The image of Dr. Ian Malcolm from Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park, holding forth a flare in the darkness, is perhaps the ideal metaphor for the paradox of forbidden knowledge. The image captures the essence of the myth of Prometheus, bringing fire to poor, suffering humanity while simultaneously recalling the image of an angry villager seeking to destroy that monster of science, Frankenstein’s creation.
A Trip to Jurassic Park
In 1993, director Steven Spielberg made Jurassic Park from the 1990 Michael Crichton bestseller of the same name. The film grossed $357 million (domestic) and $915 million (worldwide) and is listed at #20 on the domestic list of top grossing movies of all time. In brief it is the story of the attempt of a biotechnology firm to open an amusement park stocked with live dinosaurs cloned back into existence. The books central protagonist is paleontologist Alan Grant who along with his paleobotanist graduate student, Ellie Sattler, are recruited by billionaire John Hammond, founder and chief executive officer of International Genetic Technologies to evaluate the safety a "biological preserve" he has established on a remote island off the coast of Costa Rica. The pair is joined by mathematician Ian Malcolm who having been consulted before the park's creation is pessimistic about the stability of the park's complex system of controls. Serving as author’s mouthpiece, it is Malcolm who sounds the warnings about the dangers of science and the hubris of man,
While Jurassic Park, both the film and the book, is a horror-science fiction-adventure tale, it is also a cautionary tale for our times. Using Chaos Theory instead of God, it argues that there are things man should not attempt to know or do. Man in Jurassic Park is not condemned for usurping powers reserved to God, but for failing to recognize his own limitations. Hammond is guilty not so much for cloning dinosaurs as for accepting the delusion that he can create an entire island ecosystem that he can control. Much of the research and DNA gene-splicing in Jurassic Park is performed by supercomputers, not humans. The computers control the island’s security systems, tracking the dinosaurs as they wander around their artificially defined enclosures. The computers determine when and what the dinosaurs eat. The computers control the power grids and phone systems. But even before the book begins, there have been problems: the dinosaurs are more aggressive than their creators had expected; the animals come down with illness the veterinarian cannot explain; there are “annoying glitches” in the computer system. Hammond and his surrogates, the geneticist Dr. Wu and the engineer John Arnold believe that all the problems they encounter with the park can be resolved by just “tweaking” their technology, but Ian Malcolm believes these problems are just symptoms of the larger problem:
Chaos theory says two things. First, that complex systems like weather have an underlying order. Second, the reverse of that— that simple systems can produce complex behavior…it turns out you can’t predict more than a few seconds into the future. Because almost immediately very small effects…start to make a difference…And Hammond’s project is another apparently simple system— animals within a zoo environment— that will eventually show unpredictable behavior.
The underlying assumption is that the “unpredictable behavior” is the antithesis the much sought after control and that small deviation will amplify in cascading fashion to undermine and ultimately breakdown the illusion of control.
What are the “small effects” that lead to Jurassic Park’s descent into chaos? First consider the genetics. Dr. Wu is re-creating a life form he knows nothing about. He can’t even remember the names of the creatures he creates nor the precise number of species he has produced. He is surprised and alarmed by the speed, intelligence, and aggressiveness of his creatures. He believes he can contain the dinosaurs by creating them all female, thus restricting their ability to reproduce spontaneously. He makes them lysine dependent to assure they cannot survive outside of the isolated environment of the island. These assumptions prove incorrect with disastrous results. Here again it is Malcolm who defines the problem:
You create new life-forms, about which you know nothing at all. Your Dr. Wu does not even know the names of the things he is creating. He cannot be bothered with such details as what the thing is called, let alone what it is. You create many of them in a very short time, you never learn anything about them, yet you expect them to do your bidding, because you made them and you therefore think you own them; you forget that they are alive, they have an intelligence of their own, and they may not do your bidding, and you forget how little you know about them, how incompetent you are to do the things that you so frivolously call simple.…
John Arnold represents another problem: man’s dependence on technology. Arnold defends the computer system to the park’s guests, but speaking privately to Hammond he reveals concerns. The systems “bug list” runs to more than 130 items and includes flaws large and small: the security program only runs with main power, the animal-feeding program will not record feedings on Sundays, the physical conservation program, intended to dim lights after 10: 00 p.m., only works on alternate days of the week, and on and on. Although none of the bugs are show stoppers, they point to the lager problem that Malcolm has hinted at: whatever man creates is subject to flaws and the higher the system complexity, the greater the probability it will fail. This is quickly brought to life when Malcolm uncovers a flaw in the park’s dinosaur tracking system that under-estimates the dinosaur population. When this error is uncovered it is quickly revealed that in spite of Dr. Wu’s efforts, the dinosaurs are, in fact, breeding.
