Frankenstein continues to occupy the popular imaginations as a monstrous scientist. Analyze some of the ways in which Frankenstein continues to haunt discussions of recent technologies.
Frankenstein is a typical representation of artificial technology. It reflects human beings are striving for more advancing technologies. Humanity is easily seen to be have greater challenged by the rise of artificial technologies. It draws the attention to the fear between humanity and technology and induced different debate over morality and technology. Different discussion about the reproductive technology and other perspective which related to Frankenstein were showed.
In “Biotechnology and the fear of Frankenstein"[1](Campbell, 2003), it mentioned that the story of Frankenstein is always used to discuss about biotechnology. Although Frankenstein is a story wrote in 19th century, it still has high relevance to nowadays even Frankenstein is a story written in 19the century. Campbell (2003) illustrated the difference between “scientific fact” and “science-fiction”. It discussed about 1970s DNA revolution caused the fear of Frankenstein as the myth of Frankenstein are realized not just the fantasy of a novel. As people can change or control the nature of human by biotechnology including DNA or genetic technology, it terrorized the human sense of identity, uniqueness and primacy. At the same time, Campbell pointed out that the ambition of Frankenstein to trace the sources is good, but needed to be careful and caring science which the technology is needed to avoid turning the success into abnormality just like Frankenstein. This paper is contained an in-depth discussion about Frankenstein. It is very useful to see the relationship between biotechnology and the story of Frankenstein, the fear of people about the biotechnology nowadays as Frankenstein myth may become real.
Damyanov[2]explored the influence of the science and technologies on the society with referring to the Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and William Gibson's Neuromancer. It examined that as the information and computer technologies provided human the knowledge and power over nature. As inequalities between human and nature would be increased by modern science, they would destroy the nature and caused different problems such as moral responsibility. Modern technologies such as genetic engineering increased the chances to manipulate life. The source allowed the exploration of the potential dangers and human anxiety in the discussion of another area of technologies. It did not only show the concern in aspects of moral and human nature, but also a new area that revealed the fear of technology with the possible consequence of dependency of technology.
Will technology change humanity, or has it already? [3] This article has provided a critical reflection of the advanced technology has changed the living culture. Humanity was declining towards the human communication and basic human nature. It has proved that the artificial technologies would take the advantage over everything and would be able to control the human life. The technology helped people solve different problems but it also bought out a number of issues have to concern. Things were getting into too complicated while our life are fully occupied by mechanical sense and can’t live without technologies. The human value now was totally relied on technology. It suggested that people have to postpone the rapid development of artificial technologies in order to give a space for people learn and enjoy the success of human evolution. And it reminded people that technology is just a most beneficialoutcome for the society. Then, it also reminded people not to be over controlled by the machine in which people can see the negative influence by the growth of new technologies from this article.
Sack's[4] article was about the question of the human nature and artificial intelligence, showed that the technology is too powerful to duplicate the ‘human nature’. He stated that it was easier for us to define the differences between us and them from artificial beings such as cyborgs and replicants, since machine was supposed not to have emotion and spirit. However, with the development of artificial intelligence, machine was indistinguishable from human. Therefore, human started to worry about the computer acts like a person, and himself as being like a computer. Therefore, Sack used the example of ELIZA to explain how the ‘Wired-style community’ disregarded the man-machine relationship. ELIZA was a computer program could carry on a textual conversation with people by varies replies. Scientists and researches have attempted to merge some human characteristics like the senses, perception and social discourse with computer. As the result, the artificial human perception and sensation of cybernetics would eliminate the artificial / natural boundary and which it challenged human identity.
From Technology vs. Humanity[5], which was written by a psychotherapist --Michael J. Hurd from the Capitalism Magazine, he pointed out that the technology has surpassed our humanity. The technology was designed and gave birth by the human. However, in nowadays, our technology has seems surpassed our humanity. As we were relied in these technologies too much, such as mobile phone, saving medicine, etc. If we didn’t get these things in our daily life, we seem we will not still alive. The Technology was become so powerful and it seems over controlling us. Our daily life was controlled by these technologies. Therefore, at the end of his article, he reminded us we should not rely on the technologies so much as we might lose our humanity if we were so fascinated in it. He believed that our human mind is the best among the others. And we should not let them to over controlling us and we need to talk a balance between the technology and our humanity.
