Genetic Superbabies: Ethical or Not?

While reading Micheal Manson's "How to Teach Science to the Pope" (found in my course readings for my Scientific Revolutions class), the issue of the ethics behind genetically enhanced food is called into question. This sparked a discussion involving religion, personal morals, and unfair advantages. The topic delved into even deeper ethical territory when in class we discussed the idea of tampering with human DNA to prevent genetic disease, birth defects, and even enhancements such as greater athleticism or intelligence.

Patrick Tucker writes in Genetic Ethics and Superbabies: Drawing the Lines Between Preventing Ailments and..., "Inoculating children in the womb against serious diseases or disorders is not, on its face, controversial. But is manipulating cells to guard against traits that are merely undesirable ethical or unethical? Who gets to draw the boundary?"

His question is one that I find quite intriguing. Who doesn't want to be able to have a kid that could have the genetic potential to be the greatest person on Earth? But does the fact that we can genetically alter our offspring to be the best mean it is alright to do so? Would the idea of survival of the fittest suddenly turn into survival of the ones who have the most money to become genetically superior?

How would we regulate what is considered a genetic fault worthy of correction? For example, a person might consider that having a relatively unattractive child is detrimental to their life experience as a whole. Who is to say that is not true to some extent?

A line has to be drawn eventually. The question is where, when, and what will the repercussions be. Will we become a society of predesigned super creatures? What will happen to the people left behind if we do?

Mason, Michael. "How to Teach Science to the Pope." Discover Magazine. August 18, 2008. http://discovermagazine.com/2008/sep/18-how-to-teach-science-to-the-pope
Tucker, Patrick. "Genetic Ethics and Superbabies: Drawing the Line Between preventing Ailments and..." The Futurist. January 1, 2008. http://www.allbusiness.com/medicine-health/diseases-disorders-infectious/6201461-1.html

Comments? Feel free to leave one in the comments section!

Mmmm Potato Chips

I was thinking of doing some simple cooking sometime soon....just for fun...

Here was an idea:
(The video might take a second or two to load.)


Classic:How To Make Home Cooked Potato Chips

Sounds simple enough! Expect some results maybe next week sometime!

Got any good recipes? Feel free to share them in the comments section!

Shared Beliefs: Our Connected Society is Mixing Ideas of Science and Religion

*Please note that I originally posted this on my class blog as part of an assignment. I wanted to use the topic here because I feel it is genuinely what I find interesting today!*

In my Scientific Revolutions class we read about cosmology in today's culture.

In Cosmology and 21st-Century Culture Allan Burch talks about how science has created a story of the origin of the universe (the big bang theory) and how it was created by "a collaboration of people from different religions and races all around the world..." (Burch)

This idea reminded me of an article I came across some time ago about how science and religion can come together. Peter Wilby wrote an article called Religion and Science Do Mix in which he describes how religion should be taught in schools in ways where students can understand certain aspects of subjects better. For example, Wibly explains:

"Children should learn how Darwin developed his theory, how it was later tested and elaborated, how and why the Victorian churches opposed it, the spiritual anguish of many Victorians, and how some people, in defiance of evidence, have recently invented intelligent design to rescue a lost cause."

I believe that in today's world, our ideas are capable of being spread so quickly, that our beliefs in how the world began, or our concept of good and evil as well as many other things are being mixed. We now have people who are consider themselves a certain religion, but don't follow all of their practices. Some people pick and choose which parts of a religion they like best and they live by them. (I have one friend in particular who admits to doing this.)

Even religions try to explain themselves around popular beliefs. Wilby explains how the Church of England says that nothing in Darwin's theory of evolution "contradicts Christian teachings".

I think that our society is so well connected, that individual establishments that provide a foundation of beliefs such as the creation of the universe and what is right and wrong are starting to become less popular. Instead, people seem to want to pick and choose between them all (science included) and form their own cosmogony and ethics.

*Also please note i was tempted to use the term "cosmogony" instead of "cosmology" but I was not certain I fully understood the difference...*

Sources:
Burch, Allen. "Cosmology and 21st-Century Culture." Sciencemag. Vol. 293, September 7, 2001. www.Sciencemag.org.

Wilby, Peter. "Religion and Science Do Mix." New Statesman September 18 2008. http://www.newstatesman.com/society/2008/09/schools-religion-science.

Got anything to say? My opinion isn't the only thing that matters! Please use the comments section! Feel free to suggest future topics I could blog about to discuss later!

Confidence

Today, I learned that being confident pays off.

I recently had a seemingly random experience where I met a girl and I took a risk for once. I held a conversation with her and later, asked her out to lunch. She responded enthusiastically and I realized that my risk had paid off.

Now, I know that lunch with a girl is nothing to get to excited about, and that it has no actual meaning as to whether she likes me as more than a friend, but the actual gesture showed me that taking risks and being confident pays off.

This new found confidence within me has given me the courage to do bolder things than I normally would not have, and so far I feel that has made all the difference in the world. I can only hope that things continue to go well with this girl. However, if they don't I will still have learned one thing...

It is better to have tried and failed than to never have tried at all.

C'est la Vie

That's life... Sometimes nothing exciting or interesting happens in a day. The day comes and goes with no real meaning in it. It's a day you'll probably forget in as little as a week. Sometimes I think its a waste of a day, as if I were wasting my life. But then I remember a quote I heard from Into the Woods. "If life were made of moments, even now and then a bad one, but if life were only moments, then you'd never known you had one." When I hear that quote I am reminded that sometimes there are days that have to be boring. If there wasn't, you would never know what boring or interesting or exciting really was.

So I ask my readers (I hope to get some soon...), do you try to make the most of your day everyday? Or do you let yourself unwind now and then and waste time and let the world go by.

As always feel free to leave a comment!

Where Has All The Game Time Gone?

I was talking to a mailman today while waiting for the bus about how much time we used to play video games. It was then that I realized that I barely play at all anymore unless I purposefully put aside time to play.

I started to wonder why I have to force myself to play games nowadays. Is it because I don't enjoy them as much as I did when I was a kid? Probably not. Do I not have enough time to play anymore with my busy college schedule? No that wasn't the case because I thought about how little I played over the summer. Then I came up with the solution. I'm not able to find new games that engage me anymore. I research games before they come out to see if I want to buy them. After reading into them, I don't give most of them a chance due to some issue I heard the game has. I've become a picky gamer.

Now that I realize this, I hope to give more games a chance before I just write them off and do something else. Who knows? Maybe I'll find a new engaging experience I didn't know I could have.

Do you spend time playing as many games as you used to? Even if it's not video games, how much time do you put into having fun as you get older and older?

Feel free to leave comments!

Music Thursdays!

This year I am singing in a group called the Music Makers. We meet every Thursday night and I practically count down the days to when I get to sing again each week!

Now for those of you who don't know me, and none of you do because this is my first post ever, I plan on using this blog to post about relevant issues in my life. Any topic could come up here. I will probably often post about music, gaming, and maybe even my ongoing search for a decent girlfriend.

Here is hoping for a good blog!

Feel free to post comments! Even ask me questions!