Hammond and Arnold have also not considered or prepared for the possibility of sabotage. Dennis Nedry, the computer specialist employed to correct the “bug list’ is involved in a bit of industrial espionage and his effort to cover his theft of dinosaur embryos involves shutting down the islands security and containment systems. With the security systems down, the dinosaurs begin to move freely around the park and things quickly go to hell from there.
Malcolm has predicted this:
"Broadly speaking," [Malcolm doubts] "the ability of the park to control the spread of life-forms. Because the history of evolution is that life escapes all barriers. Life breaks free. Life expands to new territories. Painfully, perhaps even dangerously. But life finds a way.”
Even without Nedry’s nefarious intervention, the escape of the animals is, according to Malcolm, inevitable. In fact, the reader learns, the dinosaurs have already escaped the island on board the supply ship that brings necessities to the island.
While Wu and Arnold are each essential to the park’s creation, it is ultimately John Hammond who is the demi-God figure of the novel. With his billions of dollars, he is able to bring his vision into a reality. Wu and Arnold are simply his agents, extensions of his will. He says “Let there be dinosaurs and so, it is done.” Jurassic Park is his vision and it is interesting how the book and movie treat him differently. Crichton portrays Hammond as a megalomaniacal businessman, motivated by the desire for increased wealth and power. He is the symbol for what the author sees as an unholy alliance between two primarily amoral forces; science and industry. Hammond himself says, “our original intent was to use the newly emerging technology of genetic engineering to make money. A lot of money.” He continues:
Suppose you make a miracle drug for cancer or heart disease— as Genentech did. Suppose you now want to charge a thousand dollars or two thousand dollars a dose. You might imagine that is your privilege. After all, you invented the drug, you paid to develop and test it; you should be able to charge whatever you wish. But do you really think that the government will let you do that? No, Henry, they will not. Sick people aren’t going to pay a thousand dollars a dose for needed medication— they won’t be grateful, they’ll be outraged. Blue Cross isn’t going to pay it. They’ll scream highway robbery. So something will happen. Your patent application will be denied. Your permits will be delayed. Something will force you to see reason— and to sell your drug at a lower cost. From a business standpoint, that makes helping mankind a very risky business. Personally, I would never help mankind.”
“Now,” Hammond said, “think how different it is when you’re making entertainment. Nobody needs entertainment. That’s not a matter for government intervention. If I charge five thousand dollars a day for my park, who is going to stop me? After all, nobody needs to come here.”
The enormity of Hammond’s ego is evident in his next speech when Wu suggests there may be attempts to shut down the park:
“This isn’t America. This isn’t even Costa Rica. This is my island. I own it. And nothing is going to stop me from opening Jurassic Park to all the children of the world.” He chuckled. “Or, at least, to the rich ones. And I tell you, they’ll love it.”
Compare this to the Hammond of the movie.
In a conversation with Dr. Sattler, as calamity surrounds him, Hammond, played by the avuncular Sir Richard Attenborough (who went on to play Santa Claus in the remake of Miracle on 34th St.) explains his motivation:
You know the first attraction I ever built when I came down south from Scotland? It was a Flea Circus, Petticoat Lane. Really quite wonderful. We had a wee trapeze, and a merry-go... carousel and a seesaw. They all moved, motorized of course, but people would say they could see the fleas. "Oh, I see the fleas, mummy! Can't you see the fleas?" Clown fleas and high wire fleas and fleas on parade... But with this place, I wanted to show them something that wasn't an illusion. Something that was real, something that they could see and touch. An aim not devoid of merit.
All indications of Hammond’s greed are grafted onto the character of the corporate layer, Donald Gennaro. An exchange between the two goes as follows:
Donald Gennaro: And we can charge anything we want, 2,000 a day, 10,000 a day, and people will pay it. And then there's the merchandise...
John Hammond: Donald, Donald... This park was not built to cater only for the super-rich. Everyone in the world has the right to enjoy these animals.
Donald Gennaro: Sure, they will. Well, we'll have a, a coupon day or something.
