Distillations | Science History Institute Humans and Monsters: An Interview with Surekha Davies
Sep 9, 2025
Surekha Davies, historian of science, art, and ideas who studies categories and the cultural history of monsters. She explains monsters as beings that blur boundaries. She talks about genes, viruses, and the microbiome complicating what it means to be human. She traces public fears about early genetic engineering and reframes monstrosity as uniqueness.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Monsters Are Category Breakers
- Monsters are best defined as category breakers rather than just fictional creatures or criminals.
- Surekha Davies traces this idea to boundaries like human/animal, human/God, and human/machine shaping how societies label exceptions.
Astrobiology Conference Turning Point
- At an astrobiology conference Davies asked how societies should prepare for discovery, and the chair cut her off calling it the wrong question.
- That moment convinced her humanities perspective is crucial for policy about threats like pathogens or aliens.
Genes Reveal Human Volatility
- Human identity is not fixed because genes turn on and off in response to environment, stress, and infections.
- Davies notes this volatility means rigid social definitions of 'human' are approximations that can mislead policy.
