Mary Shelley described Dr. Victor Frankenstein as an Italian-Swiss scientist born into one of the most distinguished families of Genoa, though he was born in Naples. He obtained one of the best scientific educations available at the University of Ingolstadt in Bavaria. Gifted in mathematics and chemistry, he succeeded in creating a human-like creature by assembling dead tissue and reanimating it. The trouble was, upon completing his task, Frankenstein perceived his own creature to be a crude and repulsive imitation of a human being and not a real one.

At this moment in the story, the brilliant and arrogant scientist becomes all too human by dodging responsibility for his abominable creation. When people around him are murdered, he knows his creature is the culprit, but instead of revealing the truth to his community, he tries to conceal it.

The only time Frankenstein shows any courage is when he denies the creature’s demand for a female companion. Only then does he realize there is no way he can continue playing God.

In recent years, I’ve often thought about Shelley’s fascinating novel, which was apparently inspired by her relationship with her husband, the English poet and amateur scientist, Percy Shelley. She was reflecting on how rapid advances in science altered our understanding of ourselves and our limitations.

The intellectual and spiritual problem she identified in 1818 is orders of magnitude more severe today with the advent of modern technology, which has grossly distorted our understanding of the human condition. Consider the following immutable facts that so many of us now struggle to recognize and accept:

1. We’re born either male or female (with the notable exception of children born with ambiguous genitalia or intersex characteristics). No amount of surgery or hormones can change this essential fact.

2. We grow old, and we lose our youthful appearance. No amount of surgery or other procedures can change that.

3. Our health is impaired by the excess consumption of calories, alcohol, and drugs. We can’t consume whatever we please and expect to remain fit. Having excess body fat is unhealthy.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, it quickly became apparent that the greatest factors for serious disease were morbid obesity and diabetes—common American conditions that are curable by changes of habit and lifestyle, not by expensive patented medications.

4. Medical science can’t create a pill or shot to relieve every ailment. We have to assume responsibility for our health and cultivate good habits for taking care of ourselves.

5. Medical science can’t create a superior substitute for the human immune system. Conventional vaccines work by inducing natural immunity, not by replacing it. Anyone acquainted with basic immunology understood this before SARS-CoV-2 arrived.

The preposterous notion that the vaccinated possessed better immunity than the COVID-recovered was one of the biggest lies of the pandemic. . .

Dr. Victor Frankenstein’s Failure | Dr. Peter A. McCullough and John Leake