What Is Frankenstein Syndrome?
Frankenstein syndrome is the fear that a creature, made by humans, will turn against its creator and destroy humanity. Mary Shelley’s short story from 1818, Frankenstein, illustrates this concept.
At the end of the book, the monster says to Viktor Frankenstein: “You are my creator, but I am your Lord”. The monster turns on its creator and destroys him.
The literary character, Frankenstein, is the monster who has inherited only the surname of its creator. He is created from human body parts, born unnaturally against his will and forced to live in a world that rejects him. This is where Frankenstein syndrome comes from.
Frankenstein syndrome: When your creation rebels against you
In Shelley’s short story, Dr. Frankenstein to “play God”. It causes his initial ambitions to take a turn and he ends up wanting to do something much bigger than just creating and sustaining life.
Today, the name “Frankenstein” is a symbol of science that has taken a turn and is on its way into unprecedented territory, exploring things that could put an end to life as we know it.
It is no secret that new genetic engineering and cloning technologies have come a long way in recent decades. Society is indeed more and more aware of all these changes and technological advances. Yet it is still difficult to get used to this constant change and the opportunities that the future brings.
Fear is an emotion that is characterized by an intense, often unpleasant sensation, caused by the perception of a real or imagined threat in the present or future.
Cloning and Frankenstein syndrome
When scientists became able to clone the sheep Dolly However, there are serious questions about the ethics of human cloning .
Yet the researchers defended their work by claiming that it was only intended for medical use. They claimed that they were not trying to create a human being.
The majority of the scientific world believes that therapeutic cloning is acceptable because it could potentially cure chronic diseases such as. cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and diabetes, among many others.
Genetic engineering
Genetics is one of the branches of science that has evolved the most in recent years. Experts in evolution and genetics believe that we need to differentiate between genetic engineering to cure diseases and genetic engineering in order to “improve the human race”.
It is quite obvious that genetic engineering is not 100 percent safe. But the genetic modifications that researchers have made to a large number of species have almost always improved their quality of life. Scientists want to use it in disease control, to invent food or other products, or to improve scientific knowledge.
Technological advances
Technophobia refers to such eerie terms as “cyber war” that machines take over our lives, lack of privacy on social media, etc. Fear of change is human. You get used to living a certain way, and suddenly everything changes and the rules become different.
The good thing is that people are good at adapting to change whenever they want.
Technological advances are a part of our lives. It is obviously important to mention that these advances are not always perfect.
Sometimes the fear of new opportunities is completely justified, since we never know in which hands these technologies will end up. That said, we probably do not need to worry about Frankenstein syndrome at this time.
