Much of Crichton's work can be seen as writings on the ethics of technology. So, it bears explaining just what exactly the ethics of technology entails. First, ethics are a set of guidelines in an area of human activity that tell us appropriate ways to behave in order to find an appropriate balance between the well being of individuals and the need for harmony in society. Or, in very simple terms, what do people need to do in order to get on and get along. As ethical behavior becomes institutionalized and grounded in our grand narratives, it become morality.
The ethics of technology addresses those situations that arise as a result of new technologies. Recall from previous posts that technologies, in the large sense, are ways of bringing out reliable changes, or altering the future from its natural course. When we produce a new future, intentionally or unintentionally, we must take responsibility for it. Better yet, we should take responsibility before it happens and decide what a desirable out come would be.
The ethics of technology differs from traditional ethics in that in traditional ethics we may determine the ethical quality of an alternative based upon its consequences. However, in the case of new technologies we may not be able to determine consequences. For example, if a new technology were developed that allowed you to read minds would this be a good thing? We have no idea because we have no prior experience with such a thing.
In the ethics of technology we must consider possible consequences and we can do this through stories. Many of Crichton's works can be seen as cautionary tales in the ethics of technology. The Andromeda Stain, which was briefly discussed last week, asks "what if our explorations of space brought back a deadly microbial life form that we were not prepared to handle?" This is certainly a possible consequence. Jurassic Parks asks "what if science and technology were used strictly for profit making ventures?" And in both the book and the movie we saw some possible consequences and their sequels.
This is a theme that runs through many, possibly most, of Crichton's works and we will return to it often.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Thursday, July 8, 2010
The Andromeda Strain
The Andromeda Strain is a science fiction cautionary tale that proved to be a major turning point in Crichton's writing career and a harbinger of things to come. His unique style that seemed to coalesce in this book was unlike anything at the time and set the tone for many of his books to follow.
Perhaps the most significant characteristic of The Andromeda Strain was that it used science fiction to explore issues in the ethics of technology. In this story, a space probe picks up an alien microbe and brings it back to earth suggesting consequences of space exploration that were not being considered at the time. It is a very different life form from anything the scientists had seen before suggesting that if we do find other life in the universe it may not be cute little green men. It is far more likely that it would be a microbial form possibly a life threatening microbial form.
In the story, the government had created a secret laboratory for dealing with such events called Wildfire. Wildfire had all the latest technology but failed to control the microbe. Instead, the microbe just mutated into harmlessness suggesting that nature will go its way and all of our technology is powerless to stop it. These themes of unexpected consequences and the uselessness of our technology for dealing with them will become common themes in later books and brought to a crescendo in his masterpiece Jurassic Park.
We also see one of Crichton's signature techniques in The Andromeda Strain. He provides ostensibly factual material sprinkled throughout the story to provide greater credibility to the story. This technique works in two ways. First, it serves to make the fantastic scenario in the story more believable. And as we believe the story, we cannot help to see how easily we believe things when they are presented as factual scientific information.
Most readers were first introduced to Crichton in The Andromeda Strain as it was his first best seller book. And it has held up well over time. Although space travel is not the focus that it was in the late 1960's, nothing has happened since then to make this book seem out of date. We still have space probes. We still run the risk of bringing back harmful micro organisms. And we are no more prepared to deal with such an eventuality today than we were in the late 1960's.
Perhaps the most significant characteristic of The Andromeda Strain was that it used science fiction to explore issues in the ethics of technology. In this story, a space probe picks up an alien microbe and brings it back to earth suggesting consequences of space exploration that were not being considered at the time. It is a very different life form from anything the scientists had seen before suggesting that if we do find other life in the universe it may not be cute little green men. It is far more likely that it would be a microbial form possibly a life threatening microbial form.
In the story, the government had created a secret laboratory for dealing with such events called Wildfire. Wildfire had all the latest technology but failed to control the microbe. Instead, the microbe just mutated into harmlessness suggesting that nature will go its way and all of our technology is powerless to stop it. These themes of unexpected consequences and the uselessness of our technology for dealing with them will become common themes in later books and brought to a crescendo in his masterpiece Jurassic Park.
