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May 5, 2009
‘Eleventh Hour,’ ‘24’ and ‘CSI’ - Want to See the Future Played Out Today? These are the Shows to Watch!
OK, you’ve made it past the title and right about now are wondering why one of Family Security Matters’ bioweapons experts is talking about TV. Right?! Well sometimes fiction is instructive. Consider the following:
Prions, nano-technology, DNA sequencing, applying chemistry to solve crime or cure disease, the Constitutionality of an outsourced shadow government – are these the topics being taught in your children’s science classes? Probably not; but they are the stuff of prime time television. And in the process, perhaps we have turned an important corner when TV, beyond the Public Broadcasting System, can provide educational or at least mind stimulating programming – mind numbing reality shows notwithstanding.
Current Threats You Won’t See In The News, But Will See On Prime Time
Let’s look at the state of global affairs.
Shadow Government
Imagine private contractors becoming the outsource suppliers of U.S. security, and intelligence officers. How do you spell Blackwater, Halliburton, SAIC? The program 24 has raised the specter of an all powerful private firm “Starkwood” as their metaphor for Blackwater, Triple Canopy and others – equipped with advanced weapons, boasting elite special forces, with tactics and intelligence capabilities to rival our own “official” government counterparts and having infiltrated the U.S. government. The important question raised by 24 puts into specific relief domestic issues we need to consider as a nation. Not to vilify these entities, as there may be some value in having such capabilities as a resource, but to examine the risks our nation faces going down the slippery slope of outsourcing our national assets. Is it crazy to think we could be vulnerable from well financed private security firms? Most Americans are unaware of firms such as SAIC, Booz Allen Hamilton, Xe or Triple Canopy; instead Halliburton being the only focal point for a largely invisible industry. Some would offer that they are a shadow government. 24 notwithstanding, this is not the stuff of fiction.
Moreover, where is the mainstream media in terms of raising these issues? Just because recently no one has been indicted or few incidents have occurred from Iraq or elsewhere to capture our attention related to the private firms doesn’t and shouldn’t take this out of public consideration. Any well-financed entity can produce unconventional weapons (directed energy, WMD, non lethals).
Domestic security – enhanced or threatened by private firms? Some insiders have quipped that the headquarters of the U.S.’s premier intelligence entities isn’t Langley, but in fact McLean , Virginia, where many government contractors view CIA as the training ground, subsequently recruiting career officers to private enterprise. For the moment they seem committed to Uncle Sam; but at revenues in the billions of dollars, how long before these contractors start calling the shots, or will it be before they work for the highest bidder? Former Spetznaz and KGB have joined the ranks of consultants.
Science as weapon, threat or benefit
Imagine you are a scientist called to solve a problem: a number of people have been electrocuted seemingly randomly yet en masse in a town not noted for lightening strikes. What’s the problem? Who’s the culprit? The investigation, using some pretty slick science, unmasks a novel application of nanotechnology implanted into people and integrated within their skin – almost living metal! Does this sound farfetched? Guess again. Hybrid technology is here to stay. And it might be the future neuro-network for paralyzed patients or the foundation for 22nd century body armor. It may even show promise for neurodegenerative disorders in people as well as having a weapons and other technology applications.
So where would you learn about this amazing scientific research? From Katie Couric on CBS? The New York Times? Popular Mechanics? Soldier of Fortune? Mad Magazine? Fox News? Ripley’s Believe It Or Not? None of the above. But had you tuned into Eleventh Hour (EH) a few weeks ago, you’d have learned more about nanotechnology in that one episode than your kids are probably learning from their science teachers in an entire semester. I wonder if they’ll take a look at the new hybrid laser technologies for next season (if they are picked up for a second season).
Science is not Dr. Strangelove, but it can be. Scientists have the expertise to create amazing technologies which can be used for public benefit or global threats. Scientists like AQ Khan have demonstrated the threat from expertise for hire – as the father of Pakistan’s nuclear program. Shows like EH and 24 give us a glimpse into these exciting, and potentially dangerous breakthroughs, the science behind them and the temptations – personal or financial – that influence the choice of application.
With the exception of FSM and a few other security-oriented sites there is precious out there on a regular basis informing beyond what celebrity is pregnant, divorced or eating at Lutece.
Why do these shows rise to the top of the field in terms of smart programming? They address the lack of open discourse about critical issues that can have a dramatic positive impact on our country and people as well as the dangers we face as a society.
