The loneliness of human beings

The place to understand how cloned humans will feel who will be implanted with super qualities is in science fiction

The article was first published on the Hidaan website in 2003, since then strict laws have been enacted in almost all countries of the world that actually prohibit human cloning. Haim Mazar draws the portrait of super clones in the science fiction books, from Frankenstein to the heroes of 'Jupiter's Anvil'.

The genetic cloning that excites the imagination of the researchers and the public holds a scientific potential with far-reaching medical implications, especially in relation to the treatment of incurable diseases. Alongside this hope, there are also those who object to it due to the moral question involved in the possibility of cloning humans. If we take an ethical step forward even if it is extreme, one can wonder if those researchers will issue patents on the clones and as such the inventors will have to register the clones with the patent registrar, which also requires reference to their social and legal status.
I wish there would definitely be a situation in which the clones would be single people since they might be exceptional due to traits that would be instilled in them such as extremely great physical strength, rare intellectual abilities, etc. and would not be among them equal to those with whom they would want to share their world.

It is difficult to anticipate the set of problems that will arise from the moment that the cloned people walk among us. Initial dealings with these issues are found in some science fiction literature. The first book in which these problems are presented in a particularly blatant way is Mary Shelley's book "Frankenstein". In this book Mary Shelley describes the creation of Adam, though not by way of cloning. The creator is Frankenstein who, after a continuous effort of days and nights that spanned many months, reached an enlightenment that allowed him to discover the cause of life and even more than that, the ability to give life to inanimate matter (Shelly 1985: 33).

Frankenstein was imbued with euphoria and optimism regarding the happiness expected for humanity following this discovery and as he describes it: "Happy and excellent creatures will owe me their lives. There is no father in the world who will earn from his son a gratitude similar to hers. These words of Frankstein hint at additional questions that will have to be dealt with in the future and for which it is not certain that a solution will be found. One question is the feeling of the tribes who will feel themselves as God. They are the creators of people and therefore will feel like they are allowed to do whatever they want and start creating new forms of life without any investment of thought about the results of their actions. A second question is the identity problem of the clones. If the tribes give birth to a physically mature person like Frankenstein's creature, this person, whether he is a man or a woman, will be without childhood realms and native landscape patterns. He will have neither father nor mother. He will have no memories that he can cherish and miss and he will have no past (ibid. p. 34).

Frankenstein's creature had a repulsive and disgusting appearance. Everyone who saw him was due to his ugliness (ibid. p. 93-94). "His yellow skin barely covered the muscles and arteries underneath. His hair was flowing and black as a raven, his teeth white as pearls, but all these created a shocking contrast to his watery eyes, the color of which was almost the color of the white eyelids where they were fixed and his lips were wide and straight" (ibid. p. 37). It is very possible that the clones will create humans according to their personal taste and will see the possibilities of cloning to create their alter ego image that will be far from the average taste and in this way people will come into the world who will be imprinted with the qualities they thought they lacked. In the event that they are given the opportunity to create clones serially, they will break the social ecological balance and lead to the outbreak of conflicts against the background of the striking difference between the clones and the normal society. Since the former will feel rejected, they will try to integrate into society and there is no guarantee that they will actually succeed in doing so. Most likely, their feeling of alienation will be difficult and they will not be able to withstand it.

A clone that is brought into the world with the dimensions of an adult person without going through stages of growth and maturation is in a thin dip test. But if he manages to stand up for himself on his own, like Frankenstein's handiwork, he may be well aware of his situation, try to get out of it and break through the barrier of loneliness. What he may and rightly seek is a woman as Frankenstein's creature seeks from its creator. He cannot be content with having made him a living and breathing man by virtue of being his Creator. Frankenstein has a great responsibility towards him and he cannot and in fact must not ignore it. This is essentially his duty and as he directs this request to his creator and in a categorical form "You must create a female for me, with whom I can live in the bonds of affection necessary for existence... You alone can do this and I demand this from you by right, a woman that you cannot refuse to give me" (ibid. p. 103)... we will be monsters cut off from the world, but on the other hand we will be extremely connected to each other, our lives will not be happy but innocent and harmless and they will free me from my misery" (ibid. p. 104). Frankenstein succumbed to the pressure of his creature and began the work of creation. Very quickly he realized the magnitude of the responsibility in his hands and shortly after starting his work before it was even finished, he destroyed what he had created. The questions that troubled him were not about a woman's appearance, which at the end of the work is considered a finished product, but about her unclear character. Will you really join the male and move to live with him in his midst in a place isolated from the settlement and without contact with the other humans? You might be more evil than him and "they might even hate each other." The creature that was already alive hated its deformed appearance and perhaps could not bear a greater horror than it, when it appeared before it in the form of a female" (ibid. p. 118).

