- What do the origins of the bicycle and the novel Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus have in common?
- How did this work influence Asimov’s laws of robotics?
What is the Frankenstein complex?
The term ‘Frankenstein complex’ was coined by Isaac Asimov (1919 or 1920-1992) to summarise humans’ fear that artificial beings created by themselves would rise up against their creators, as happened in the novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, published in 1818.
This novel by British writer Mary Shelley (1797-1851) includes the phrase ‘You are my creator, but I am your master,’ which exemplifies how the creature created by Doctor Victor Frankenstein rebels, showing that power can change hands as the character evolves and his level of consciousness and resentment increases.
This reversal of power and the assertion of dominion over the creator is what led Asimov to consider the formulation of a series of laws of robotics.
Asimov and the laws of robotics
This multifaceted and prolific populariser and writer is one of the most influential figures in robotics, and, as we have already mentioned in another post on this blog, he set out his famous three laws in 1942 in the work The Cuckoo in the Elms, in which he stated the following:
- A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
- A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
- A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
What was the ‘volcanic winter’ and how does it relate to Asimov’s laws of robotics?
But returning to Frankenstein, which, as we have mentioned, is what made Asimov concerned about the ‘rebellion’ of creatures and the reason why he ended up advocating his famous laws, there is a historical curiosity in how this work was conceived.
The author of the novel, Mary Shelley, and her husband Percy got together with Lord Byron (1788-1824) and his doctor, the writer John William Polidori (1795-1821), in Geneva in 1816.
This meeting might not have been particularly noteworthy, were it not for the fact that it was prompted by what is known as the “volcanic winter”, a global climate phenomenon resulting from the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia in April 1815.
The enormous amount of ash and sulphurous gases emitted into the atmosphere blocked out the sunlight and caused global cooling, leading to frosts and snowfall in the northern hemisphere during the summer.
In addition to dramatic consequences, such as direct fatalities, ruined crops and famines – or other curiosities, such as the origin of the bicycle, as we shall see later – another action resulting from the eruption was that this group of British writers decided to weather the storm without going out into the open.
To pass the time, Byron challenged the group to each write a horror story… And that is how Frankenstein was born. But that’s not all… Polidori wrote The Vampire, which was the origin of this romantic creature as a literary subgenre.
What is the connection with Ada Lovelace?
It is true that there is no direct link as such, beyond the fact that Ada Lovelace was born in 1815 (specifically, on 10 December), the same year as the eruption that led to the volcanic winter.
However, the curious thing is that the organiser of the literary ‘soirée’ where Frankenstein was born, Lord Byron, was… Ada Lovelace’s father. In fact, her name on the register was Augusta Ada Byron.
Disassociated from her father, Ada Lovelace made history by becoming, among other things, the first programmer in history. Her influence and importance in the world of science and technology have made her a true STEM icon, to the point that there is a specific day dedicated to her: Ada Lovelace Day, celebrated since 2009 on the second Tuesday of October.
And what about the origin of the bicycle?
In our post dedicated to World Bicycle Day, celebrated every 3rd of June since 2018, we explained that in 1817 the German baron Karl Von Drais (1785-1851) invented a device – later known as ‘The Draisiana’ – which, with two wheels and under the name of walking machine, is considered the precursor of the bicycle, although it did not have pedals.
But what does this phenomenon have to do with the ‘volcanic winter’ of 1816?
Well, faced with the crisis in agriculture and the consequent lack of food for horses (and the resulting decline in their nutrition, which could even have fatal consequences), Von Drais had to find an innovative solution for personal transport.
Although this article explains what the ‘Frankenstein complex’ is and its relationship with robotics and the enunciation of Asimov’s famous laws, it could also have served to explain what the ‘butterfly effect’ is and the impact of this lepidopteran’s fluttering wings on the course of other events anywhere else on the planet.
But that, in any case, would be another story…