To be blunt, we should all be fed up with the poor education and science gap between U.S. and International kids. And we should be fed up with the limited attention or encouragement the main stream media provide towards the sciences unless someone releases an Andromeda strain or swine flu emerges to catalyze some interest.
At a time when energy and the economy are center stage, you’d think any advanced technology that is already gaining traction – a viable, potentially safe source of non-fossil fuel, the highly touted mini nuclear reactor – might be discussed or covered in the news? Yet it is all but unknown to the public. Using technology originally developed by scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, Hyperion Power Generation is a creating mini nuclear fission reactor that will provide electricity and hot water to remote locations, nearly all outside the United States. Experts suggest they would not pose a serious security threat. That remains to be seen. Hyperion already has a six-year waiting list for the reactors. The first reactor will likely be delivered to a Czech company called TES and installed in Romania. Perhaps if someone uses it as a source of uranium, 24 will cover it!
Literally were it not for some pretty slick TV programming, much of it from the Jerry Bruckheimer stable, that offer a window, an insight into science (EH), criminal justice (CSI), the complicated interactions or Kiefer Sutherland’s insights across preparedness agencies (24), the power and potential to help people or risk of misapplying science for mankind’s detriment (EH) and the various types of people – physicians, scientists, mercenaries, politicians, despots, brilliant but mentally unstable individuals, and terrorists – who invent, utilize or mishandle these breakthroughs (EH, CSI, 24), you’d never know about these important topics or be inspired to learn more about them.
Were it not for the recent interest in the Somali pirate events, based upon the predominant coverage of this volatile region off the Northeast coast of Africa, or the coverage of virtually any region, by print and TV news outlets, you’d think we lived in a safe world. And frankly, were it not for a U.S. citizen being the most recent high profile pirate hostage, much of the public would continue going along blithely unaware of that or other threats we face. Yet trafficking in weapons, people and stolen technologies remain big business.
When a handful of smart TV shows like Eleventh Hour, 24 and CSI are the only reminders of what’s going on in the real world, and are more engaged in presenting the same things that demonstrate “security matters” than the main stream media, we’re in trouble. And we’re fortunate, too! For without these shows, unless you were engaged in one of the many sciences, preparedness cultures or forensic arenas, you’d never know science still existed. Or that terrorism continues. Or that advanced, unconventional weapons are being developed at a dizzying rate – and not just by the U.S. or our allies. These include directed energy weapons as well as novel hybrids that merge synergistic technologies (Russia’s funky chemicals, their little known or discussed hybrid nerve agents and hybrid biological weapons that pose diagnostic challenges and resist most antimicrobial therapies, for example). Or that the footprint of highly lethal weapons is being trimmed from theater size to ones that are portable and readily transported.
Recall the backpack sized biological weapon from the most recent episode of 24? Our science has evolved to scale deadly pathogens into easily transported, easy release threats. Anthrax in 2001 killed a handful of people – the advanced delivery system was the U.S. Postal Service and beyond the cost to develop or procure the bacteria, the actual purchase price of infecting innocents and turning the country upside down was the price of stamps and envelopes! While no one wants the public agonizing over these persistent threats, it might be nice to recognize they persist, that there are biological materials unaccounted for from the Former Soviet Union and that Mother Russia remains willing to blackmail the West for concessions based upon the WMD agents within their grasp, as well as constant supply of technology and expertise to rogue nations such as Iran and Syria. Russia produces most of the polonium – the U.S. purchases most of it as a safety measure. The Bipartisan Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction in the World at Risk Report cautions our government that Russia remains an effective agent provocateur.
Though you don’t need Jack Bauer and the fabled CTU to disclose suitcase nukes exist, though we wish they didn’t, the reality of such threats seems invisible without prime time exposure. Hope isn’t a strategy. Information is the best cure for fear and the best embarkation point for a decent dialogue about the need for greater emphasis on the sciences, as well as the need for increased stewardship over the resulting applications. But with our government only now “getting it” that Russia and China are divvying up South America, the Middle East and providing a wide range of weaponry, perhaps someone should send the complete series of 24 to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. (Editor's note: Make sure you get the right kind of DVD; one that plays on American DVD players.)
