The Good Man In Ira Levin's The Dark Side Of Science

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A staple of the horror genre has always been that of the mad scientist. From H.G. Wells ' Dr. Moreau to the more recent ideas of Dr. Josef Mengele in Ira Levin 's 1976 novel, The Boys From Brazil, these and other fictitious1 scientist 's dreams and schemes generate nothing but pure evil while running unrestricted and unaccountable, wreaking havoc upon humanity, with the ultimate result of the scientist receiving the recompense of his reward. Heather Douglas indulges herself with this fiction in her paper "The Dark Side of Science," which was published in The Scientist and reprinted in The Norton Field Guide to Writing with Readings. She emotionally postulates that scientists should share a degree of accountability for the intentions and outcomes of their scientific discoveries, regardless of whether those present intentions and future outcomes are good- or ill-willed. Heather uses the mercurial metaphor of a carelessly thrown match to ignite the understanding of her readers to the idea of scientific answerability. Ms. Douglas also suggests that a type of regulation be put in place to distribute the burden of responsibility, although she is careful to not overtly mention any type of governmental regulation. In the end, "The Dark Side of Science" is a suppositional argument which espouses that the responsibility of the misuse of science extends up and down the spectrum of ownership. However, Douglas ' position leads to a spirit of fear and not hope, holds one accountable for the evil of others, stifles creativity, proposes unrealistic regulations, and postulates that a possible evil outweighs scientific good. The author 's type of thinking promotes a spirit of fear for the future, and not a sense of hope. Douglas said "scientists are responsible for both what they intend to achieve and that which is readily foreseeable, as we all are" (Bullock 126). While Ms. Douglas is correct in the first half of the statement, no one can know what the future holds. Take a moment to inspect the amazing world in which we currently live: families are connected instantaneously around the world from a small device pulled out of their pocket or purse; life is prolonged through science and disabilities are turned back into abilities through technology; information has never been more readily available through the miracle of the Internet. This world would not be as advanced as it is now, had it not been for those visionaries who dismissed the fear that someone years later would warp their wondrous widget into something wrong. Should Douglas ' ideas be put into practice, they could stifle creativity. She says " ... oversight...comes at the cost of the freedom to choose the type of work they can do and how they do it" (Bullock 126). Scientists and inventors could become apprehensive about continuing research for fear of what others may do with the culmination of their brainchild. Taking this Luddite view to the extreme, one could make a sound argument for not teaching children the alphabet for fear that they will say bad words or maybe write a hate speech. With this intention, the next Shakespeare or the next Dickens might have been held back into a state of ignorance destroying their fresh ideas because someone was fearful …show more content…
That there is no basic goodness in man seems to be the core of her idea. Putting Douglas ' ideas into action sounds akin to a dreary, dystopian society in some alternate universe where people are held accountable for the actions of others. On the other hand, it has always been my belief that wherever evil men have risen, a good man has come along to stand against that evil: Neville Chamberlain2 and the British Commonwealth rose up to oppose Hitler 's invasion of Poland, Alexander McKelway rose up against child labor leading to the creation of the United States Children 's Bureau and the passing of the Keating-Owen Act, Susan B. Anthony and Rosa Parks rose up (metaphorically in Ms. Parks ' case) against unfair and evil practices against their gender and race, respectively. While Ms, Douglas may look to the origin for the place to lay blame, those who seek to use science and technology for their own nefarious ends will always find

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