Chapter 18

I agree with some of the posts on "The Big Picture" about Darksyde's argument about creationism and the scientific theories of the beginning of the universe. I think in the scope of his essay he just kind of throws it out there. I think on a critical level this is one the things I've noticed about most of the writers in "Kosmo" is that thier essays are very unfocused at times and stray in so many directions. But being an English major and reading so many static and bland scholarly articles, I kind of thought reading in this style mentally liberating. Darksyde's best when he describes the wonders of the universe and is very articulate about how we are just a grain of sand in an infinately huge universe. As well, science all points back to that single event that created the Universe - "the Big Bang." It's almost impossible to wrap you head around the scale of the universe.

Steven Hawking

I agree with Hawking's contemporaries who said he was stepping outside the box of his usual frame of reference. But still, Hawking was just bringing to the public forum the idea that exploring space will most likely be the next step. Although, Hawking's time schedual seems rushed, his theory is perfectly valid. To me, the human race going to live outside of Earth always just seemed a natural progression. The Earth is beautiful and resiliant, but we're killing it faster than it can regenerate - neccesity will dictate when we venture out. The most interesting thing Hawking alluded to is the fact that once Earth creates enough of a civilization on Moon/Mars or wherever, like the early colonies in America, at a certiain point in time they will depend on the homeland but will eventually become independant and this independance will help to insure human beings' ultimate proliferation.

Swift's 'A Modest Proposal'

Swift's satire is much darker than "Dr. Strangelove" and although not as funny, was nevertheless really interesting to read. Swift creates the archtypal satirical essay which no doubt has influenced many people. By taking a serious problem and then making a completly bizarre and disturbing "fake" scenario Swift at once creates a discussion forum on the problem. Even if people at the time were talking about how his essay was "too much for them," still he must have got people talking about the issue. Of course many people might have taken him literally and didn't understand what he was aiming to do, and that is the problem with heavy satire like this, many people might miss the idea behind it entirely .

Weekly Question

The Question of Human overpopulation is a very basic question. The world on average is only producing enough offspring to have a replacement population. I do not mean that there is no growth but in the larger countries, there is either a set limit to the number of children or advantages to only having a smaller number of children. It is estimate in London that the popualation will stop increasing in the year 2027. This is called zero growth. This is when the mortality rate matches the birth rate. There are many countries that have a very high birth rate, but these are mainly the undeveloped countries. These countries tend to be still having problems with widespread famine and disease, and will most likely level out due to mortality level first, then their birth rate will slow and health will improve throughout.

The question of how will we solve our population problem seems to be by giving suggestion to the number of births and just sitting back. The population growth in the US is within the recommended level without any enforcement of the birth level. As technology increases and people are wanting more, nature is taking over and less children are desired in each family. In the past, a large family was nessacary in order to farm and ranch, now technology has filled that need. Small families are the new world make up and population growth will slow down and the mortaliy rate will eventually equal it. The earth is our home and will most likely remain it as long as it can substain all of are needs.

Weekly question

Though we have made impressive advances in space travel since its beginnings about half a century ago, governments have designed space programs and space shuttles for the exploration of space, not for the colonization of space. If governments worldwide greatly increased the funding of their space programs to begin building crafts that could transport vast numbers of people as well as engineering equipment that could establish colonies, moving to space to solve overpopulation might someday be a feasible solution. Currently, I think what we need to do is make better use of the resources that we have. We do have the ability to feed everyone on the Earth, if we redistribute resources. I realize that this will only lead to a greater increase in population, but I believe that we could develop new technologies that would enable us to support that greater population. Humans have always fought tooth and nail to eke out a living on this Earth. Scientists are working on genetically engineered crops that won't be eaten by pests, choked out by weeds, or killed by floods or droughts. We need to be smart enough to figure out how to provide for an ever-growing population, and I think that with advances in biotechnology, we can rise to meet the challenge.

