Clones and Computers

Last week I had to give a lecture. When I tried to print it from my computer, a message flashed across the screen claiming it did not detect the Printer.

If you are over a certain age computers refusing to work means only one of two things. An expensive phone call to an expert who takes two weeks to arrive…or, a very humbling appeal to one of your children who tells you, not asks you, to move from your seat. He then proceeds to take your place and fix it. Actually, "Fixing it" usually takes three hours after which he explains that he doesn’t know why it’s not working and that he’ll have to reinstall all the software. Never before have so many people been so regularly frustrated by a piece of equipment. With growing awareness of the Millennium Bug Problem, frustration with Computers is about to take on a new dimension.

Programmers omitting to make machines recognise the year "Two Thousand" means that when that date arrives, unless they have been re-programmed, computers all over the planet will simply refuse to work properly…and that means that nothing will work properly. Food distribution, Air traffic control systems, Electricity companies…everything relies on computers!

One human error, has left the entire world vulnerable and how far we’ve succeeded in correcting it…we’ll have to wait and see.

Human ingenuity fares far worse when inventions and discoveries are applied to modifying G-d’s designs and systems. Whole books could be filled with man made attempts to improve the Eco-system and get rid of pests. The African "Killer" bee, which was introduced into Brazil in an attempt to increase pollination, is now a threat to people as far north as Palm Springs. A Toad which was introduced into Australia to eat an insect called the Cane Beetle, turned into a plague of near biblical proportions as the huge creatures ate absolutely everything, besides the beetle. And it was announced this week that a government committee is preparing "radical measures" to control Biotechnology. There is clear public concern that Cloning and genetically modified foods are a step too far.

I listened not too long ago to a leading authority on the subject, reassuringly stating that Human Cloning would never happen because scientists in this country were too responsible to attempt it. And even ignoring the lack of confidence that post BSE Britain feels towards the assurances of scientists, there are other countries where ethics and rules are quite different to ours.

In discussing people’s worries about Cloning and it’s potential to be applied to Humans the much-respected former Chief Rabbi, Lord Jacobowitz said….
 "We are dealing with a very delicate issue; the creation of human life. The tiniest error could be utterly disastrous over generations. Characteristically the Jewish Sabbath recalls G-d not as the creator, but as the one who knew when to cease creating. On that capacity of restraint, even more than human creativeness, may human survival ultimately depend."