I recently read Michael Crichton’s, State of Fear. It was a good read, a bit long maybe. And there was a gruesome scene of cannibalism, but a good tale! It is a look at the use of fear to determine policy. Crichton is working with the idea that when science gets politicized it becomes a danger. It made me shudder to think that such things are taking place. I know the work is fiction, but I have no doubt his premise is not so far from fact.
I was a bit surprised that Crichton used the radical environmentalists as the focal point of danger when science gets politicized. But it worked for me. After the story was complete, Crichton gave his personal positions on matters, and that was interesting too. He completes his thoughts by saying that everyone has an agenda, except him! He would like to see the depoliticization of science.
I do not usually read appendices, but the one after the message from the author was really enlightening to me. I had no idea that the theory of eugenics was a popular idea around the turn of the 20th century, in America. Proponents of the idea of ridding the human race of the feeble minded and degenerates included the H.G. Wells, Margaret Sanger, of planned parenthood fame, Leland Stanford, the founder of Stanford University, and Teddy Roosevelt. It was the subject of discussion on college campuses, the way global warning is today. The Rockefeller foundation was a contributor to the research in Germany that gave rise to gas chambers in concentration camps.
I am not sure what steps to take to improve dialogue and elevate sensibility. Has anyone else read the book? Have an opinion, either on the book or the issues it raises?