Response to Chapter 18

I think that the author of this article tries too hard to compare science and religion with respect to the origins of the universe. Right now, popular scientific opinion and age-old Judeo-Christian belief on creation are, at the most basic level, similar. They both think that the universe started at a definite point in time, before which there was nothing. Maybe the author doesn't quite get the basic idea of religion. God is not physical, therefore his existence cannot be proven by science. He brought about a physical universe in a way that our imperfect human minds cannot fully grasp. Sure, we should try to figure out how He made the universe. He gave us intellect, and we have been working for hundreds of years to uncover the mysteries of the universe by looking at the stars. Some religious people have no problem with modern science, and see every new discovery as proof of the Creator's genius. But others have no interest in it.
When Steven Darksyde states that he can't "for the life of me wrap my head around creationist objections to the Big Bang," one wonders why he cares so much. When he talks about the wonders and the beauty of the universe, and then asks his audience "Is this not inspirational? Is this not worthy of your Creator?" I think that he is fighting for a lost cause. Darksyde thinks that some religious people aren't right in the head, and those same religious people probably think the same thing about him. Furthermore, those people most likely will never read his ebook. I think that Darksyde needs to take a step back, take a few deep breaths, and stop worrying so much about what scientific theories religious people may or may not accept. Everyone is entitled to have his or her own opinion. Telling someone that he or she is being illogical and close-minded will more likely make people defensively cling to their own opinion, not make them receptive to your opinion.

Serenity

The movie Serenity gives us one interpretation of what the future of mankind could be. Human beings had to take to space in order to survive, similar to Stephen Hawking's predictions of the future. While travel to space has enabled humans to survive, it comes with all kinds of dangers and threats. If your car breaks down on the highway, you can call a tow truck and get a safe ride to wherever you need to go to fix your car. If you ship breaks down, you're suddenly prey to pirates and thieves. And if none of them come along, there's always the possibility that you could drift off into the void of space until you run out of oxygen or die of the extreme temperature.

Serenity and Firefly, the series the movie was based on, show space as being similar to the old wild west, when it was sparsely populated. It seems like the case often is that there is no law, and bandits and profiteers take advantage of the innocent, or there are officials who are supposed to serve the law but abuse their power to serve their own ends. Space is so huge and so dangerous that a very strong government is needed. But it has so much power that it becomes too controlling. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Will humanity's future really be like this? I hope not, if the amount of power the government in the movie has is considered necessary to keep order in outer space.

Jonathan Swift's Modest Proposal

The first time I read "A Modest Proposal," I was taking a high school course in British literature. After reading it, our teacher told us that Swift wrote it as a satirical rebuttal to complaints of the close-minded, pampered upper class about the squalid poor, who were worthless and incapable of rising from their current station. The irony of it was that some of those very people actually took Swift seriously.
This passage, written so long ago, shows us that overcrowding and overpopulation were problems even hundreds of years ago. Nothing was done in London to fix this percieved problem, but Londoners have survived to this day. They didn't starve, and they certainly didn't do anything as ghastly as eat babies, as Swift sarcastically proposed. This brings up two questions. The first one concerns overpopulation. "If London was overcrowded nearly three centries ago and nothing was done about it, does that mean that overcrowding solves itself, and is not as grave a problem as some people think it is?" The second question concerns population control. "Is controlling human population, as if human beings were some type of animal, ethical?"

Stephen Hawking

Most people recognize the name "Stephen Hawking." He wrote a book that was a global best-seller (which I used as a source in one of my papers), and is regarded by most to be "one of the best-known theoretical physicists of his generation." Considering how I know next to nothing about theoretical physics, the fact that even I know about him says something. I was a little surprised by the statements Hawking made in this article. He thinks that we could have a permanent moon base in 20 years, and a colony on Mars in 40 years. Although we might have the technology to accomplish this, I doubt that governments will have warmed up to the idea in time to meet Hawking's time estimate. Though I might not think that the timetable is reasonable, the logic behind the idea makes sense to me. Many people are concerned about greenhouse gases, global warming, and the Earth's dwindling resources. Maybe if we can't fix the damage that we've done, we can start over with self-sufficient space colonies. Though people previously might have thought of the concept as something that would only happen our wildest, science-fiction induced dreams, I think that this crazy dream will someday become a reality.

Jonathan Swift

This article was hard to read for two reasons; the type of language but more the topic. I found it sickning and horrifing. The thought of preparing an infant or a teen for dinner, just to say and make some money. Itruely feel that a person with this way of though should be arrested before he is the next serial killer. He may decide to start his own meat shop and do this without the knowledge of the public. It is amoral. I would just bet if he had any children of his own he would understand the bond. Then maybe he would shut up. I was also horified that I had to finish reading his crap, it has not bettered my life only made me sick that people use the the right to free speech in this way.