And too bad the mainstream media seems completely unconcerned about such threats or the fact that advanced sciences are not being well taught in our schools or that research into some pretty funky applications of science are ignored. Military secrets are important but when such science can kill civilians either through unwitting testing, diversion of materials or lack of disclosure, again the Fourth Estate has abandoned its duty. Consider the use of “non-lethal” weapons (NLW) at the Moscow theatre during the Chechnyan hostage situation. Had Russian authorities been forthcoming to health care professionals or the responder community instead of again keeping their weapons in their typical “black box,” fewer casualties would have occurred. There’s a cautionary tale for the U.S. to consider. And as an aside, “non-lethal” is a misnomer, deaths do occur.
It’s ironic that news sources seem more attuned to sound bites and quick hits for short attention spans, than truly informing the public. How ironic that entertainment has stepped up the science as well as veracity of their presentations while in seeming inverse proportion, news entities are going the opposite direction.
Swine flu has taught us that an entire society can be disrupted by an “innocent” biological such as influenza (innocent, not harmless), imagine what can be done by an intentional biological release? With numerous countries, state sponsored entities and other organizations actively engaged in bioweapons and chemical weapons research, including the use of viruses, prions and genetically engineered pathogens, why does it take 24 or EH to inform us? Let’s be frank; many of the world’s entities engaged in these programs do not investigate biological or other unconventional weapons without intending to use them. It remains as a dirty little poisoning secret in Africa and elsewhere in the world. Yet we as a nation, even the UN go blithely along unconscious to or unconcerned about threats that some of the most vulnerable face as well as organized advanced societies.
So let’s compare news with entertainment.
Recently, a cable news program “announced” the new Russian threat to our interests in the Arctic, as if it was a major revelation. Hello – lack of U.S. energy policy, ignoring the strategic value of our readily accessible resources and the vulnerability we face – beyond the obvious for regular readers of FSM concerning the Russian threat to U.S. interests in general, and the Arctic in particular, is the reality with an inadequate and somewhat inchoate energy policy from both Presidents Bush and Obama, where once our northernmost region offered us great promise in terms of jobs, exploration and energy, it now remains an obscure talking point for rare news “announcements.”
It is troublesome when news media “announce” or “discover” a threat as “the big game changer” one day and then blow it off the next – there’s no consistency in message, research is shoddy beyond talking heads, and there’s little real time emphasis on things that matter beyond the economy. The news media’s capacity to hype a threat as if it just occurred in live time, when in fact it has been going on for months or years, only to denounce it days later demonstrates a pervasive lack of insight or perspective. And this is the source where much of the U.S. public gets their information? Consider Iran and North Korea each have been working on their offensive capabilities, including membership in the nuclear club, for years. These include warheads, payload and the complementary technologies to become a world player – guidance and launch systems. Yet the flurry of media activity and Johnny come lately concern over the recent North Korean Taepodong 2 launch was in stark distinction with the near total lack of interest leading up to these last couple of weeks. And predictably, the post game gallery of pundits dismissed the threat, scoffing “if that was the best Pyongyang could achieve we have nothing to worry about.” Really?! I seem to recall the early days of the U.S. missile program saw more than a few explosive mishaps on the launch pad and no one would dismiss our capabilities today. Syria and Iran also have a bioweapons program.
TV That Educates/Entertains
Eleventh Hour, 24 and CSI (the franchise), provide a weekly insight into the tremendous advancements being made by the sciences and our ability to utilize such breakthroughs for good or evil. These shows are extremely well acted and reasonably well researched. Gone are the days (thank God) where third year medical students cut pericardial windows and do open heart message, or the physicians defibrillate asystole patients, or the yearly helicopter crashing down on the parking lot as occurred in ER.
Science – as cure or weapon, and as good theatre – are no longer just the stuff of Dr. Strangelove. At a time when the science and math gap are widening between .U.S and international students, perhaps it is time to allow art imitating life to now inform as well. Maybe we ought to make EH, 24 and CSI “must see TV” in the classroom. These shows are also largely devoid of profanity, gratuitous sex or unnecessary violence.
We live in a dangerous world. No amount of wishful thinking, airbrushing, political spin or government rhetoric can make the reality of global and domestic threats go away. Yet we have to watch 24 to be reminded biological weapons are ubiquitous? Does it, should it take a television show to instruct us that evil doesn’t sleep? Or that there is more to running a nation, and it’s many enterprises, domestic and international than what meets the eye. It is naïve to think governments run purely without external influences – whether power brokers using weapons for a seat at the presidents table or terrorists using human shields and lives for barter or wealthy political contributors buying access and influence.
