"Malcom effect implies catastrophic changes."
"But... all systems are working perfectly!"
"Thats when it happens."
We really think we are doing something big... or, at least we dream to do something big. Little we realise how stupid and incapable we are.
We think being an engineer or scientist or something on those lines is a real big thing and that we will contribute to the welfare of the world. Do you think so too?
"Scientists are actually preoccupied with accomplishment. So they are focused on whether they can do something. They never stop to ask if they should do something. They conveniently define such considerations as pointless. if they don't do it, someone else will. Discovery, they believe, is inevitable. So they just try to do it first. That's the game in science. Even pure scientific discovery is an aggressive, penetrative act. It takes big equipment, and it literally changes the world afterward. Particle accelerators scar the land, and leave radioactive byproducts. Astronauts leave trash on the moon. There is always some proof that scientists were there, making their discoveries. Discovery is always a rape of the natural world. Always."
"So what's the answer?"
"Get rid of them. Take them out of power."
"Then we'll lose all the advances."
"What advances? The number of hours women devote to housework has not changed since 1930, despite all the advances. All the vacuum cleaners, washer-dryers, trash compactors, garbage disposals, wash-and-wear fabrics... Why does it still take as long to clean the house as it did in 1930? Because there haven't been any advances. Not really. Thirty thousand years ago, when men were doing cave paintings, they worked twenty hours a week to provide themselves with food and shelter and clothing. The rest of the time, they could play, or sleep, or do whatever they wanted. And they lived in a natural world, with clean air, clean water, beautiful trees and sunsets. Think about it. We've had four hundred years of modern science, and we ought to know by now what it's good for, and what it's not good for. It's time for a change."
"Before we destroy the planet?"
"You think you can destroy this planet? You can't even come close."
"Most people believe this planet is in jeopardy."
"Well, its not."
"All the experts agree that our planet is in trouble."
"Let me tell you about our planet. Our planet is four and half billion years old. There has been life on this planet for nearly that long. Three point eight billion years. The first bacteria. And later, the first multicellular animals, then the first complex creatures, in the sea, on the land. Then the great sweeping ages of animals - the amphibians, the dinosaurs, the mammals, each lasting millions upon millions of years. Great dynasty of creatures arising, flourishing, dying away. All this happening against a background of continuous and violent upheaval, mountain ranges thrust up and eroded away, cometary impacts, volcanic eruptions rising and falling, whole continents moving... Endless constant and violent change... Even today, the greatest geographical feature on the planet comes from two great continents colliding, buckling to make the Himalayan mountain range over millions of years. The planet has survived everything, in its time. It will certainly survive us."
As said by Ian Malcom, the chaos theorist, one of Crichton's brilliant characters in his infamous book, Jurassic Park. These are excerpts directly taken from there.
If you haven't read the book, you are missing something! If you have seen the movie, but haven't read the book, you only know Jurassic Park as a Dinosaur movie! Go read that book! and then watch the movie again! You will feel the difference!
"But... all systems are working perfectly!"
"Thats when it happens."
We really think we are doing something big... or, at least we dream to do something big. Little we realise how stupid and incapable we are.
We think being an engineer or scientist or something on those lines is a real big thing and that we will contribute to the welfare of the world. Do you think so too?
"Scientists are actually preoccupied with accomplishment. So they are focused on whether they can do something. They never stop to ask if they should do something. They conveniently define such considerations as pointless. if they don't do it, someone else will. Discovery, they believe, is inevitable. So they just try to do it first. That's the game in science. Even pure scientific discovery is an aggressive, penetrative act. It takes big equipment, and it literally changes the world afterward. Particle accelerators scar the land, and leave radioactive byproducts. Astronauts leave trash on the moon. There is always some proof that scientists were there, making their discoveries. Discovery is always a rape of the natural world. Always."
"So what's the answer?"
"Get rid of them. Take them out of power."
"Then we'll lose all the advances."
"What advances? The number of hours women devote to housework has not changed since 1930, despite all the advances. All the vacuum cleaners, washer-dryers, trash compactors, garbage disposals, wash-and-wear fabrics... Why does it still take as long to clean the house as it did in 1930? Because there haven't been any advances. Not really. Thirty thousand years ago, when men were doing cave paintings, they worked twenty hours a week to provide themselves with food and shelter and clothing. The rest of the time, they could play, or sleep, or do whatever they wanted. And they lived in a natural world, with clean air, clean water, beautiful trees and sunsets. Think about it. We've had four hundred years of modern science, and we ought to know by now what it's good for, and what it's not good for. It's time for a change."
"Before we destroy the planet?"
"You think you can destroy this planet? You can't even come close."
"Most people believe this planet is in jeopardy."
"Well, its not."
"All the experts agree that our planet is in trouble."
"Let me tell you about our planet. Our planet is four and half billion years old. There has been life on this planet for nearly that long. Three point eight billion years. The first bacteria. And later, the first multicellular animals, then the first complex creatures, in the sea, on the land. Then the great sweeping ages of animals - the amphibians, the dinosaurs, the mammals, each lasting millions upon millions of years. Great dynasty of creatures arising, flourishing, dying away. All this happening against a background of continuous and violent upheaval, mountain ranges thrust up and eroded away, cometary impacts, volcanic eruptions rising and falling, whole continents moving... Endless constant and violent change... Even today, the greatest geographical feature on the planet comes from two great continents colliding, buckling to make the Himalayan mountain range over millions of years. The planet has survived everything, in its time. It will certainly survive us."
As said by Ian Malcom, the chaos theorist, one of Crichton's brilliant characters in his infamous book, Jurassic Park. These are excerpts directly taken from there.
If you haven't read the book, you are missing something! If you have seen the movie, but haven't read the book, you only know Jurassic Park as a Dinosaur movie! Go read that book! and then watch the movie again! You will feel the difference!
2 comments:
Excellent! I hope this will goad you to read the Crichton's next offering - The Lost World. Equally cynical and more brilliant!
Next in line is Prey, Timeline, Andromeda Strain, Congo,Rising Sun..o man, I'm getting tired..Do a wiki. :-D I loved all his books except the Terminal Man(it ain't fixon)
His death is truly a loss to the scientific literary world...:|
hmm this is pretty interesting reading :) never read the book just watched the movie...but now I will make sure I get the book and read it.
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