Substaining Life

The idea of people moving to Mars or the moon seems almost impossible. I know that the same thing was probaly said about talking across the seas or space travel. It seems like Hawkings does not want to say never, just along time from now. How long, well I believe that will be decided as the need increases for us to provide more housing than the earthcan hold. Like Hawking says it will be easier to go underground first, then look to the skies.

serenity

Serenity is a very futuristic movie. It puts us traveling into space and living on all the planets we find. This story has an irrontic twist in the names. There is a 17 year old girl that the renagade crew rescued, her name is River Dam. I find this to be the whole story. She holds the secrets about the people who lived once on the other side of a spacial river. She and the renagade crew are being prevented crossing by some blood thristy mutants and being chased by the aliance. This is the Dam. But like al ldams there is a way around, in this case through. They pretend to be dead so that the mutants will not chase them. They arrive at the planet on the other side and find all the answers to what is bothering River Dam. This story shows that man can create their own form of destruction by them creating the mutant while trying to control the anger of the human race. River shows that no matter how hard you try to hide the truth, it will be found out.

question for 6-22

Expanding our population out into the galaxy is definitely not a feesible solution to overpopulation right now. We must use what we have within our reach right now, before we depend on science needed to live on another planet. I feel that the biggest problem that we have with over population is the lack of attention this issue is getting. This is one of the most important issues that face us today. One of the most feesible solutions that we could do is to educate people of both the problem and methods of birth control. No, we cannot distribute birthcontrol pills out to the entire world, but we could probably disribute more than we are right now. Also, why don't we use our technologies to find ways of creating cheaper but effective methods of contreception and teach people in other countries how to make it. If there really are going to be the predicted 9 billion people in the world in 2050 verses the 6.5 billion today according to wikipedia.org, we will need to do something. If not, its possible that disease or famine will.

Steven Hawking

Living on another planet without any reliance from the Earth seems very far fetched. The complexity of creating a sustainable atmosphere alone seems as though it would be impossible to achieve, not to forget all the other factors necessary for survival. Despite my pessimistic views of the posibility of living on another world, I can not completely deny the possibility of it occuring. There are many things that we have today that people even a hundred years ago would never have imagined us to have today. For me to say living else were would be impossible would be ignorant of me. It is possible, but as Hawking said " if humans can avoid killing themselves in 100 years, they should have space settlements that can continue without support from Earth". until the technology is created to relocate ourselves, we first we have to survive on this world. I could not imagine what it would be like to be one of the pioneers of this venture.

Response to The Big Picture

Science never ceases to amaze me. Unvailing some of the most beautiful creations, from the microscopic orbit of the atom to the 7000 light year away Eagle Nebula. Without the advancements of science we would never had the oppurtunity to see the vastness and complexity of our universe as we know it today. As a means to further understand of our surroundings we are let into the secret of that which is so close to us, yet so far from our understanding. The most exciting part is that we have only seen the "tip of the iceberg". There is so much just waiting to be discovered and revealed. In his essay "the Big Picture", I feel that Darksyde makes a very profound observation of how he can not conceive how creationists object to the Big Bang theory. He writes, I can't "envision a greater testament to the brillance of any Creator, the the creation of the universe wih a single act, which would in turn initiate countless processes, all unfolding over eons, to produce this glorious, star-studded, breathtakingly beautiful universe." To me this is one of the greatest examples of God's power and brillance. Many people feel that science disproves the existance of a God, but to me this is one of the many things that help us to understand him and his creation. Just being able to see just how massive the universe is and having the ability to step back and realize just how small you really are is inspiring. Realizing that there is so much more beyond who you are is in some way strange way freeing.

Resoponse to a Modest Proposal

To take Swift's idea a bit further, purhaps Dublin should not only eat the flesh of infants to keep the population numbers down, but also the flesh of those who misbehave. Instead of imprisioning people, the government should threaten as punishment of breaking the law for criminals to be killed and sold for their meat and flesh. This would keep crime levels down, and would also weed out all of the bad blood in the community. People would be more cooperative with work and following commands, which would mean the society would be more productive yeilding more profit. I wonder why Swift did not include this into his proposal. Yes, the meat of those who were older and commited crimes would not be as tender as the infants, but it would still sell as meat. And those who could not afford the delicacy of young flesh would be more likely be able to purchase the meat of the criminals. Everyone could participate in the consumption of these unwanted souls. With this new plan of action, Dublin could possibily be one of the wealthiest and well behaved cities yet.

Weekly Question

I will not consider the expansion of colonies outward a valid solution to the over population problem. The extent of the problem of over population can be seen from this link and the links of sources that this link provides:

Population Counter

We can, at this point in time, transport a maximum of only 8 people to space via a space shuttle and these 8 people have to be completely in physical and mental shape. According to the statistical counter, we make about 8 people every 10 seconds. You figure it out. We HAVE to solve it here on Earth or we will perish as a whole.

A Modest Proposal

Yummy.