CSI using the power of technology and bringing it into millions of living rooms, demonstrates the role of science to foil the bad guys; all the while bringing into account the power and limits of science, and the human qualities necessary t as valuable tools to address the risk of gangs, crime, terrorism and the use of science. Vigilance cannot take a vacation – evil never does.
Television, of course, has the advantage of being able to write a back story that might otherwise remain classified or ignored. (We can discuss the merits or folly of “classified” at a later time…don’t get me started!) And shows can present a complex issue over time that parallels and represents the real world challenges we face. It’s ironic that while most consider TV shows relegated to the one hour quick fix, in reality, they often have the capacity to teach us about difficult issues over several episodes, keeping our historically and collective short attention span well engaged as things unfold. And remind us that true, lasting solutions are not always based upon one magic bullet or simple answer.
So why do Eleventh Hour, 24 and CSI stand out against a pantheon of puff, soft porn or just plain schlock? Simple: The themes resonate with the core values and, yes intellectual capacity that still exists in our society. These shows bring us into the drama – not just on a visceral level but an intellectual one. We have to pay attention. We are invited to be as observant as the characters; can we solve the puzzle? Will we solve the problem before Dr. Hood or Lt. Cain or Jack? It’s still Dr. House 6/Dr. McFee 9 on the score card of diagnosing the patients.
Smart shows draw smart people in. Let’s face it – beyond the instructive value of these shows – and there are many – they are also fun and offer a future world feel without the goofy Sci-Fi illusions. And, many of us are interested in a good story. One that resonates with our sensibilities, embraces the struggle for moral clarity we try to find, and demonstrates that the characteristics of courage, loyalty and putting personal safety behind the needs of nation and neighbor are not outdated.
These shows resonate also because they counter the conventional wisdom. Just because we’re supposed to be preoccupied with the economy doesn’t mean we should be, or that the bad guys are. In fact the current state of domestic affairs is the perfect distraction that our adversaries can exploit. Sun Tzu’s counsel “All warfare is based upon deception” has never been more on point. With 40 – 50 governments having “official” or off the books biological weapons programs of one sort or another, are bioweapons really just the stuff of Jack Bauer? No. And it doesn’t take a “Blackwater (Xe)” knock-off a la 24 to develop such weapons. Nearly anyone with a degree in microbiology can whip up some form of bio-agent – and our vulnerabilities include people, livestock, public places and crops. Recall a cult in Oregon used salmonella – a common, repeat common pathogen – to sicken over 750 people. And it took public health and law enforcement over a year to put the pieces together and conclude it was a planned series of attacks. And those wily masterminds in Oregon used such high tech delivery systems as simple tubes and sprinkle devices under their robes to drizzle the “bug juice” on salad bars.
We also live in the most exciting of times where the amount of knowledge is doubling at rates that make our combined learning from the prior 100 years seem ancient by comparison. The ability to develop medications for a single patient based upon their unique genetic makeup or clone organisms including people, or engineer microorganisms to enhance healing, amplify crop yield or answer the great questions about infectious diseases – they are within our grasp. Nanotechnology – a term that five years ago would have garnered the response “what?” is now at least familiar. Yet how many of our fellow citizens are aware that nanotechnology is already filtering down to their daily lives? Or that it holds the potential for human benefit? Same with “prions” – the nasty that infected Jack, and would be a totally unknown concept without 24… -hold promise to treat neurological deficits.
While the mainstream media continue their near total focus on the economy or President BHO’s whirlwind globetrotting, lots of other things are going on. And deserve our attention.
There is a fine line between being paranoid in the preoccupation with threats and just plain ignoring the many daunting challenges we face as a society. But the economy is not the only game in town, important though it is, and notwithstanding an imminent threat to a portion of our community. And the economy is not an outcome it is a symptom – one that in no small measure is dynamically and inextricably linked with several global factors at play.
At a time when network television news has sunk to a level of reporting better suited for pop culture magazine programs and “reality” shows continue to flood the airwaves with mind numbing plots perfect for the entertainment needs of the last Roman empire (apparently TV is the new Coliseum), having CSI, EH and 24 as the new form of information TV couldn’t come at a better time.
