"The Grand Creator had once summoned before him the smartest, strongest and the most ingenious people of all time and said: "I have created human beings in my own image. I have granted you unprecedented skills and talents. I have presented you with knowledge of previously unknown. The time has now come for all of you to demonstrate what you have achieved with all of this. Therefore I demand that every one of you appears before me and shows what you have created." To be frank, not too many people showed up. It seems that modesty is one of the dominating attributes of human character. However, the ones who did show up were truly the best representatives of the mankind."

 

 

Creation as a metaphor is something “Panic in Paradise” story takes a deep look at in a new and fascinating way. In this story, the Grand Creator calls his children to him and asks that they show him the works of their hands. Sadly, not very many people show up to meet the Lord’s demand, but those who do are the biggest and brightest of the brood. With pharaohs and philosophers, priests and warlords and with a bit of dark humor tossed in, the story brandishes each invention.

Of course, as is always the way, some know-it-all had to come in to show that he alone had created the bigger and better mousetrap. Well, in this case it was an atomic bomb. The darned thing goes off and everyone is standing there like, “Whoa.” Even the Grand Creator couldn’t dismiss the far ranging power of this invention. In the end however, God was a wee bit disappointed. While inventions like light bulbs, painting, books, and microscopes were indeed awe inspiring, the issue was that despite these things someone had created a thing that while as destructive as it was beautiful ( and ironically most destructive things, like hurricane and tornados, floods, have an eerie loveliness to them) could wipe it all away in a heart beat. Gray and dark did man’s future landscape look until another human entered the group carrying a brand new personal computer. This brought a smile on The Creators face as the era of the PC was born.

One can’t help but chuckle at the story despite its somewhat dire undertones. Dark humor is often satirical in scope, meaning to show us an absurd part of human nature. In this exploration, Panic in Paradise does this by examining both our penchant to create things of beauty as well as things that can decimate that very same beauty. We do this even in our relationships with one another. How many times have we lifted up an artist, performer or genius only to trash them and tear them down once the honeymoon period is over? The modern term for this is “backlash”, but what is behind this phenomenon? Who knows - maybe man just has an inherent tendency to destroy things. If so we may never evolve beyond our mare base natures. It could also be that we tend to envy the very things we cherish and that this envy eventually rears its ugly head to tear apart that we once loved. But of note is that a man brings a computer into the group after the atomic bomb explodes. What does this mean? Many things. It could mean that after the storm comes the rain or that every time we tear down we build up. In this way, humanity is much like the worker ant, constantly building as they tear apart things in effort to facilitate their efforts.

Do we need to tear things apart in order to evolve? Are we made by the very things we break? That could very well be one part of this fable’s moral. On the other end of this however, is the concept that for every evil we can create an even greater good and that good starts to overshadow. Think about it. The computer and then, by proxy, the Internet has become a tool that has shrunk the world and brought us together. Globally speaking this is a great triumph. Whatever the case, the Grand Creator is indeed watching us and all mans glorious foibles and miracles will be a testament of all that is intrinsically dark and wonderfully magically about life itself.