Frankenstein's creature was filled with rage that his request was not fulfilled, and an unhappy man became a vengeful vindictive and murdered Frankenstein's associates, including his wife (ibid., p. 141). The same responsibility that Frankenstein faced in the end will also face the tribes. What kind of personality will the clones have? Will it really be possible to plan each and every feature of them? And maybe these designs will be out of their control since the psychological uncertainties are too great and there is no guarantee that the clones will behave as expected? A situation may certainly develop in which the clones, due to the feeling of alienation, will become frustrated people and take out their fury indiscriminately on the society around them.

Another cloning option that is presented in other works is people who are cloned in laboratory conditions and undergo natural growth, but everything is done in a sterile manner that bears the character of an industrial creature as it is shown in Aldous Huxley's book "The Bold Tomorrow" and during their development they also receive a corresponding education. There is also the possibility of bringing into the world clones who will fulfill different functions which, as a result of social and economic processes, will disappear and will still be needed or will be required with different abilities, this with the understanding that society may fall into various functional predicaments. A situation of this kind is described in the story of Gregory Benford and Gordon Oakland "Jupiter's Anvil" (Fantasia 1981 booklets 24,25).

This work does not describe society as a whole, but a rather difficult relationship between a genetically engineered woman and a large team of 400 people, with whom she stays in a space laboratory around the planet Jupiter. The relationship between her and the team is a microcosm of the same relationship between a population group that is also a product of genetic engineering called Manips (Fantasia 2000 1981 booklet 24 p. 12) and the rest of the population on Earth. The word manips is a phonetic translation of the English word manips which is actually an abbreviation of the word manipulated and its description is in the plural.

Both in the laboratory and on earth "everyone is an expert in what he is and there are only so few in any profession, it is difficult to find a conversation partner" (Fantasia 1981 booklet 25 p. 9). Professionalization has reached such extreme dimensions that each person knows only his narrow field. This is a state of hypervariation. There was a need for people who knew how to bridge the worlds of knowledge of the various experts. The way to deal with this was genetic engineering. In this way, a group of people was "brought" into the world, of which Mara - the woman in the space laboratory - is one of them. The manips were aimed at spiritual speed, skill and imagination (ibid. booklet 24 p. 12). They are highly intelligent (ibid. p. 16), more observant (ibid. booklet 25 p. 8) and think in unconventional ways (ibid. p. 12). Mara is emotionally quite stable, strange, eccentric (booklet 24 p. 12), Very dynamic (ibid. booklet 25 p. 6) and hot-tempered (ibid. p. 6). It is assumed that these qualities are present in the other Manifis. At the same time, there are human qualities in her. She knows what fear is (ibid. p. 6). She knows when The need to show a sense of tact (ibid. p. 6), arrogant and selfish (ibid. booklet 24 p. 19).

On Earth the situation is the same and even more acute. The population is unable to understand what it means to be without real parents (ibid. booklet 25 p. 15), hates them and is afraid of them (booklet 24 p. 14) because they appear to be superior people. The Earth's nuclear power reserve is in the hands of the Manifs and nothing works without them (ibid. p. 15).

The hatred and fear of them is so great that it was decided to deprive them of their human rights and strip them of their citizenship on the grounds that the country that created them has possession over them (ibid. p. 15) and as such has the right to strip them of their human rights and strip them of their citizenship (ibid. booklet 25 p. 13) . The Manifests, on the other hand, did not aspire to a position of power. All they wanted was to be left alone (ibid. booklet 24 p. 18) and as a measure of desperation they were ready to use the power entrusted to them.

In this work, genetic engineering is applied not to the entire population, but only to a small part of it. The Manifestos are supposed to have sophisticated and unconventional thinking. Because of their great diversity, society should have shown great openness towards them. These were supposed to be another group of professionals and nothing more. In practice what happened is the opposite. The fact that the Manifs are unique caused reactions and hatred towards them to the point of willingness to bring about their elimination despite the acute need for their abilities.

In the societies described in these science fiction works it can be seen that in the cloning of humans there are many uncertainties and the resulting social consequences may be severe and possibly irreversible for both the cloned and their creators. A very significant and difficult conclusion is that the clones will be solitary people without the ability to awaken in normal human society. Basically they are doomed to live a life of misery. On the shoulders of the clones lies a very heavy responsibility towards their creatures and perhaps it is better that the clones do not come into the air of the world.

Sources

Gregory Benford, Gordon Oakland- "Jupiter's Anvil" Fantasy 2000 1981 Booklet 24 p. 6-19, booklet 25 p. 16-22.

Aldous Hasley - Brave Tomorrow (Brave New World) Metzpan Publishing 1962

Mary Shelley- Frankenstein Astrologer Publishing 1995 159 pages.