January 26, 2011
To a new world of gods and monsters! – Bride of Frankenstein
Home? I have no home. Hunted, despised, Living like an animal! The jungle is my home. But I will show the world that I can be its master! I will perfect my own race of people. A race of atomic supermen which will conquer the world! Ha ha ha ha ha ha! – Bride of the Monster
OK, one puts it a little more eloquently than the other but they make the same point.
Humanity has a long history of tampering with nature and playing God in the name of science, and it never ends well. Even my favorite novel, Flowers for Algernon, ends heartbreakingly sadly.
Beware, because life imitates art.
That’s real. That fathead ant is real. And that’s what science is working on RIGHT NOW!
Have we learned nothing from Star Trek II? Remember the Genesis device?
McCoy: Dear Lord. You think we’re intelligent enough to… suppose… what if this thing were used where life already exists
Spock: It would destroy such life in favor of its new matrix.
McCoy: Its “new matrix”? Do you have any idea what you’re saying?
Spock: I was not attempting to evaluate its moral implications, Doctor. As a matter of cosmic history, it has always been easier to destroy than to create.
McCoy: Not anymore; now we can do both at the same time! According to myth, the Earth was created in six days. Now, watch out! Here comes Genesis! We’ll do it for you in six minutes!
Spock: Really, Dr. McCoy. You must learn to govern your passions; they will be your undoing. Logic suggests…
McCoy: Logic? My God, the man’s talking about logic; we’re talking about universal Armageddon! You green-blooded, inhuman…
And now supersoldier ants. The big-headed Captain Americas of the ant world!
How long until someone starts splicing these genes into people?
There is more than a fine line between “we can do something” and “we should do something.” Seriously, we can make huge-headed ants. OK, what for? Other than research there is no reason to do it. And I am not anti-research, far from it, but you know that while the scientists may start out with noble intentions like curing cancer, this will soon turn into “what if we inject super-ant hormone into army recruits when they get inoculated for TB?” Don’t laugh; America has done crap like that before.
Caribbean crazy ants are bad enough. Now imagine them the size of Michael Vick and capable of driving cross-country to your town.
What about ” We CAN do something, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we should ” ? We could genetically engineer a cross between Rottweilers & scorpions & add bionic parts to them sometime in the near future, but that doesn’t make it a good idea, even if they MIGHT make good guard….. er, creatures.
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This is the sort of thing that gets science and scientists a bad name. No wonder that the population imagine scientists to be like Dr. Who’s Professor Zaroff
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Didn’t they learn anything from Killer Bees? BTW that is one ugly ant!
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What about the viruses / bacteria that become antibiotic – resistant ? Is that because their tolerance level increases, or our antibiotics aren’t as strong as we think they are ?
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Could be both, but the constant use of hand sanitizers and the like is having a negative effect. It makes the germs more and more resistant in the long run.
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that’s what seems strange, because according to some things that I’ve read, the 1st hand – sanitizers basically spread the germs around.
They should never have stopped making PhiSoHex lotion ( Used in a lot of hospitals back in the day ).
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I wonder how it can fit in an anthill.
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Man will never learn. It’s not an opinion, it’s a proven fact.
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No arguement here.
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Science gone amok, right? Awesome share!
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This is actually exactly the story I was thinking of when I originally read Caribbean Crazy Ants. Perhaps it’s time to start showing scientists the educational documentary, “Them!”
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Very disturbing creature. Also, those old Sci-Fi movies involving giant insects always frightened me as a child. Now they just make me twitch a little.
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