Encountering the Frankenstein Complex [6]discussed the Frankenstein Complex that is the fear towards technology in aspects of robots. It indicated the possible risk of the robots with artificial intelligence. For examples, the harm to humanity, the replacement of the human by machines with artificial intelligence and which may cause that the robot may be out of control. On the other, the author argued that the risk of destroying the humanity may not happen based on three factors such as avoidance of producing the human-level robots and the economic. And he concluded with possibility of the risk of robots and artificial intelligence but a belief of the human life will be inevitably supplemented with robots or machines in future. With the negative impact suggesting inside, the article showed how the fear of technology revealing in other field of technology in robotics and artificial intelligence and thus support the assumptions of Frankenstein haunting the discussion of recent technologies. Moreover, an interesting point was brought out that whether the fear of technology will continue in the discussion of technology if the human life was inevitably full of technology in future and we almost become cyborg in some extents.
In the conclusion, the popular imagination of Frankenstein would continue a controversial argument to the recent technology especially relate to the evolution of artificial technology. Moreover, moral and ethnic issues increasingly bring up to the mainstream topic of technological development and they are gradually being popular to be more concerned and discuss. There are some similarities could be found between Frankenstein and artificial intelligence, but mostly the humanity aspect is still being challenged and constrained.
References:
[1]Campbell, C. S. (2003). Biotechnology and the Fear of Frankenstein. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, 12. Retrieved from February 27, 2009, from http://journals.cambridge.org.eproxy2.lib.hku.hk/action/displayFulltext?type=1&fid=170174&jid=CQH&volumeId=12&issueId=04&aid=170172
[2]Damyanov, Orlin. (1996). Technology and its Dangerous Effects on Nature and Human life as Perceived in Mary Shelly's Frankenstein and William Gibson's Neuromancer. Retrieved February 29, 2009, from http://www.geocities.com/Paris/5972/gibson.html
[3]Robin, P. (2005) Will Technology changed humanity, or has it already?. Canada Free Press, Retrieved February 27, 2009, fromhttp://www.canadafreepress.com/2005/robin022805.htm
[4] Sack, Warren. (1998) ‘Artificial Human Nature’. (Retrieved 27 February,2009)
http://project.cyberpunk.ru/idb/artificial_human_nature.html#fnB11
[5] Michael J. Hurd, Technology vs. Humanity on Capitalism Magazine ( 2001) (retreived 28 February 2009)
http://capmag.com/article.asp?id=152
[6]Lee, McCauley. (2007). Enountering the Frankenstein Complex. Retrieved from February 29, 2009, http://www-robotics.usc.edu/~tapus/AAAISpringSymposium2007/submissions/aaai_ss_07_id06.pdf
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Your articles have provided certain kind of reflections for us to think how the invention of Frankenstein had terrorized the human sense of identity, uniqueness and primacy. However, what I would like to focus is your third article “Will technology change humanity, or has it already?”. I think the article is a little bit too one-sided, because obviously the student who wrote this article is a techno-phobic. Besides, it would be rather sarcastic that while he think technology is “a little too advanced”, claiming that he’s not going to accept new technologies, but he is using this new form of media to express his views.
ReplyDeleteYou have found relevant references, but it would be better if you could explain a bit more about the relationship between Frankenstein and cyborg, thus providing a clearer explanation for readers of how it affects the discussions of recent technologies.
I think that the first reading you have found as an appropriate article to introduce about Frankenstein, however, it may be not so relevant for the following readings which mention about the relationship between human and technology and how people are being irresistible for the influences of technology. For example, they bring out that the technology has changed the living culture, discuss about the technology is too powerful to duplicate the “human nature”, and the technology has surpassed our humanity, etc. These readings would help us to know more about the recent discussion about the advance technology, then, it helps to interrupt about a notion of Frankenstein. However, it may be better to more focus on recent readings about the close relationship between Frankenstein and technology, as it seems more direct and relevant to the question.
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