The Plasticity of Culture
When analyzing how the cultural response to and opinion on medical technology has shifted, works of fiction provide a clear window into the theoretical extrapolations of current progress and the potential cultural backlash involved. Stories where medicinal technology has surpassed what is considered humanly normal are no longer fiction, however. By interpreting these stories through the world view that has been set by intellectual goliaths such as Darwin and Einstein, the relative plasticity of these perspectives becomes apparent. Darwin’s and Einstein’s work fundamentally requires open-mindedness and the understanding that nothing is permanent. Darwin’s evolution theory placed species, a concept previously thought to be immutable, in the realm of plasticity, constantly changing as time goes on. Einstein’s theory of relativity uproots the very concept of time. If one’s identity as a member of the human race and the constancy of time can be changed, then everything is equally vulnerable to change.
Oscar Pistorius, the double amputee who caused headlines when trying for the Olympics, faced accusations that his prosthetic legs gave him an unfair advantage in terms of mechanical efficiency. Miguel Sapochnik’s movie Repo Men focused on what defined a human being by extending the ship of Theseus* metaphor to internal organs, where humans gradually replaced more and more body parts with prosthetics, to the . The sustaining of people in a irreversible vegetative state is one of the most common examples of where technology has outpaced the culture understanding needed to rationally deal with these kinds of situations. This trend of popular media that examine reality and humanity, from the directly medicinal to movies like Terminator and Inception, drives and works in parallel with the aforementioned world view, a shift in cultural ideology that points to a more open and understanding perspective. However, the shift from media to cultural norm depends on factors that transcend pop culture. By introducing these plausible concepts via a media that remains firmly planted in the fictional, cultures gradually become acclimated to these ideas, which take root and develop into what becomes the new standard.
* The Ship of Theseus is a paradox that concerns a ship that has had every component replaced, but remains the same object.
Oscar Pistorius, the double amputee who caused headlines when trying for the Olympics, faced accusations that his prosthetic legs gave him an unfair advantage in terms of mechanical efficiency. Miguel Sapochnik’s movie Repo Men focused on what defined a human being by extending the ship of Theseus* metaphor to internal organs, where humans gradually replaced more and more body parts with prosthetics, to the . The sustaining of people in a irreversible vegetative state is one of the most common examples of where technology has outpaced the culture understanding needed to rationally deal with these kinds of situations. This trend of popular media that examine reality and humanity, from the directly medicinal to movies like Terminator and Inception, drives and works in parallel with the aforementioned world view, a shift in cultural ideology that points to a more open and understanding perspective. However, the shift from media to cultural norm depends on factors that transcend pop culture. By introducing these plausible concepts via a media that remains firmly planted in the fictional, cultures gradually become acclimated to these ideas, which take root and develop into what becomes the new standard.
* The Ship of Theseus is a paradox that concerns a ship that has had every component replaced, but remains the same object.
