Both of us felt frustrated and sad from learning knowledge.
By definition, knowledge is the fact or condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association (Merriam-Webster.com). In the novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley considers knowledge as a “dangerous” factor. The danger of it is proved throughout the actions of the characters Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein, and the creature. The characters all embody the theme of knowledge in different ways. Shelley supports her opinion on knowledge by using references from the Bible and Paradise Lost.
The pursuit of knowledge can lead to a humans destruction and awareness. The pursuit of
From the very first creation of man, the limitless impulse to learn has been prevalent, causing nothing short of detrimental consequences. Through Adam and Eve, it can be seen that mankind is created with an immense passion and desire to know more than nature intends. As shown in the biblical story, despite having all they need, Adam and Eve go against the word of their creator to try to obtain more knowledge. In doing so they receive punishment and forever burden humanity. Knowledge does not come without a price and the consequences can be unforgiving. Humans are bred to push the boundaries of knowledge, as repeatedly shown throughout the novel. Three characters: Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein, and the Creature, in the novel Frankenstein
Which leaves us with a challenge: using Thomas Kuhn's model for change in the social sciences, we must endeavor to see if the Ponting/Quinn paradigm for all civilization is merely a shift in attitude or-as would be difficult for Kuhn to imagine-an entirely new realization that carries with it remedies for the penalties it warns of. If this is a shift back in paradigm, to hunter-gatherer or Noble Savage imagery, then the potential for civil disruption is great. With the stakes of annihilation as high as they are presented, such a shift could justify sweeping political/economic reform that-in the absence of the believed-in reality-would only place more of the Earth's population in positions of subsistence and subservience.