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Technology and its Impact on Society
Technology and its Impact on Society
Technology and its Impact on Society
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Knowledge is facts, information, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject. Dangerous means something able or likely to cause harm or injuries. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has made countless wonder whether or not knowledge can be dangerous. Numerous have probably seen Austin Powers in which Austin is cryogenically frozen, then brought back to life when technology had improved. Cryogenics are now being tested today, but is this knowledge to bring people back to life, potentially dangerous? From an uneducated standpoint, I believe knowledge isn’t dangerous; it’s what we do with knowledge that can be dangerous. Cryogenics, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and the several …show more content…
Innumerable have found this knowledge dangerous, but if we’re going to die anyway, why not freeze your body for a possibility to be able to be brought back to life. As stated on the Alcor website,” If indeed cryonics patients are recoverable in the future, then clearly they were never truly dead in the first place. “This knowledge could maybe let people live forever, or further the life they had taken from them. Cryonics is knowledge that I don’t find dangerous, but helpful. Victor states,” 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, then he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow.” I disagree with Victor Frankenstein. I don’t believe it was Victor’s knowledge that was dangerous; it was what he did with that knowledge. He took his knowledge to a whole different standpoint and he tried to basically play God. He utilized knowledge and the outcome wasn’t decent, but the knowledge could have been helpful if he wouldn’t have turned it into something bigger than the actual knowledge he obtained. Because his knowledge helped him construct a grisly fiend that destroyed everything, he blamed it on the knowledge, and said that it was dangerous when it was his actions that were actually dangerous. At the beginning …show more content…
The greatest cause of their death was plagues. One of the utmost dangerous diseases in early Louisiana was Malaria. Being so close to creeks and the humidity we have millions of mosquitoes, which brought malaria, were the reason of 1000’s of deaths. Today, because of knowledge the death rate from malaria in the US is 0%. Knowledge has turned dangerous situations into something we no longer even worry about. Because of knowledge disease is no longer the number one reason for death in the U.S., and without knowledge we would have never grown as a country and we would probably still have disease as a problem. This proves my point of knowledge not being dangerous. Therefore, knowledge is not dangerous. Knowledge can help our world prosper. Without knowledge we would still be in the same state we were in 10 million years ago, and that was not a prosperous time. However, Frankenstein did not use knowledge in a safe way, it wasn’t the knowledge that was dangerous, it was what he did with it that was dangerous. Cryogenics, Frankenstein, and recently cured diseases are three major examples of how knowledge, in the right hands, is not
In the gothic novel Frankenstein, humans have a bottomless, motivating, but often dangerous thirst for knowledge. This idea was clearly illustrated throughout the novel by Mary Shelley. The three main characters in the novel shared the thirst for knowledge that later lead to their downfall. In the novel knowledge is a huge theme that led to atrocious life to anyone that tried to gain it. Knowledge is hazardous; therefore, I support Dr. Frankenstein’s warning about knowledge being dangerous and that knowledge shouldn’t be gained.
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 the world today there is a drive to evolve and improve life through science and its findings. When looking at the good of a society, the people have to decide when the line between right and wrong is drawn. In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, she proves that the possession of knowledge can lead to destructive forces through Victor Frankenstein’s monster’s journey. The events that lead to Victor’s monster’s destructive path is when he comes into contact with the cottagers, he murders Victor’s brother, and runs away after destroying Victor’s life.
Frankenstein is a book written by Mary Shelley in 1818, that is revolved around a under privileged scientist named Victor Frankenstein who manages to create a unnatural human-like being. The story was written when Shelley was in her late teen age years, and was published when she was just twenty years old. Frankenstein is filled with several different elements of the Gothic and Romantic Movement of British literature, and is considered to be one of the earliest forms of science fiction. Frankenstein is a very complicated and complex story that challenges different ethics and morals on the apparent theme of dangerous knowledge. With the mysterious experiment that Dr. Victor Frankenstein conducted, Shelly causes her reader to ultimately ask themselves what price is too high to pay to gain knowledge. It is evident that Shelly allows the reader to sort of “wonder” about the reaction they would take when dealing with a situation such as the one implemented throughout the book.
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?
Albert Einstein once said, “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing”. So is a lot.” Einstein believes that there is a point where the acquisition of knowledge becomes dangerous for humans. Mary Shelley extensively explores the effect dangerous knowledge has on the characters in her book Frankenstein. Throughout the book, Frankenstein and the creature are corrupted by knowledge that changes their outlook on life.