At the end of the book, Hammond is killed by a pack of Procompsognathids, the chicken-sized park scavengers that were introduced into the ecosystem specifically to devour dinosaur feces. By having them feed on John Hammond, could the author have been any clearer about his feelings for Hammond?
At the end of the film, John Hammond whose motives are “pure” is permitted to live and to denounce his grand project. The greedy lawyer Gennaro is killed while hiding in a bathroom.
In evaluating the literature dealing with the theme of forbidden knowledge it is of value to consider who benefits and who suffers from the knowledge. What is gained and what is lost. In Jurassic Park, the book, those most responsible for the park, Hammond, Wu, and Arnold die because of their irresponsible actions and their lack of foresight, Nedry dies because he is a villain, And ironically Malcolm dies, the innocent who sounds the clarion warning but who is ignored. Malcolm is the book’s Cassandra and like the Cassandra of classical mythology, he is doomed. The curse of knowing, but of not being believed, can only end in the tragic death of the knower.
In the movie, as mentioned above, Gennaro dies in the place of Hammond. Arnold and Nedry die as in the book, but Wu has conveniently left the island before the disaster ensues. Why does Spielberg give Wu a pass? Possibly just as a result of film economy. Eliminating Wu as a substantial character saves film time and really doesn’t dull the impact of the film’s message. The film lets Malcolm live, but kills Muldoon, the game warden. Interestingly, in both the film and book, Muldoon serves the same cautionary function as Malcolm. He warns Hammond or the danger of the velociraptors, but is rebuffed. In a twist of irony the great hunter, Muldoon becomes the prey and is hunted down and killed by the very creatures he warned about.
In the end, the crime of Jurassic Park is hubris tied into a lack of ethics. Hubris results in the scientists’ inability to know what they do not know and their faith in their ability to “tweak” everything toward perfection. “Ever since Newton and Descartes,” says Malcolm, “science has explicitly offered us the vision of total control. Science has claimed the power to eventually control everything, through its understanding of natural laws. But in the twentieth century, that claim has been shattered beyond repair… Science has always said that it may not know everything now but it will know, eventually. But now we see that isn’t true. It is an idle boast.”
Beyond this, the scientists never pause to consider if they should use the knowledge they have just because it is possible. They never consider the consequences of their actions. Again Malcolm sums it up:
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.
Finally, it is left to the Costa Rican military to clean up the mess left on Hammond’s island. The dinosaurs and facilities are bombed out of existence. The ending harks back to the horror-sci-fi of the 1950’s where the military serves as the agents of stability that clean up the messes of the civilian world. This points to another key element in evaluating the literature of forbidden knowledge: who does the science serve and who cleans up the mess. In periods like the 1980’s and 90’s corporations are villainized and the military glorified. In the 60’s and 70’s, the rouge science is more often linked to the government and military and it is the individual “responsible” scientist who comes to the rescue. Looking at the source of the problem and who solves it can provide interesting insights into the culture that produces the work.
While Jurassic Park, both the film and the book, is a horror-science fiction-adventure tale, it is also a cautionary tale for our times. Using Chaos Theory instead of God, it argues that there are things man should not attempt to know or do. Man in Jurassic Park is not condemned for usurping powers reserved to God, but for failing to recognize his own limitations. Hammond is guilty not so much for cloning dinosaurs as for accepting the delusion that he can create an entire island ecosystem that he can control. Much of the research and DNA gene-splicing in Jurassic Park is performed by supercomputers, not humans. The computers control the island’s security systems, tracking the dinosaurs as they wander around their artificially defined enclosures. The computers determine when and what the dinosaurs eat. The computers control the power grids and phone systems. But even before the book begins, there have been problems: the dinosaurs are more aggressive than their creators had expected; the animals come down with illness the veterinarian cannot explain; there are “annoying glitches” in the computer system. Hammond and his surrogates, the geneticist Dr. Wu and the engineer John Arnold believe that all the problems they encounter with the park can be resolved by just “tweaking” their technology, but Ian Malcolm believes these problems are just symptoms of the larger problem:
Chaos theory says two things. First, that complex systems like weather have an underlying order. Second, the reverse of that— that simple systems can produce complex behavior…it turns out you can’t predict more than a few seconds into the future. Because almost immediately very small effects…start to make a difference…And Hammond’s project is another apparently simple system— animals within a zoo environment— that will eventually show unpredictable behavior.
The underlying assumption is that the “unpredictable behavior” is the antithesis the much sought after control and that small deviation will amplify in cascading fashion to undermine and ultimately breakdown the illusion of control.
