Walter Mojica Mojica 1

Prof. Cross

Eng.305cmp

5/10/01

Human Nature or Human Obsession

The study of industrial arts could be one definition for technology. Somebody else might think technology is part of human obsession, but I say technology is all part of human nature. When I hear the word technology I think of all the things that make life easier for us. For example, I'm sure when fire was introduced it wasn't long after that humans began to see what they can actually do with the fire, like cooking. I believe there is a natural curiosity in human beings that drives a human to seek scientific knowledge of the world. Scientists just happen to have more curiosity than others. Sometimes though, there comes a different outlook on the way science is viewed, and science is used for selfish reasons.

There are people out there that are trying to create new species by crossing animals D.N.A. . There are also people trying to clone humans! I no longer believe this kind of "science" is science. I think this "science" is a part of obsession. I read a clear example of this in this book by Andrea A. Lunsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz called The Presence of Others. In this

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book there is an excerpt from a famous novel called Frankenstein. The novel is written by Mary Shelley. It is about an obsession of a young scholar that wants to bring life to a lifeless corpse. Victor Frankenstein is the scientist's name. When he finally accomplishes his feat he realizes the wrong he has done. He say's, " Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge, and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow ( The Presence of Others. 231 ) I've heard of learning from one's mistakes, but this is ridiculous. Is man going to have to revive the dinosaurs so that they can eat everybody and then humans can see the mistake in playing God. There is a thin line between curiosity, and obsessive ness.

There is a different article in the same book, The Presence of Others, written by Emily Martin called, " The Body at War: Media Views of the Immune System." The article is about the authors curiosity in the way the media covers different aspects of science, in this case the immune system. In the article, a man is scared of what is going to happen to him

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because of what he saw on television. He was diagnosed with A.I.D.S and after he was presented with film of what the virus would do to his system he fled the clinic because of the horrific scenes he was presented with. What I'm interested in is the scientific outlook Martin took. She states, " Mack's conviction that his health would be harmed by the images in the film made me want to explore in some detail media coverage of the immune system ( The Presence of Others. 287 ). I believe Martin's focus is geared towards the feelings of others. She wants to help solve a problem that can be damaging to a persons character. Dr. Victor Frankenstein on the other hand had personal obsessions he had to fulfill, otherwise die trying.

Although I personally don't agree with Dr. Frankenstein, I understand where he's coming from. There are some people that just have to finish what they start no matter what. Dr. Frankenstein just happen to be an extremist. In the end of Frankenstein, Shelly writes of Dr. Frankenstein's realization of what he had done. Dr. Frankenstein say's, "The different accidents of life are not so changeable as the feelings of human nature. I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate

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body. For this I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardor that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart ( The Presence of Others. 234 )." In this quote, Frankenstein clearly shows his regret. The realization of his self obsession is beginning to set in. There was never once a thought about possible outcomes before his venture into the unknown. I know there are tons of other people out there that have obsession similar to Dr. Frankenstein, the scary thing is, how soon will the rest us find out. I can imagine that in today's world Dr. Frankenstein would most likely would be pro. cloning of humans whereas a scientist like Martin would be against.

Emily Martin explores the problems with the media. Hardly the extreme of Frankenstein's personal mission. Martin is more concerned with actual problems with today's world. I think that Martin has a true grasp of what science should be. Since the media has always been a problem, Martin focuses on it and tries to make sense of it. Problems like the media constant out of context view isn't a problem that goes away overnight. At the end of

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the Martin offers us this quote, " Powerful as the impact of media images may be, we would be terribly misled if we took their content as the only sign of what is being understood in the wider culture... In the end, we will that media images, rich as they seem, are impoverished in comparison to the living collage of ideas produced by people--scientists and nonscientists ( The Presence of others. 299 ) Martin has anybody who is concerned in mind. Sure not everybody is going to agree with Martin, but she offers useful information brought on by her curiosity. Frankenstein on the other hand had his own interest at heart.

There is a thin line between curiosity and obsessiveness when it comes to science. Mary Shelly with Dr. Frankensteins character completely is obsessed with his work and shows a clear description of what science shouldn't be. While Emily Martin is an obvious example of a true scientists curiosity. Both of these are two extremes of what actually drives a human for scientific knowledge of the world. I believe that good will always prevail and bad will always fail, but one never really knows for sure. There probably is a Dr. Frankenstein working on his personal mission as we speak.

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Works Cited

Shelley, Mary. "Frankenstein." The Presence of Others. Eds. Andrea A. Lunsford and John J. Ruskiewicz. Boston: Bedford, 2000. 231 - 235

Martin, Emily. " The Body at War: Media views of the immune system." The Presence of Others. Eds. Andrea A. Lunsford and John J. Ruskiewicz. Boston, 2000. 286 - 299