Reviving the past

Recent revelations (1) that the dinosaur DNA is more readily available for manipulation poses a significant question for humans. Although there have been plenty of movies that portray the reincarnation of the deadly beasts, a fundamental question remains. Does it make sense for humans to play with the past and revive a species that has been extinct?

There are plenty of reasons why this is is not a good idea. First, from a systemic perspective, the current stable equilibrium is a function of evolution and any attempts at introducing jumps in such a smooth function may have deleterious effects overall. Second, the extinction of dinosaurs signaled a regime shift – one that cannot be selectively reversed. Humans, one could argue, is the worst outcome of evolution – as they seem to have overdesigned an organ – the brain – and that gives them the power and opportunity to destroy the entire system. They could do this in two ways – either by destroying the planet by physical means or by introducing biological effects that the system is simply not designed to tackle.

It may be time to pull back – it is unclear that the beneficial effects of Science are unambiguously higher than its bad effects. The acceleration of Science ahead of Societal designs that can incorporate it, may not be the best.

Eggs of enigmatic dinosaur in Patagonia discovered. Published: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 - 10:34 in Paleontology & Archaeology. Source: Uppsala University