I’ll admit it. I’m a fan of just about anything Jerry Bruckheimer puts on TV if it has to do with science. And several of his shows do: CSI, CSI Miami, CSI NY, CSI Podunk, CSI Toledo, CSI Fargo, CSI Boston and Eleventh Hour. (Okay, so I made up a few.) Seriously, think about it: FSM often talks about the threats that we face as a nation. What are those threats a euphemism for? For explosives, biologicals, chemicals, and radiologicals. Hmmm, if ever there was a need for more science being discussed across the airwaves and dinner tables, now is the time. Virtually every threat we face has both a scientific origin and need of a scientific solution.
Yet such dinner table conversations have declined.
It is about time those in the preparedness world who come from the sciences get a day in the sun, too! For so long, science types were the brunt of nerd jokes – that is until society was on the brink and the end of the world loomed large. Then all of a sudden it was “call the nerds!” “Call the geeks.” So scientists rush in, analyze the threat, and whipping out duct tape and chocolate bars in the nick of time to plug a corrosive leak only seconds away from breaching the nuclear reactor a la MacGyver, or figure out what bacteria to use on the aliens in War of the Worlds. When the macho guys get vaporized it’s always the Science and Technology Directorate that have to save the day!
The Science Guys: Positive Role Models
The late 1980s had MacGyver – the back pack problem solver. Whenever something snarky occurred requiring someone with a mastery of practical chemistry and physics, MacGyver was called in to save the day. He made science fun; kids watched because it was instructive. Whether using chemicals from a mall photo kiosk to treat a cyanide exposure or nitroglycerin tablets and a few other ingredients from a clinic to create a bathroom brew explosive to escape some evildoer, he took the ordinary items in our daily lives, and made them extraordinary. He was well beyond Mentos ® and soda or Cremora ® and candles or, well, you get the idea. MacGyver made science cool. And he made being smart cool. MacGyver thought not fought his way through a problem. How refreshing.
Now enter Dr. Hood, the 21st century science sleuth in EH. Though clearly more high tech than our 1980s MacGyver, he is never the less someone we can relate to – genius classification notwithstanding. He’s driven by a strong moral compass – something AQ Khan needed. He is a scientist who wrestles with the power of science, embracing it with a sense of awe while tempering it with the reality there is an ethical question that, though often ignored requires answering. A recent episode examined human cloning – the technology was about to be used to replicate lost loved ones and as a source of human tissue from which to harvest. Clearly the dark side of the stem cell, genetic engineering and yes, cloning issue that we are embarking upon; these are happening today. The train has left the station in terms of the science – there is no turning back. What do we do with it, and where do we draw the line between miracle source of vital organs and the rights of life forms we have literally created? Though relegated (deservedly so?) to the conspiracy theorists, in the early stages of the novel strain of swine flu, there was concern it was genetically engineered. Dolly the Sheep was only the beginning. But instead of the adversarial and heated accusatory clashes between differing sides of the aisle on these technologies, which remain pervasive in political discourse, lack of serious coverage on these emerging issues persists. Eleventh Hour takes a more measured but no less instructive tone to the science – raising important questions that should be embraced in our schools and brought up in public discourse. Ask the average person if cloning was even possible or what the implications for society are and you’d probably get blank stares. TV apparently has to pick up where our schools have left off.
For all the criticisms leveled at the “left coast” and Hollywood, the reality is, like other aspects of society, the entertainment industry has the power for good or evil; and has demonstrated a capacity for both.
Perception Is Power: TV breaking down color and gender barriers in science and preparedness
TV can often help us break barriers and examine stereotypes even without subtitles or preaching the message. Pictures are worth a thousand words. Consider the Cosby Show – upper middle class African- American family – strong family ties and the father is a physician, while the assertive mother is an attorney. Nothing more need to be said. The imagery was all. Yet the words accompanying the imagery were funny, cautionary and instructive. Education, respect, good citizenship were all interwoven in the fabric of the plots and text. Or take the CSI teams – each CSI franchise features females doing high tech work prominently, appropriately and not gratuitously (form-fitting attire notwithstanding). Perception is power. The ladies of CSI are smart, powerful, flawed – real and believable. Though some would offer “what’s the big deal – you’ve come a long way baby?” the reality is that there remains a leadership gender gap in the hard sciences; times they are a changing but the modifier “lady surgeon” or “lady X” remains.
