A cautionary tale

In this day and age potentially fearsome creatures have now been designed and produced; the ramifications of which are still not fully realized. This is not an entirely new thing, as humans have domesticated and bred all sorts of creatures over millennia for various purposes. The main difference is the timescale in which these changes can be affected. Important questions revolve around what might happen if something goes wrong and man-made creations run amok. There is an historical precedence for such fears, that which is a cautionary tale when it comes to undertaking such experiments.

In the 1950’s scientists in South America decided to create a new type of honey bee, one that would produce lots of honey but be able to withstand harsh environmental conditions. The failed result of that experiment produced the so-called killer bee, which could withstand harsh tropical and desert conditions. However, it produces little honey, isn’t a good pollinator and is extremely aggressive, far more so than European honey bees. In trying to improve upon nature, a monster was created.

But there are other man-made monsters out there, whose creators also had only beneficial and benign reasons behind them. Some believe that AI could become a monster, as seen in the Terminator movies. I don’t know if that sort of sci-fi nightmare might ever happen, but there is the potential to cause chaos due to blurring the line between truth and falsehood. It is harder to discern between the real and the fake these days with regards to imagery and sound recordings.

Then are some non-virtual monsters that inspire terror in some and lure others to their demise. None of these were built for those purposes, but, because of human nature, they have become sinister. Such was an unexpected result, not unlike the African and European honey bee hybrid which displays some very unwanted and dangerous behaviors. Efforts to contain (or destroy) the hybrid bees have been unsuccessful, and the only limitation to this lethal creature is cold. Specifically, it cannot live in areas where temperatures drop below freezing in winter (or, cold locations due to high elevation).

These constructed monsters I refer to have been the subject of some efforts to curb their fear inducing characteristics and potentially lethal dangers, to varying degrees of success. These dangers have become better understood over time, as has the recognition that altering certain living things (or releasing them into habitats where they do not belong) can lead to many problems. A non living creation is of course far easier to deal with and modify, but this makes it no less of a monster. So, will Baltimore’s new metal and concrete construction become any less of a monster than its predecessor? Only time will tell…