... Science is not inherently evil and never will become evil. Though the knowledge gained from science can be used toward producing evil, intended or not, and can be dangerous. The story of Victor Frankenstein shows the irresponsibility possible in the advancement of science and furthers the caution which humanity must take when it attempts to master its environment or itself.
In conclusion, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein shows readers how irresponsibility and the excessive need for knowledge can cause suffering among others as well as oneself. Victor never intends to cause such harm; however, he is not cautious and observant with his actions, which ultimately leads to his classification as a tragic hero. The desire to learn is most definitely a wonderful trait to have, as long as one’s knowledge doesn’t reach the extent that Victor Frankenstein’s unfortunately does.
Here the aim is not the historical goal of avoiding disease and averting death, but of using the knowledge
Victor Frankenstein, blinded by pride, remained unaware of how his experiment would affect not only him, but the world around him as he formed his new discovery. His secret to creating life only caused more life to be lost. Because of Victor’s reckless behavior, he caused the depressed and lonely world around his own creation, one who, in the end, Victor did not want to take responsibility for making, no matter how remarkable. The Creation, a being of unfortunate circumstance, exemplifies how knowledge has dangerous and everlasting effects if not used safely or for good intentions. Unfortunately, The Creation leaves his own damage behind as well, again showing how knowledge is harmful, by killing Elizabeth, Victor’s wife, Henry Clerval, his dearest friend, and other members a part of Victor’s family and friends. This demonstrates how knowledge, if not used wisely, can lead to death and suffering. The power of knowledge, in Mary Shelley’s writing, is a gift bestowed on those who can handle the power responsibly, as opposed to using it for selfish boasting. In contrast, she uses these two characters to show the importance of being knowledgeable in both science and responsibility and the unforgivable mutilation that comes if you fail to overcome
In the novel Frankenstein written by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly, Knowledge is power for Victor Frankenstein. Mary Shelly explains that Dr. Frankenstein’s hunger for the knowledge to create life out of death only leads to Victor’s unfortunate monster. The consequences that Victor Frankenstein experiences from creating a creature from his own madness leads to his death as well as the creature. Mary Shelly explains in her novel Frankenstein that Victor’s need to study life and how it is created is dangerous; furthermore, the abomination that the doctor creates should have never been created; however, the monster that Victor creates is his own monstrosity.
In the novel, Victor Frankenstein’s interests and studies lead him to unearth the astonishing secrets of creating life, which causes him to become engrossed in his obsession. Mary Shelley seems to frown upon scientific discovery due to this exact reason. One of the motivating reasons why Victor proceeds in his project is because he believes that his scientific discovery has the ability to provide himself with a certain amount of fame: “from the midst of this darkness a sudden light broke in upon me...I was surprised that among so many men of genius who had directed their inquires towards the same science, that I alone should be reserved to discover so astonishing a secret” (38). Overtime, however, he is so immersed in his work that it becomes hard for him to actually stop: “I doubted at first whether I should attempt the creation of a being like myself, or one of simpler organization; but my imagination was too much exalted by my first success to permit me to doubt of my ability ...
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.
Victor Frankenstein’s scientific endeavor, Robert Walton’s search for the North Pole, and the creature’s kind heart but scary features creates this whole theme of dangerous knowledge. The search for knowledge is encouraged and at times pushed by others. In Frankenstein is shows quest can lead to too much knowledge and drive him or her to his fate.
Mary Shelley's Attitude to Knowledge in Frankenstein Mary Shelley is a gothic writer, who (through this novel 'Frankenstein') has been able to create a hybrid form of gothic literature, a gothic/horror genre which allows Shelley to convey a more realistic terror, one that resides within the psyche instead of a form outside , an example would be Ghosts. Her knowledge on different subjects allows her to create a realistic world in the novel, possibly even criticising her own husband Percy Shelley, who searched for knowledge and in doing so became egotistical and self obsessed like a true romantic just like Frankenstein and other romantic characters like him. Shelley was always surrounded by intelligent people, which were mainly her father and his inner circle that also included her husband. These people encouraged Shelley to educate herself and develop her own opinions. Shelley found the gothic genre a perfect place in which she could air her thoughts, such as a critical view of certain powers in her society and imply things about the industrial revolution through subtle remarks in the novel.