We also see one of Crichton's signature techniques in The Andromeda Strain. He provides ostensibly factual material sprinkled throughout the story to provide greater credibility to the story. This technique works in two ways. First, it serves to make the fantastic scenario in the story more believable. And as we believe the story, we cannot help to see how easily we believe things when they are presented as factual scientific information.
Most readers were first introduced to Crichton in The Andromeda Strain as it was his first best seller book. And it has held up well over time. Although space travel is not the focus that it was in the late 1960's, nothing has happened since then to make this book seem out of date. We still have space probes. We still run the risk of bringing back harmful micro organisms. And we are no more prepared to deal with such an eventuality today than we were in the late 1960's.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Five Patients: The Hospital Explained
Most of Crichton's work is fiction. However, he did write a few nonfiction, and Five Patients is the first of those. It is basically five case studies of patients at Massachusetts General Hospital that Crichton uses as a vehicle to introduce the reader to what actually goes on at a hospital and to make a few points regarding the state of medicine, health care and even insurance. It is not, in my opinion, a great read. But it is an important work to examine when looking at the evolution of Crichton's style.
Prior to this book, Crichton was writing primarily in the detective genre under the pen name of John Lange. A Case of Need written under the pen name of Jeffrey Hudson was a transition novel that combined a mystery with commentary on the medical profession as well as public policy issue. If Crichton had continued to write detective fiction, following in the trajectory established by his novels prior to Five Patients, he almost certainly would still have been a major author. His books were promising and he was beginning to take on larger social issues such as the issue of abortion in A Case of Need.
It is also interesting to note that if you consider the emerging trajectory which included A Case of New and Five patients and later went on to include the long running TV series ER, we can see another path to success. The roots of ER show clearly in Five Patients where Crichton exposes the reader to the raw human dynamic side of life in the ER along with a heavy does of technical medicine.
At this point we see several themes emerging. Crichton offers a healthy dose of nonfiction science to inform the reader and bolster the credibility of what he is saying. And, he comments on public policy issues. In five patients, he takes on health insurance and the rising cost of health care. In fact, in the Afterward, he states "Hospitals are becoming so expensive that financial considerations will soon become the paramount determination of function." Yes, that was nearly forty year ago and rings eerily true considering our recent debates on health care.
So, at this point there are two competing trajectories: detective fiction and medical fiction. Which way will he go? Well, since we already know about the success of the TV series ER it appears that the detective fiction died out in favor of the medical fiction. But in reality a new trajectory would emerge beginning with a book published a year earlier. The book was his first major best seller and set the course for much of his later work. It was The Andromeda Strain and that is the book we will look at next.
Prior to this book, Crichton was writing primarily in the detective genre under the pen name of John Lange. A Case of Need written under the pen name of Jeffrey Hudson was a transition novel that combined a mystery with commentary on the medical profession as well as public policy issue. If Crichton had continued to write detective fiction, following in the trajectory established by his novels prior to Five Patients, he almost certainly would still have been a major author. His books were promising and he was beginning to take on larger social issues such as the issue of abortion in A Case of Need.
It is also interesting to note that if you consider the emerging trajectory which included A Case of New and Five patients and later went on to include the long running TV series ER, we can see another path to success. The roots of ER show clearly in Five Patients where Crichton exposes the reader to the raw human dynamic side of life in the ER along with a heavy does of technical medicine.
At this point we see several themes emerging. Crichton offers a healthy dose of nonfiction science to inform the reader and bolster the credibility of what he is saying. And, he comments on public policy issues. In five patients, he takes on health insurance and the rising cost of health care. In fact, in the Afterward, he states "Hospitals are becoming so expensive that financial considerations will soon become the paramount determination of function." Yes, that was nearly forty year ago and rings eerily true considering our recent debates on health care.
So, at this point there are two competing trajectories: detective fiction and medical fiction. Which way will he go? Well, since we already know about the success of the TV series ER it appears that the detective fiction died out in favor of the medical fiction. But in reality a new trajectory would emerge beginning with a book published a year earlier. The book was his first major best seller and set the course for much of his later work. It was The Andromeda Strain and that is the book we will look at next.
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