#atlantas

By Arjuwan Lakkdawala

Ink in the Internet

I recently read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. The introduction by Shelley is so sincere and authentic in describing her inspiration, and the fact that all stories have to be based on something real. For inspiration does not transpire from a blank void.

Many consider Frankenstein to be the first science fiction book. It was published on January 1, 1818.

There could be millions of adaptations and references of the story, and deservingly so as the book is remarkable in style of storytelling as well as the imagination.

The reason I'm mentioning Frankenstein is not only because of how captivating I found the story to be. But because I found it to be the perfect metaphor to describe some of the dark traits of the human psyche, and how man can be driven by emotions - such as pride, curiosity, over-confidence, or thoughtlessness, to his own destruction and that of others.

Mary Shelley chose Prometheus very wisely, as according to Greek mythology he tricked Zeus, the chief god, even though being lower in ranks and power, and was the creator of man. Since the story of Frankenstein is about constructing a living undead man from the organs of deceased men, the inspiration of Prometheus makes sense.

Shelley does narrate in the introduction that any attempt at creation of a living entity by man can never replicate the beautiful and perfect creation of the Lord, but would only yield something frightening and terrible.

The myth of Prometheus is recorded in the 8th century BC, that's almost 3000 years ago. Prometheus was punished by Zeus for making a fool out of him, and so was tied to rocks, and an eagal would everyday eat his liver, and then the liver would regenerate itself. In Greek mythology there is another myth that also describes the ability of the organ to regenerate itself. This has been confirmed by modern science in 1931. The myth indicates that the ancient Greeks knew this scientific fact. However, the records show it mentioned in mythology and not in ancient books of medicine or anatomy. The myth as a whole is idiotic, as Zeus, a so-called god is tricked by a lower ranking god. So this contradiction in logic and intelligence, is an indication that the scientific information about the liver is not of the time, but has been passed down by an even older civilization who knew it as a scientific fact, which as the centuries passed got entwined into mythology, and was narrated by people who did not know its scientific significance, if they did there surely would have been ancient Greek records of medical or autopsy studies. As there are records of Greek philosophers, and of Plato and the story of Atlantas ‐ which makes me wonder if it was the advanced civilization that passed down the scientific fact of the liver.

Shelley refered to Frankenstein as a modern creation of horror, and this was in 1818. So what do we have in the 21st century that could be a modern Frankenstein. Well if we were to think of the psychological manesfeststions of Frankenstein monsters, that would be an endless story. So we shall not, instead I'm writing about the dark turns in science, driven forward by man's obsession with testing how much science he can aquire and what it can propel to its most extreme horizons.

Presently there is good and improving quality of life advances in prosthetics.

For example, they are being made to look aesthetic, and amputees suffering from phantom limb pain, are getting treated through Brain-Computer Interfaces using electrodes, to send signals through Peripheral Nerve Stimulations, this is also restoring close to natural sensations in amputees, and according to tests they were able to describe the size of the things they touched using prosthetic limbs.

Note: Haptic feedback is a general term for artificial sensations, the simplest of which is the vibrations on cell phones, however, other complicated versions of haptic feedback uses patterns of vibrations, including weak to strong, and has many applications in the medical field.

In this age of science, new fields that combine multidisciplinary sciences are emerging. Artificial Intelligence and highly sophisticated equipments have made this possible. Amongst such sciences is the study of Synthetic Biology and Systems Biology.

Scientists and researchers are studying biological circuits, that is to say; molecular and cellular architecture and its principles and functions, and finding analogues to electronic circuits.

These biological circuits are such extraordinary works that they have been described as "miracle devices."

Coming back to Shelley's words that nothing conjures up out of the thin air.

Scientists of different disciplines are studying each others fields to combine electronics, biology, artificial intelligence, mechanics, physics. Of course these are crude terms I used to give a brief idea of very complicated sciences.

In the study of biological circuits, the simplest things to describe is that: "Feature X enables Function Y." These features are each studied separately as a biological circuit, that has a specific function and principles to how it operates.

However, despite volumes of research and new circuits, and their principles being perpetually discovered, scientists still don't know what exactly programmed the circuits and what causes them to know which features to use at a specific time, in a specific environment, for a specific function.

And unlike electronic circuits that are static in their programming, and can be turned off. Biological circuits have "noise" that is they can communicate with other circuits and form multi-connected networks, and they cannot be turned off, in the sense that constant mechanisms switch on and off for "inverting," functions." This is why over time the circuits become too exhausted to function properly (old age.)

Biological circuits in addition to calculated functions with principles, are time watches as well. They have time regulation as noted by scientists.

Note: By the way I think this is a field of great interest and is expanding, so it has abundant career opportunities.

We have reached significant milestones in science, and I think scientists should ask themselves if they want to test these capabilities by pushing the science of robotics into making androids powered by superintelligence and synthetic biology, connected to electronic circuits. I'm afraid if this science fiction scenario turns into reality, we will be facing a tyrannical Frankenstein monster, with intelligence that will surpass that of the majority of humans on earth, and we will not be able to control it but it will control us.

I titled this article 'The Frankenstein of Tomorrow' because what we do today will determine what will happen to us tomorrow, and it's a term that will not end till the end of the world.

