Prof talks

I was very impressed with the Professor visits from Monday.  I have been eager to sit through any kind of discourse possible with both of them.  I hope I kept up with Dr. Seaman’s talk about Postsecular Posthumanities.  It was difficult to read, but I feel as if it was easier to understand while she verbalized the material.  I actually have pursued an idea similar to hers in the past, and I would like to explore it a little more.  In the novel Frankenstein, young Victor never mentions an intent upon increasing scientific advancement.  He is only interested in attaining a God-like power for his own gratification.  Victor is discovering the capability to bring life into the world, and once he achieves this goal, his life falls apart.  He becomes more obsessed with killing the monster, all the while the monster goes a rampage killing Victor’s loved ones.  Notice stories in popular culture such as Pet Sematary. Again a student of science (the main character is a physician just as Victor is studying science at the University) is approached with the ability to bring a dead person back to life; however, it always yields destructive results.  (Luis’s friend and neighbor shows him an old Native American burial blessed with a deity’s power to liven the dead.)    The character,  Luis brings the family cat back after being hit by truck.  Although the cat is usually angry and kills mice and birds, whereas before he was far more lovable.  Luis’s son gets hit by a truck, subsequently burying him.  Again the son comes back and murders, this time Luis’s wife.  What does this cycle suggest.  Are story tellers such as these trying to present us with a redefined Faustian cautionary tale?  Are humans well off by not having infinite knowledge? The human race is after all a very destructive one.  We are responsible for war, hungry, diseases, and things of that nature.  The Earth is our home but we destroy it with pollution.  The inhabitants of this home, all citizens, are starving and in dire need of food and healthcare. However, we always find ways in justifying their situation, “Hey get a job.” “Why should I drop my money to help you.”  We have global conflict resulting ion never ending war.  If we as a race are in such a state of turmoil, then what good are we to create life outside of our own biological capacities.  Why is it so important to create A.I. or clone humans when we cannot solve our own problems?  What gives humans the right to tackle a subject we do not understand?  Is it possible to go too far in our knowledge seeking?  What could be the results?