How the virus of “The 12 monkeys” could save our lives via sustainable pluralism

Giannis paraskevas U194N1957

The year is 2035, humankind has been through many hardships and is suffering greatly because of pan demics, massive climate changes, political and physical wars, racial and ethnic disparities, as well as many other challenges. Although every cloud has a silver lining, some clouds are denser than others. In this case, the major problem that is plaguing humankind is a deadly virus that had been released in 1996 and has kept those who have not contracted it underground, in order for them to survive. Nothing matters more than finding a way to resolve this dire predicament and stop the spread of the virus once and for all. However, people must deal with the past, meaning that for a problem to be solved, every scale needs to be investigated and its core to be detected. Can the past help us understand the present and prevent whatever horrible comes in the future? And also, how?

A group of scientists has come together to start their investigation into this matter. They have developed the ability to travel through time and find whatever was never written in history books. Even though as humankind we have most of our history penned down in different sources, there are some things that were never registered. Therefore, the only way for a person to collect information from the past is to physically go there. Additionally, this person needs to be someone who has nothing to lose and is precise enough to accomplish the mission.

Lucky for them, since it is already 2035, technology has evolved enough by now and people can literally travel in time but with the only rule: they can never change what has happened in the past, i.e. their fate or destiny remains unchanged. Also, these scientists know someone who has been in prison for years now and is well-known to be effective; a person who has been living in a cell and can bring not just himself but the whole world out of the situation they live in because of the virus.

An important fact to understand is that the virus was manufactured and spread by humans and not by nature itself. Thus, scientists are already aware that they are dealing with a vicious circle, an ouroboros phaenomenon, and that is another reason why they do not want to alter anything from the past, only understand it. They are also nearly convinced that the team hidden behind all this situation is a clandestine group that goes under the name of “12 Monkeys”. However, because scientists are not completely sure that these are the true cause, they are willing to go back in time and dig deeper, so that they try to investigate the truth and eventually produce the cure for the virus.

Scientists knew that to save humankind they had to understand the bigger picture. The virus itself is not the only thread to humanity, but just the peak of what they had to deal with. Let us assume that their plan was successful, and they eventually managed to make people immune to the virus, then what? What guaranties that there is not going to be another group, another person who will commit this terrible crime again? What other issues could potentially come afterwards?

“ if we could be twice young and twice old, we could correct all our mistakes. ”

Before we try to answer these large-scale questions, let us have a look at the smaller-scale questions; and perhaps the best way to start is by examining the scientists’ plan to find the cure for the virus.

The name of the aforementioned prisoner is James Cole, and he is doomed to be sacrificed right from the start, from the point when the scientists decide that he is the one for the job. Although Cole is known for his precision and dedication while accomplishing his tasks, he is also dealing with his own ghosts from the past: he keeps having the same dream over and over again, and this will haunt him forever if there is not going to be any large-scale change, just like climate change. He suddenly hears a gunshot (the fuse), he then sees a young boy (his younger self) watching a long-haired man covered in blood fall on the ground (his adult self, after everything that has happened); then, a woman is running towards that bloodied man shouting “NO!” (The humankind). Realising that he is imprisoned in an infinite loop of his own death.

The idea behind the scientists’ decision to send Cole back to the past is that by immersing him in that reality he will be able to understand the situation more completely and that he will be able to change everybody’s perception of reality, thus changing the lives of everyone around him. By understanding the past, he can better understand the impact it has on the present, and in the same vein people will be able to understand the impact of their present actions on the future.

Another question that is hovering is whether one can retain his or her sanity while living in an insane world, and whether Cole is crazy or the world around him is. We can take this parallelism and apply it to present-day humans and the environment: Can we maintain our modern lifestyle while at the same time we systematically destroy and egregiously neglect the environment? Or should we find the golden mean that will allow us to slightly modify our lifestyle while at the same time we care for and preserve the environment?

One other question that comes to mind is how our intermingling with technology has altered our biological existence? How much has technology interfered in our ability to communicate and interact with others? Can we even keep communicating without using this technology? And, naturally, at what cost to the environment and the way we make use of this environment, for example while planning/ using the urban or agricultural landscape.

The way we handle the environment, natural or built, should be a collective concern, not compartmentalised or viewed only from a local perspective. Humankind should take collective decisions on how to deal with collective situations. Only when we co-operate and collaborate on a global scale can we achieve the best of our ability.