What are the “small effects” that lead to Jurassic Park’s descent into chaos? First consider the genetics. Dr. Wu is re-creating a life form he knows nothing about. He can’t even remember the names of the creatures he creates nor the precise number of species he has produced. He is surprised and alarmed by the speed, intelligence, and aggressiveness of his creatures. He believes he can contain the dinosaurs by creating them all female, thus restricting their ability to reproduce spontaneously. He makes them lysine dependent to assure they cannot survive outside of the isolated environment of the island. These assumptions prove incorrect with disastrous results. Here again it is Malcolm who defines the problem:
You create new life-forms, about which you know nothing at all. Your Dr. Wu does not even know the names of the things he is creating. He cannot be bothered with such details as what the thing is called, let alone what it is. You create many of them in a very short time, you never learn anything about them, yet you expect them to do your bidding, because you made them and you therefore think you own them; you forget that they are alive, they have an intelligence of their own, and they may not do your bidding, and you forget how little you know about them, how incompetent you are to do the things that you so frivolously call simple.…
John Arnold represents another problem: man’s dependence on technology. Arnold defends the computer system to the park’s guests, but speaking privately to Hammond he reveals concerns. The systems “bug list” runs to more than 130 items and includes flaws large and small: the security program only runs with main power, the animal-feeding program will not record feedings on Sundays, the physical conservation program, intended to dim lights after 10: 00 p.m., only works on alternate days of the week, and on and on. Although none of the bugs are show stoppers, they point to the lager problem that Malcolm has hinted at: whatever man creates is subject to flaws and the higher the system complexity, the greater the probability it will fail. This is quickly brought to life when Malcolm uncovers a flaw in the park’s dinosaur tracking system that under-estimates the dinosaur population. When this error is uncovered it is quickly revealed that in spite of Dr. Wu’s efforts, the dinosaurs are, in fact, breeding.
Hammond and Arnold have also not considered or prepared for the possibility of sabotage. Dennis Nedry, the computer specialist employed to correct the “bug list’ is involved in a bit of industrial espionage and his effort to cover his theft of dinosaur embryos involves shutting down the islands security and containment systems. With the security systems down, the dinosaurs begin to move freely around the park and things quickly go to hell from there.
Malcolm has predicted this:
"Broadly speaking," [Malcolm doubts] "the ability of the park to control the spread of life-forms. Because the history of evolution is that life escapes all barriers. Life breaks free. Life expands to new territories. Painfully, perhaps even dangerously. But life finds a way.”
Even without Nedry’s nefarious intervention, the escape of the animals is, according to Malcolm, inevitable. In fact, the reader learns, the dinosaurs have already escaped the island on board the supply ship that brings necessities to the island.
While Wu and Arnold are each essential to the park’s creation, it is ultimately John Hammond who is the demi-God figure of the novel. With his billions of dollars, he is able to bring his vision into a reality. Wu and Arnold are simply his agents, extensions of his will. He says “Let there be dinosaurs and so, it is done.” Jurassic Park is his vision and it is interesting how the book and movie treat him differently. Crichton portrays Hammond as a megalomaniacal businessman, motivated by the desire for increased wealth and power. He is the symbol for what the author sees as an unholy alliance between two primarily amoral forces; science and industry. Hammond himself says, “our original intent was to use the newly emerging technology of genetic engineering to make money. A lot of money.” He continues:
Suppose you make a miracle drug for cancer or heart disease— as Genentech did. Suppose you now want to charge a thousand dollars or two thousand dollars a dose. You might imagine that is your privilege. After all, you invented the drug, you paid to develop and test it; you should be able to charge whatever you wish. But do you really think that the government will let you do that? No, Henry, they will not. Sick people aren’t going to pay a thousand dollars a dose for needed medication— they won’t be grateful, they’ll be outraged. Blue Cross isn’t going to pay it. They’ll scream highway robbery. So something will happen. Your patent application will be denied. Your permits will be delayed. Something will force you to see reason— and to sell your drug at a lower cost. From a business standpoint, that makes helping mankind a very risky business. Personally, I would never help mankind.”
“Now,” Hammond said, “think how different it is when you’re making entertainment. Nobody needs entertainment. That’s not a matter for government intervention. If I charge five thousand dollars a day for my park, who is going to stop me? After all, nobody needs to come here.”
