Having tied at 101 -- with so many others -- in the Sun’s recent “Charlotte County’s Hundred Most Powerful,” I invite those who didn’t make the cut to join in a more sophisticated game of “If You Could Clone.”
This new game is doubly significant because of the current hullabaloo over human cloning.
Sufficient here is the supposition that a single, biological cell – living or preserved -- contains all the genetic DNA necessary to create a replica of the person from whom the DNA came. Dolly, the sheep, came close enough for government work.
Already, folks are working up a lather over who, if anybody, should have the power to “play God.” Before invoking the Great Architect of the Universe, let us wander a bit down the road of Make Believe.
Imagine that a cloning process for humans has been perfected. The debate begins over what person should be manufactured first. Of course, the United Nations – representing all mankind – will appropriate the privilege of selecting the model.
A special session of the General Assembly is called. Because of your great wisdom, you have been selected to fill the United States seat. Whom will you vote for in the history-making event – the greatest honor since the Garden of Eden?
Names of a number of living, admirable Americans leap to mind: George W. Bush, Neil Armstrong, Colin Powell, Jimmy Carter, Billy Graham, Rosa Parks. However, these have not yet been time tested.
Remember, also eligible are persons who have died and some part of their bodies exist from which a DNA sample can be extracted. There are hundreds of past Americans with skills and characters worth emulating.
Bones of George Washington and all the other Founding Fathers are easily accessible. Then there is Jonas Salk, Charles Lindbergh, Will Rogers, Eleanor Roosevelt, George Washington Carver, Susan B. Anthony, and Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Albert Einstein’s brain floats in a jar of formaldehyde at Princeton University waiting to be resurrected.
Right away, the United Nations’ built-in handicap becomes apparent. Russia would nominate Karl Marx, Czar Nicholas, or Leo Tolstoy. Britain would lobby for William Shakespeare, Winston Churchill or a score of kings buried under the floor of Westminster Abby. France would want Napoleon Bonaparte, Joan of Arc, or Charles DeGaul.
Religious leaders would raise blood-pressures of everyone. The Shroud of Turin would be clipped to re-create Jesus Christ. A hair of Muhammad’s beard, preserved at Turkey’s Topkai Museum, would be donated at the insistence of Middle East delegates. Asians would violate the grave of Buddha to bring him back to life.
Clearly the United Nations would deadlock. Scientists, politicians and clerics will debate the issue to death.
Hart’s 100
For today’s exercise, ponder what pattern would you use if the decision was assigned solely to you.
Perhaps you would consult an interesting 1978 book titled “The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History.” Michael R. Hart, the author, created a firestorm with his selections. Acolytes of number 101 were, and remain, outraged.
The first dozen on Hart’s list are Muhammad, Isaac Newton, Jesus Christ, Buddha, Confucius, Saint Paul, Ts’ai Lun the inventor of paper, Johann Gutenberg, Christopher Columbus, Albert Einstein, Louis Pasteur and Galileo Galilei. Only women mentioned are Queen Isabella I (65) and Queen Elizabeth I (94).
Hart said his choice of Muhammad surprised many readers, but he explains: “He was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular levels.
“Of humble origins, Muhammad was born in the year 570 in the city of Mecca far from the centers of trade, art, science and learning. Orphaned at age six, he was reared in modest surroundings. Tradition tells us that he was illiterate.
“Most Arabs at the time were pagans, but in Mecca there was a small number of Jews and Christians. It was from them no doubt that Muhammad learned of a single, omnipotent God who ruled the entire universe.
“When Muhammad was 40 years old, he became convinced that this one true God –Allah – had chosen him to spread the true faith of Islam. He gained converts steadily. By 622, Meccan authorities came to consider a dangerous nuisance. He fled (hegira) to Medina where he engaged in a series of conflicts with Mecca. By 630 he returned triumphantly to Mecca where until his death two years later he consolidated all southern Arabia under his new religion.
“In the next hundred years, Arab armies conquered the Persian empire, north Africa, Spain and southern France. This remarkable spread of Islam finally was halted by the Franks at the battle of Tours in 1732.”
Though political control by Arabs has shrunk to the Middle East, 1.2 billion Muslims worldwide constitute the fastest growing religion of the world. This compares to 2 billion Christians declining about 2 percent annually because of a low birthrate. It is estimated there are 5 million Muslims in the United States – about half of these faithful attenders.
Interesting choices 24 years ago by Hart were Joseph Stalin (66), Enrico Fermi (76), John F. Kennedy (81), Mao Zedong (89), and Mikhail Gorbachev (95). Would Hart still rank them in the top 100 today?
My Top Choice
As a scientist playing God, you may have something other than “influence” to guide your decision of whom to resurrect.
My criteria is whether I would want the person I created to live in my guest room. On this basis, I find it difficult to choose from the giants of scientific thought.
Nonetheless, my candidates in alphabetic order are: Aristotle, Copernicus, Darwin, Einstein, Galileo, Kepler, Newton and Planck.
In my opinion, the pursuit of basic knowledge – explanation of nature’s mysteries – is the greatest achievement of mankind. Each of my candidates drew liberally upon the insight of his predecessors. Einstein – being the most recent on my list – therefore is the most notable.
My first choice, however, is Galileo Galilei whose middle finger from his right hand is preserved in a glass bubble at a Florence, Italy, museum. Could that be a subtle gesture aimed at his contemporary detractors?
Galileo demonstrated qualities of character and mental insight superior to all others – courage to pursue truth in the face of persecution.
He discovered, and comprehended, the basic theorems of physics. He proved what Aristotle and Copernicus had suspected – the Earth revolves around the Sun – and made it stick. It was a revolution in knowledge that overturned all previous beliefs regarding science and religion.
Galileo continued his controversial experiments even while under house arrest. When forced to publicly recant his proof under threat of death, he whispered as he turned from his judges, “The Earth still moves.”
This combination of knowledge, insight and courage is in short supply today. The ancient writers of the Old Testament foresaw the dangers of playing God, but also the duty of humans to forge ahead to wisdom.
Having tasted of the Tree of Knowledge in the center of the Garden of Eden, we are commanded to labor for more understanding until we “become as God.”
With God-like opportunity, which wise and useful life would you clone?