One would think by the 21st century the idiocy foisted on the public sensibility by Harvard University's president, Lawrence H. Summers, that women may not have the same innate abilities in math and science would not gain traction; yet it did. Fortunately TV has a wider audience than Ivy League fund raisers. When a woman is tapped for a high profile job – especially when it is a first time – first woman on the Supreme Court or Secretary of State or Surgeon General, it is newsworthy. Someday it won’t be notable for the gender but the achievement. For example – few would recognize Frances Townsend’s achievement as senior advisor to President Bush on homeland security based upon her gender; not when her personal story is so much more informative and compelling than being a woman (click here for more).
Not that gender highlight is inherently offensive. On the contrary – it reminds us that we have the opportunity for greater involvement and achievement; when one succeeds it sets the stage and inspires others to follow.
Women have been increasingly occupying a front and center position in law enforcement, yet a recent conference on executive protection failed to mention terms beyond “he” “men” or “guys” in the field. How many realize that Tzipi Livni – Member of the Knesset and Kadima party candidate for Israeli Prime Minister was former Mossad? Women are also on high profile protection details, serve in intelligence and preparedness. Women as well as men, keep this country safe. Old impressions, stereotypes and misperceptions sadly persist in terms of how women are perceived in intelligence or security roles.
While the science guru is the focal point of Eleventh Hour there is a subtle but important visual that occurs every week. His FBI bodyguard isn’t a buffed up 6-foot former NAVY SEAL or Force Recon turned agent, nor is it an Amazon caricature of a woman on protection detail, but instead she is a petite, attractive woman guarding a physically fit appearing masculine scientist. She is the visible representation of real female federal agents doing serious protection details – from diplomatic security to other federal, international or secret service roles. Hopefully the Agent Young character reminds us of her real life counterparts, and serves to inspire young girls that federal law enforcement, homeland security, biopreparedness and other potentially dangerous jobs are just as suited for women as men.
All these shows and the actors who portray real world occupations have something else in common besides demonstrating to children across the gender and color divide that education can be cool and is often the ticket to important jobs. Bruckheimer’s shows demonstrates powerfully through imagery far better than government fiat, white papers or even large cash infusions into our education system that the mind is still a most powerful tool or weapon. We all better be careful – education might become fun again!
DISCUSSION
There was a time when families embraced, even were excited about scientific breakthroughs. They’d read about new technologies and the frontiers of the mind being pushed farther and farther and then discuss it at breakfast or dinner. Of course, they had the benefit of seeing science in the newspapers.
Though it was well before my era, my aunts and uncles told me about the time Sputnik, Mercury and Gemini were household names and the stuff of family conversations. Parents wanted their kids to become scientists, astronauts, lawyers, physicians. Today, too few families have conversations about current events over dinner. A pity. And a lost opportunity.
With our students continuing to fall woefully behind other nations in math and science, perhaps we should offer Jerry Bruckheimer the role of Secretary of Education – he could not do worse than the nameless cast of characters – on a state or federal level, regardless of party affiliation. At least his shows do something that all but the best teachers have failed to do – inspire. Inspire interests in the sciences. Heck, I was ready to go back and get another master’s degree after CSI came out. All of a sudden murder and forensics were as cool as treating poisoned patients…Paracelsus forgive me! More importantly, interest in forensics has increased because of the show!
Jerry Bruckheimer and Kiefer Sutherland deserve praise– their products not only entertain; they are the ideal hybrid- merging entertainment with education – edutainment. Though perhaps putting too fine a point on it, but Bruckheimer is to science TV what JK Rowlings is to books. A decade ago, JK Rowlings did the impossible – she got a generation of kids, and their parents excited about reading again. The Harry Potter series probably did more for literacy than Head Start and other government projects combined. Kids, like people can find a way to meet goals – like understanding what they are reading. The Harry Potter franchise is to reading what CSI and the other science shows can be to promote science education. Anecdotal information suggests increased interest in criminal justice and forensic science courses as a result of CSI. JB made science cool; not just relegated to the perennially nerdy. Even Bill Gates couldn’t do that – $50 billion in net worth notwithstanding. One wonders how many were inspired to take up flying when Sky King was broadcast. While many of our schools with the exception of parochial or private schools continue failing to teach the fundamentals – like reading or writing, math, science, we must use other ways to inspire kids to learn.
