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Key themes in Jurassic Park
Ian Malcolm's take on life
by Reg Harris
Copyright � 1999 by Ariane Publications.
All rights reserved
Science Fiction always concerns itself with the question,
"What if...?"
- What if aliens attacked the earth ?
- What if a natural or man-made disaster made the earth
uninhabitable?
- What if people let their computers or their government
take complete control of their lives?
- What if people were turned to sheep through "benevolent"
censorship?
- What if an entire population is made apathetic by being
overwhelmed by inessential news and meaningless trivia?
Michael Crichton�s Jurassic Park is not what we
would consider a "great" work of science fiction, but it poses some profound
"What if�s�?" --- and most of them have very little to with dinosaurs.
Beneath the surface frills and thrills of raptor and rex, the book explores
questions which are important to a culture that seems increasingly addicted
to technology and entertainment.
What�s more, these themes relate directly to the process
of growth and the Hero�s Journey cycle which forms the foundation of our
lives. They are even more important to our youth, who usually lack the
knowledge, experience, and judgment to confront the pressures which would
draw them away from their own journeys into the roles of mindless worker
and unthinking consumer.
The most important of Jurassic Park�s themes are
addressed by Ian Malcolm, the mathematician hired by John Hammond to evaluate
his park. In his criticisms and ramblings, Malcolm addresses several disturbing
social trends and offers the reader some important insights.
Through the book and Malcolm, teachers can help their
students discover important influences on their lives. Through its key
themes and the questions those themes raise, Jurassic Park can
become a powerful and relevant unit on our culture and our relationship
to it.
While there are many themes in the book, there are three
which I have found especially useful in working with students:
- We are given our assumptions about life.
- We are learning more and more about less and less,
a concept which Malcolm calls "thintelligence."
- Despite an explosion in the use of technology (most
of it extremely expensive), we have not seen a dramatic improvement
in the quality of life, when measured by more holistic, life-affirming
standards.
We are given our assumptions about life.
Early in Jurassic Park, paleobotonist Ellie Sattler
is discussing with Ian Malcolm his unconventional taste in clothing (all
black or gray). Malcolm replies,
"...We live in a world of frightful givens. It is given
that you will behave like this, given that you will care about that.
No one thinks about the givens. Isn't it amazing? In the information
society, nobody thinks. We expected to banish paper, but we actually
banished thought." (p. 72)
Malcolm could easily be talking about a "mythos", a pattern
of fundamental values and attitudes shared by a people. In close or traditional
societies, where communication is not difficult, these values and attitudes
are usually transmitted through myths and the arts. However, in a large,
diverse culture such as ours, the images and metaphors of our "national
mythos" (if we have one) are created by and transmitted through the media,
the only vehicle which has virtually unlimited access to the majority
of the people in the culture.
A cultural mythos permeates a society, shaping its values,
coloring its thinking, defining its relationships and even determining
an individual�s self image. In Malcolm�s terms, the cultural mythos provides
us with "givens" about life. We either accept the givens and live by them,
or we reject them and live in conflict with virtually every aspect of
our environment.
If the media is providing us with a mythos, the givens
by which we structure or lives, we should look at the media, its techniques
and goals and its impact on how we think and live.
Questions for discussion or research
Media and advertising
What givens does the media present to us --- that is,
what images or beliefs about ourselves, others and the world does the
media ask us to believe? Advertising, for example, provides a "model"
for life, a model which requires us to adopt a certain self image and
to cultivate certain desires. What does research tell us about the impact
of the media/advertising on how we view ourselves and our world?
We should realize that virtually all media exists to
sell something. Even something as important as the news, on which we base
important decisions, is selected and packaged to draw viewers for advertisers.
We will not hear news which attacks sponsors or their actions. How and
why does the media package information and images? What do they want us
to think or do? Who actually controls the news organizations and networks?
(I remember reading some years back that something like 80-90% of the
media is controlled by fewer than 20 companies.)
Impact on thinking skills
Is Ian Malcolm right? Have we really banished thought?
How many people really think carefully about what they are told or about
the assumptions upon which they build their lives?
What role should the schools play in countering or mitigating
the media�s influence? For example, Robert Thompson, a professor at Syracuse
University and founding director of the Center for the Study of Popular
Television stated,
"Just as 200 years ago the skills of reading, writing
and doing arithmetic were seen as the foundation of education in our culture,
learning how to watch television now needs to be added to that base."