The enormity of Hammond’s ego is evident in his next speech when Wu suggests there may be attempts to shut down the park:
“This isn’t America. This isn’t even Costa Rica. This is my island. I own it. And nothing is going to stop me from opening Jurassic Park to all the children of the world.” He chuckled. “Or, at least, to the rich ones. And I tell you, they’ll love it.”
Compare this to the Hammond of the movie.
In a conversation with Dr. Sattler, as calamity surrounds him, Hammond, played by the avuncular Sir Richard Attenborough (who went on to play Santa Claus in the remake of Miracle on 34th St.) explains his motivation:
You know the first attraction I ever built when I came down south from Scotland? It was a Flea Circus, Petticoat Lane. Really quite wonderful. We had a wee trapeze, and a merry-go... carousel and a seesaw. They all moved, motorized of course, but people would say they could see the fleas. "Oh, I see the fleas, mummy! Can't you see the fleas?" Clown fleas and high wire fleas and fleas on parade... But with this place, I wanted to show them something that wasn't an illusion. Something that was real, something that they could see and touch. An aim not devoid of merit.
All indications of Hammond’s greed are grafted onto the character of the corporate layer, Donald Gennaro. An exchange between the two goes as follows:
Donald Gennaro: And we can charge anything we want, 2,000 a day, 10,000 a day, and people will pay it. And then there's the merchandise...
John Hammond: Donald, Donald... This park was not built to cater only for the super-rich. Everyone in the world has the right to enjoy these animals.
Donald Gennaro: Sure, they will. Well, we'll have a, a coupon day or something.
At the end of the book, Hammond is killed by a pack of Procompsognathids, the chicken-sized park scavengers that were introduced into the ecosystem specifically to devour dinosaur feces. By having them feed on John Hammond, could the author have been any clearer about his feelings for Hammond?
At the end of the film, John Hammond whose motives are “pure” is permitted to live and to denounce his grand project. The greedy lawyer Gennaro is killed while hiding in a bathroom.
In evaluating the literature dealing with the theme of forbidden knowledge it is of value to consider who benefits and who suffers from the knowledge. What is gained and what is lost. In Jurassic Park, the book, those most responsible for the park, Hammond, Wu, and Arnold die because of their irresponsible actions and their lack of foresight, Nedry dies because he is a villain, And ironically Malcolm dies, the innocent who sounds the clarion warning but who is ignored. Malcolm is the book’s Cassandra and like the Cassandra of classical mythology, he is doomed. The curse of knowing, but of not being believed, can only end in the tragic death of the knower.
In the movie, as mentioned above, Gennaro dies in the place of Hammond. Arnold and Nedry die as in the book, but Wu has conveniently left the island before the disaster ensues. Why does Spielberg give Wu a pass? Possibly just as a result of film economy. Eliminating Wu as a substantial character saves film time and really doesn’t dull the impact of the film’s message. The film lets Malcolm live, but kills Muldoon, the game warden. Interestingly, in both the film and book, Muldoon serves the same cautionary function as Malcolm. He warns Hammond or the danger of the velociraptors, but is rebuffed. In a twist of irony the great hunter, Muldoon becomes the prey and is hunted down and killed by the very creatures he warned about.
In the end, the crime of Jurassic Park is hubris tied into a lack of ethics. Hubris results in the scientists’ inability to know what they do not know and their faith in their ability to “tweak” everything toward perfection. “Ever since Newton and Descartes,” says Malcolm, “science has explicitly offered us the vision of total control. Science has claimed the power to eventually control everything, through its understanding of natural laws. But in the twentieth century, that claim has been shattered beyond repair… Science has always said that it may not know everything now but it will know, eventually. But now we see that isn’t true. It is an idle boast.”
Beyond this, the scientists never pause to consider if they should use the knowledge they have just because it is possible. They never consider the consequences of their actions. Again Malcolm sums it up:
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.
Finally, it is left to the Costa Rican military to clean up the mess left on Hammond’s island. The dinosaurs and facilities are bombed out of existence. The ending harks back to the horror-sci-fi of the 1950’s where the military serves as the agents of stability that clean up the messes of the civilian world. This points to another key element in evaluating the literature of forbidden knowledge: who does the science serve and who cleans up the mess. In periods like the 1980’s and 90’s corporations are villainized and the military glorified. In the 60’s and 70’s, the rouge science is more often linked to the government and military and it is the individual “responsible” scientist who comes to the rescue. Looking at the source of the problem and who solves it can provide interesting insights into the culture that produces the work.
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