Copyright ©️ Arjuwan Lakkdawala 2024

Arjuwan Lakkdawala is an author and independent researcher.

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Email: [email protected]

Sources:

Frontiers  - advances in prosthetic technology: a perspective on ethical considerations for development and clinical translations, hayden gavette, cody l. mcdonald, kristin kostick-quenet, ashley mullen, bijan najafi, m.g. finco

www.biocircuits.github.io - biological circuit design

Precision micro drives - introduction to haptic feedback

Brain stimulation journal - peripheral nerve stimulation enables somatosensory feedback while suppressing phantom limp pain in transradial amputees, gurgen soghoyan, artur biktimirov, yuri matvienko, ilya chekh, mikhail sintsov, mikhail a. Lebedev

I might just over thinking about this... But what if Elsa and Jack were descendants from Atlantians? Elsa has ice/water powers. Jacks powers awake when he fell into water. Water has memories as Olaf said.

Just thinking of connecting stories for fun here nothing to worry about😊

so, this is my first book on here which imma actually update. its been in my drafts for a while, and i just need to get it out here, ya know. 

Word count: ONLY 935, its the prologue and idk what else to add tbh

The daughter or Poseidon and Athena had been born with the looks and the power. She took the looks of her mother, and the emotions of her father. Her grey eyes, that would change to an electric blue when she got angry, has the color of the ocean trapped in them. Her dark brown hair is the same as her mother, and sparkles in the sunlight.

Athena, the goddess of wisdom, gave her daughter everything she deserved. Poseidon taught her how to handle the 7 seas and exactly what she could do with her powers.

And to top everything off, the most simple, delicate, and beautiful name.

Ahana.

Ahana grew up as a child with a vibrant personality. Always being the best swimmer on her team, fluent in Ancient Greek, Latin, Spanish, and English. She had a lot on her plate, including her insecurities.

She felt trapped,growing up in a world that wasn't her own.Atlantas was where she felt at home, not in the planet full of mortals. Full of doubts, worries, and anxiety; she was scared. She never talked to anyone, had no friends- all because of two words that she hates repeating.

Social Anxiety.

She was a misfit, and she took it well. Average grades, always being the one to trap herself in the bathroom during lunch, only being able to do what she loves;swims

It was normal.

For her at least.

                                                    RIPTIDE

The sons of Apollo. He had two.

Apollo had fallen in love with a mortal, going against most rules of the Greek Gods. His wife, Ella, had twins, and since only one chosen child could learn from the god...Hades took the older one. Now, the only son Apollo could call his own was Grayson.

Grayson grew up to be athletic, also taking the looks of his father. Even though he never saw his father again after he left when he was 7, he would still remember everything as he was younger. All the football games, the dinners, the pillow forts, the late night movies.

The only thing he didn't know was that who his brother was. He had multiple questions for his mother. How did he look? Were we identical? Whats his name?

"The only thing I know is that the two of you got your father's looks," Ella replied like always.

Ella herself was curious. What was his name? Does he like the underworld? Or is he living where the mortals live? Grayson was brought up knowing about his brother, but him yet being a complete mystery. After a while, when Grayson got into high school, he forgot about his brother for the most part and focused on being the star football player.

Little did he know that his brother didn't even know he was alive.

                                               RIPTIDE

The underworld seemed like a cool place to Ethan as he grew up. The gruesome environment made him fearless because he knows that nothing is as cruel as the underworld. He was unsure of the mortal world, he has only gone there to go collect an escaped soul for his father.

He knew that in order to keep him safe he had to be in the mortal world for what they call "high school". Ethan dreaded the idea, and begged Hades to stay.

"Why can't I just stay here and hunt some more souls for you?" he questioned continually.

Hades sighed like always, and shook his head. "You can't stay here, and you know that. Unless you rather be Medusa's dinner, you have to go to the mortal world."

The more time that went by- and the more Ethan complained- Hades was convinced to let him stay... as long as he went for the last year.

Now, as Ethan awaited the start of his "senior year", he read books about the mortal world. His mother, Persephone (the Queen of the Underworld) had taught him everything. Even though she knew about his past, she never let that get in the way of being a good mother.

Ethan never thought of himself as a misfit, he always got along with his father, and the underworld was now his home.

                                                    RIPTIDE

Now, the three of them all enter the same school. Them all under different titles.

Ahana, the shy girl who's an amazing swimmer. Lived in both the mortal world and Atlantas, visiting her father in the sea, but staying with her mother in the mortal lands.

Grayson, the star football player. High on the social ranking, has no clue about his powers or brother. Looks and athleticism of his father, but kindness of his mother.

Ethan, the adopted child of Hades, whose never been on mortal grounds unless for collecting a soul. Doesn't know about his brother or about him being adopted.

Will these three misfits survive the riptide?

                                                      ******

That was it for riptide! I've writen this a long time ago, and this will be updating chapter by chapter, I guess? but if i do that, i’ll make the chapters longer. Officially started this on September 6, 2018- published:march 2, 2019

p.s: i know that the greek gods were all tied together in some sort of way, i know a lot about greek mythology, and imma try to keep it as authentic as i can, but there will be soe changes considering that i need to bend some things to make the plot work.