(California Educator, Dec. 1998, page 22)
In that same article, Lois Tinson, president of the California
Teachers Association, states, "Students need guidance in how to handle
the onslaught of the many television programs, video games and movies
available." She argues that students should be taught how to be critical
viewers and listeners.
If these experts are correct, what should the school�s
role be? Is it meeting its obligations. What classes have been replaced
be school-to-work programs or computer/internet programs? What percentage
of classes actually teach students to be discerning and critical?
When asked his opinion of John Arnold, the park's systems
engineer, and Henry Wu, the park�s geneticist, Malcolm introduces the
concept of thintelligence.
"[Arnold and Wu are] technicians. They don't have intelligence.
They have what I call 'thintelligence.� They see the immediate situation.
They think narrowly and they call it 'being focused.' They don't see
the surround. They don't see the consequences. That's how you get an
island like [Jurassic Park]. From thintelligent thinking. Because you
cannot make an animal and not expect it be act alive. To be unpredictable.
To escape. But they don't see that." (p. 284)
Malcolm�s point here seems especially important in a
culture which is becoming increasingly complex, where specialization is
the rule. However, such �thintelligent� thinking is not without its risks.
Questions for discussion
Specialization
What are the dangers of specialization? What risks do
scientists face when they are so specialized that they see and understand
only one small part of an entire system? (Students might research the
controversy surrounding genetic engineering in food crops, including the
activities of corporations such as Monsanto. Genetically engineered crops
might work in an isolated situation, but what is their impact on their
environment, on the whole environmental system of which they are a part?)
Our culture tends to admire experts for the depth of
their knowledge in a given area, but there is a new movement that focuses
on breadth of knowledge rather than depth. It is usually called "integrated
studies." What strengths could a person trained for a broader, integrated
knowledge and understanding bring to a culture? To science? Are their
parallels between the "new" integrated view and the concept of the "renaissance
man?" (Students might research colleges and universities which specialize
in "integrated studies," universities such as the California Institute
for Integral Studies, whose web address is http://www.ciis.edu.)
Systems theory
If the topic of integrated systems generates student
interest, there is a film you might try. When we studied Jurassic Park,
I showed part of a 1991 film called Mindwalk, which is based on
Fritjof Capra�s book The Turning Point.
Mindwalk follows three people--a poet, a politician
and a quantum physicist--as they wander through the island-abby of Mont
St. Michel on the coast of France. They discuss the impact of science
and technology. The character of the physicist (played by Liv Ulmann)
makes a strong case for an integrated view of the world, a view which
sees the whole of a system rather than just its parts. She also makes
the point that we rely too much on expensive and wasteful science and
technology to help us after the fact rather than on taking more conservative
and effective action before the fact. (For example, relying on expensive
by-pass surgery instead of inexpensive education and preventive efforts.)
Associated with this topic is "systems theory," which
is a relatively new way of analysis. Systems theory makes the case that
we cannot understand or correct part of a system in isolation; we need
to look at its interrelationships with the rest of the system. It also
suggests that we cannot "fix" part of a system without "fixing" the whole
system (which is why we can�t "fix" schools without addressing the cultural
problems which manifest on our campuses).
One of the most interesting questions Malcolm raises
relates to the 'contributions' and 'advances' of modern science. When
challenged that science and technology have given us many valuable advances,
Malcolm responds,
"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 at Lascaux, 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. Twenty
hours a week. Thirty thousand years ago." (p. 285)
A generation ago, a family could survive with a single
parent working. Now, it seems, both parents must work, sacrificing many
of the activities and relationships which supported the family unit.
In addition, research indicates that there has been virtually
no increase in productivity because of computers. About 43% of the time
people spend working on their computers is wasted in trying to get a program
to work or in trying to figure out how to do something.
For research or discussion
How has the buying power of the money we earned changed
over the last 30-40 years?
Are we working more hours now? Why do both parents need
to work in a family?
Research has shown that despite the trillions of dollars
spent on computers, there has been no significant increase in national
output. Why are computers having such a huge impact on our culture without
having a significant impact on our productivity?
Like all science fiction, Jurassic Park deals with the
question "What if�?" The themes covered here are just three of the important
questions Ian Malcolm asks in Jurassic Park.
They are important questions because they force us to
look at our culture and our technology and the relationship between the
two. They force us to look at ourselves and how our culture shapes our
thinking and self-image (and thus our actions).
From the Hero�s Journey point of view, they are important
because they will make us aware of those "false calls" which would draw
us away from our own Journey and turn us, instead, into mindless cogs
in the machinery of corporate America.
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