TV shows can inspire us, teach us and promote learning – and not just the ones on PBS. And we should support quality programming that encourages healthy discourse on the important contemporary scientific, political, security and other valuable topics, and that raise awareness about current events beyond celebrity gossip and the latest Wall Street debacle. Shows like Eleventh Hour, 24 and CSI (name the location) are worth watching and, yes, do a service. They keep issues in the forefront that might otherwise go unnoticed. Water cooler talk on nanotechnology or bioterrorism preparedness is far more productive than the latest person voted off the island (I’m with Jay Leno…I root for the sharks).
One has to keep coming back to the same question…..Shouldn’t our news outlets be informing us about these issues? Shouldn’t our political leaders be encouraging such discourse and engage the next generation?
Conclusion
Human cloning – and just how close we really ARE, or merging non living nanotechnology with living organisms, even human tissue – hope for regenerating neuro circuits or the stuff of novel weapons, prion technology, the use of science to slow real life criminal activity – will you read about it in the mainstream media? No – but you will see them on the EH, 24 and CSI.
Clearly we cannot lose sight of the fact entertainment is escapism – even when it is based upon reality, whether terrorism, science, crime or forensics. Art may imitate life, but life has to be lived, not watched. Nevertheless, these shows have taken up where the news media, our schools and political leadership have abandoned (translation totally missed the boat) – taking us into a world that may soon become our reality.
Anyone who has been involved in any aspect of WMD and terrorism preparedness – from intelligence and interdiction to response and mitigation – understands nothing is black and white, nor concludes with totally happy, neat endings. Herein rests an important distinction separating entertainment from reality. Even Jack Bauer acknowledges the gray zone; why the successful resolution of one season never ends cleanly or on purely happy note. Instead another challenge readily emerges on the heels of his saving the world, setting the stage for a new season of adventures and threats. But such is our reality. Homeland security is not an event, an activity, even a series of successes capped off by a conclusion because there cannot be a conclusion to preparedness. Those of us in preparedness have made an uncomfortable bargain with the notion that we have to be lucky and good all the time while those who wish to do us harm only need to be lucky once.
24, of course, is no stranger to FSM readers, or to the political landscape. Recall during the presidential primaries of 2008, when asked about a doomsday terrorist event what would the candidate do or who would he/she call – about the only answer that truly resonated with the audience, and probably what many hoped would be a viable option “call Jack Bauer” – was actually uttered by a candidate. He moved up the ranks with that answer! We instinctively know we live in a dangerous world.
Between the latest season of 24 and the threat of biological weapons or nuclear and chemical threats in previous seasons – these are real world issues. Just because the economy is problematic doesn’t mean the dangers of the world took a holiday. There are still between literally dozens of nations with biological weapon programs. Organophosphate insecticides (poor man’s nerve agents) and the cults willing to use them are still around. The expertise required to build a radiological even nuclear device has become more widely available. What once took the top PhDs in the nation back in the 1940s to carry the Manhattan Project to completion can now be accomplished with lesser mortals. And investigations have already demonstrated the razor’s edge between thieves successfully obtaining the necessary quantity of nuclear materials. It is now not a matter of if, but when; to think or act otherwise is pure folly.
“We are not wholly bad or good who live our lives under Milkwood. And Thou I know would be the first to see our best and not our worst.” Dylan Thomas
As scientists we all make peace with the fact technology in and of itself is neither good nor evil – that determination results from what we do with it. Atoms for peace – could that be said of Hiroshima? Some would argue yes – in the lives saved from prolonged warfare. Others aren’t so sure. Sometimes our ethics lead us in real time; other times history will have to be our judge. But what we decide to do with science is a current responsibility. Moreover, shows like EH demonstrate the need for leadership in the science. EH caution us about the near lack in marshalling, managing and utilizing tomorrow’s sciences that are appearing today.
EH and 24 remind us of these new sciences, including prions, genetic engineering, lasers and directed energy can kill or cure. Photodynamic therapy can be a tremendous treatment when its potential is fully realized; the same science when applied in a specific way can also create a weapon. Radiation, biological vaccines, genetic engineering, pharmacogenomics (tailoring therapy to the individual) even cloning hold promise for the betterment of humanity or the keys to deadly unintended consequences.
We continue to embark upon future technologies and advanced weapons. During the journey, let’s not forget just because we can do something, doesn’t necessarily mean we should do it. Or at least not do it without a rational review of the ramifications. That also applies to who gets to play with these advances.
