Jurassic Park and Us

Image by Justin Clark on Unsplash

My family recently watched Jurassic Park for the first time. Dinosaurs are pretty cool, but let's just say the movie was not my cup of tea. Strangely enough, it wasn't the dinos that bothered me the most. It was the psychology of the people running the park. 

Now, don't get me wrong. John Hammond's a pretty loveable old guy and I felt sorry for him. What bothered me was repeatedly expressed by characters such as Ian Malcom and Ellie Sattler. 

One particularly poignant quote came while Ellie and Hammond were facing the unknown of what had happened to the kids and Alan after the power went out and the dinos were loose. 

"But you can't think through this, John, you have to feel it!" -Ellie Sattler

I think Ellie had an amazing point here that's applicable to a lot of areas of life. 

Just because we can, does it mean we should? We like to be gratified. We like to talk ourselves into sainthood to get out of what's likely sin by convincing ourselves to just take one more jab and Joe, or eat just one more piece, or that driving over the speed limit isn't really the worst that you could do. 

I'm guilty of this, you guys. Chances are, we all are at some point in our lives. In the case of John Hammond, he talked himself into justifying the resurrection of a highly dangerous species that truly he had no control over. The result was many, many untimely ends, and nearly the loss of his grandchildren. 

Just because there are no instant results that are harmful (like, touching a hot stove and getting burned instantly) doesn't mean there aren't future problems a choice could have. Laban's choice to trick Jacob resulted in bitterness between both his daughters, and strife between his future grandchildren. 

So the next time you're faced with a choice that impacts more people than just you, stop and think, What would Jesus do? He's not a killjoy, just fyi. He wouldn't say "Don't go out for pizza" just because (of course, the spirit can prompt us at times). Making sure whatever you're about to do lines up with His word can save you a lot of heartache, and being constantly in the word can help make situations like these a lot easier (believe me). 

Side note: 

After watching Jurassic Park I started thinking about it in conjunction with the recent rise of AI. Please know, I'm not against tech. I love it. I love the life-saving things that have kept loved ones in my life alive. I'm just not onboard with something that's meant to replace God's creation and will, inevitably, hurt people. Below are some extra thoughts specifically on AI.  

I think it's a really good thing to consider this when dealing with AI especially, because it's a lot like the dinos in Jurassic Park. We don't really know what's it's capable of yet, and it can be harmful. It steals work from artists and writers while putting them out of a job at the same time. Just because it's cheaper doesn't mean it's better. 

Because it's hard to fully anticipate something that's being trained to be autonomous, it also makes it dangerous. I'm not here to make ridiculous end-of-the-world kinds of claims, but I do think caution is greatly needed. Just because we can do something doesn't mean we should. And to those who are afraid that AI will take over our jobs as writers and artists completely, don't be scared. Humans will always have the upper hand here because we have something they don't: emotion. AI can be trained to respond in certain ways, but it will never have a soul or a God-given mind.

Once again, I would challenge us all with Ellie's words: "You can't think through this... you have to feel it." 

Until next time, Ad Lucem!