It is folly to think trafficking in deadly science can be easily halted. Expecting Russia or China to stop aiding, through nuclear and other technologies, Tehran or Pyongyang or Venezuela or anyone else they choose to use as their proxies is an exercise in futility. The nuclear technologies didn’t fall from the sky or arrive on a Eurail pass from Rome; made in Russia is stamped on the goods. Russia is reputed to have advanced genetic engineering and nanotechnology. We must recognize countries work in their best interests. Russia is the black box – on energy, biological weapons, cyber terrorism and sciences that do remind of Dr. Strangelove. While we often deride Russia as an endless grey morass of sad people and collection of decaying buildings – an economy built upon ideas obtained through aggressive industrial espionage throughout the West – and to be sure, much of this remains true, we are foolish and careless to underestimate their capabilities, the resolve of Putin or the intense focus on teaching science and math in their schools. If we cannot counter Russian efforts on the global chessboard then it is going to be a very long four years. And while our team focuses almost entirely on the economy – in the narrow sense, our adversaries are more than happy to look at the full menu –science, exploration, energy, unconventional weapons, global economic cartels and military alliances.
Our – meaning the worlds failed policies, underscores our limited reach or incomplete understanding of the dramatic and nearly unmanageable explosion in science, the ruthless players involved. If we cannot even get Putin to share the tiniest information about his biological weapons program, how do you think we’ll do with their other advances? We need to step back and reassess the challenges we face, the cartels emerging that will soon divide the world into strong and weak teams and what to do with an ever weakened UN. Someone please call Jack Bauer!
Our current poor grasp of the competition and their clearly stepped up “game” using scientific breakthroughs as weapons or tools is a vulnerability. The public’s lack of awareness on these issues due to lack of public discourse or coverage by the media remain a persistent vulnerability. Countries die from within. Our media can contribute to a resurgence of interest in global affairs, science and technology and in so doing empower the public, or continue its fall from grace as a once proud profession failing it is mission to inform the public of the newest, latest, greatest and deadliest. But the media are once again becoming a band of “infamous scribblers.”
Should we have to turn to prime time entertainment television for information about emerging science or technological breakthroughs that can impact – positively or negatively – our daily lives?
One could argue art has always imitated even inspired “life” or foretells the future. Think about Star Trek – who would have thought 40 years ago when Kirk et al first beamed into your living rooms that there would actually be smart bed diagnostic technologies (open MRI, advanced PET or CT scans) or hand held communicators (iPhones) or computers capable of speaking, even independent thought/artificial intelligence? Recall in the 1960s advanced computers took up an entire room! Apollo 13 was powered by a computer that today would be considered a relic from the cave man era.
So perhaps shows like Eleventh Hour, 24 and CSI give us a glimpse into the future while shedding light on the darkened labs of today.
Inane or Insightful – which show do you think will survive?
Which show is on the renewal bubble? Reality Barbie or Eleventh Hour – a show that covers issues we all should be talking about – the scientific advances that hold real promise for cure or raise critical concerns we as a society need to consider? Would it surprise anyone in our “looking glass” upside world that while idiotic “reality” shows continue to saturate the airwaves, hip, smart and intelligent shows like Eleventh Hour face potential cancellation.
Clearly entertainment shows dramatize or color the science – giving it two parts sexy and three parts dangerous when in fact one of each might more appropriately characterize the issue. Nonetheless, these shows bring into our daily lives the bigger picture. Perhaps that is their greatest value – forcing us to face the tough call, the new threat, and a rapidly changing world where scientific breakthroughs often evolve faster than the ethical parameters necessary to surround or guide them. But that comes with a caution – the genius of mankind isn’t in restricting our curiosity but in surrounding our breakthroughs with ethical parameters and moral reasoning. Even weapons in and of themselves can be a benefit as a deterrent, or a curse if deployed.
For all the criticism leveled at Hollywood, the fact is, many of the current television shows are in fact highly attuned to current events and adroitly inform us of emerging threats, new technologies that hold promise to benefit society or as potential weapons, and even inspire our viewers to do what our public schools seem increasingly unable to do: inspire a thirst for knowledge. They deserve our attention, if not our support.
FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Dr. Robin McFee is a physician and medical toxicologist. An expert in WMD preparedness, she is a consultant to government agencies, corporations and the media. Dr. McFee is a member of the Global Terrorism, Political Instability and International Crime Council of ASIS International. She has authored numerous articles on terrorism, health care and preparedness, and coauthored two books: Toxico-Terrorism by McGraw Hill and The Handbook of Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Agents, published by Informa/CRC Press.
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