I love satire and I've referred to this particular article many times before to my friends when they decided to write an outrageous article addressing an important issue. His style of being so unbelievably sincere is just hilarious and genius. He, however, lived in the 18th century and thus this article cannot be used as a tool against the arguement of overpopulation. By taking everything to the extremes, he emphasizes this ridiculous idea of eating children. However, this idea will not seem ridiculous if overpopulation continues to grow contained in the next 20-30 years.

Sustaining Life

Hawking might have the correct view but that does not mean he has the method. He presents us with a vision (like he usually does) and tells us to follow it. Much like a prophet, if you will, he cannot and will not enforce the vision. However, unlike a prophet, he is neither physically desirable to follow nor has the aura of leadership about him. Hawking might talk about this matter and be completely correct but the ultimate rebuttal continues to be the fact that the idea for human beings to be completely unaggressive for 100 years is an idea that is completely unatainable.

Serenity

In response to the total control situation presented by the movie, I am reluctant but also relieved to admit that we cannot sustain under a totalitarian system even if the system is one of pure peaceful intent. In many ways, the movie points toward the balance of nature - the ying and the yang .. if that doesn't sound so lame. In an effort to resist violence, peace was over balanced and eventually was able to regain that balance in a most fitful manner. The idea also presents itself in a precursor to our own doom in that humans have the knack of changing the environment and everything around them to fit toward their own desires and goals even if that goal is the continuation of the human species as a whole. Being popular fiction though, people will not only not listen to this view but instead devote themselves only to the romance/action part of the movie.

Chapter 18: The Big Picture

We are responsible, in a sense, to figure out for ourselves the answer to truth behind the existence of the universe. No matter if one is religious or not, it is a point of vital importance, it seems, for us to discover the exact events that led us to come into existence. The problem with religion is that it has no proof other than heresay. Heresay, in a court of law, is irrelevant and therefore not allowed as actual fact. I'm not saying that the Bible is heresay - I am merely allowing for the fact that for a religion to be correct and whole, we need a way to logically understand it. Science, no matter if you are religious or not, is the only method that we, as humans, can discover the meaning behind everything. Much like how Wilson was not a believer of one theory but of another, he still put forth his time and effort to discover the truth. Maybe religion needs to learn that the task before us in science is one of intergration not segregation.

Question for 6-22

I believe that expansion of the world population into outer space is outrageous. Although we have increased our technology tremendously, I still believe that there can be something done home before we use those as options. And what if something goes wrong? Are we going to be ready to be held responsible because thousands or millions died because of glitches in technology on the moon or Mars? I don't think so. I believe we should promote more birth control to control the population and also, and if it comes to it, that we should put a cap on the amount of children that can be born from on family. I know that sounds crazy but it would sound reasonable if there was a life or death situation.

According to the UN (www.unpopulation.org), 42 countries have a fertility rate at or above five children per woman. Naturally, the UN expect that number to dramatically increase. The population report also included that the 50 least developed countries in the world, 80% reported that fertility rates were too high. The most popular uses of contraceptives are female sterilization at 21%, intrauterine device at 14%, and the pill at 7%. We've got to get these numbers down.

Response to Chapter 18

Once again, we're back at the subject of outer space and the issues that are presented with it. The hyperlink at the beginning of the chapter with the astronauts of Apollo 8 reading Genesis of the Bible was cool. The text itself we have heard a million times, but the piece of history that was involved was awesome. When Darksyde started talking about Hubble, I knew exactly what direction the reading was heading. I've constanly heard of the Hubble Telescope and all the benefits of it. Subject such as the spectroscopy and the Doppler effect has been a constant subject that I have heard about in my past science classes. From my science classes, I also remember the supernova from 1987, that I wish I could have been able to see it and remember it. Since it was so far away, 168,000 light years, it's kinda crazy that it is beating out the ideas of young earth creationism. Still, it's not enough to change my religion.

Serenity

While the crew was at Moranda, they discovered a message left by a woman disclosing the secret of why millions of people died on her planet. From the recording, the crew of Serenity found that the people who had once lived there had been exposed to a gas that was to emitted into the air to keep them calm and to "weed out aggression" amoung the people. In result, the pack worked a little to well, in attempts to make their society "better" they killed everyone except for those ten percent who had the extreme opposite affect. When back at the station, Nick is talking to the crew trying to decide what to do with there new found knowledge. Nick is anxious to get the word out, of what has been hidden by the Parliment for 12 years. If he can let people know of what has happened, maybe he can stop it from happening again; stop those who are in control from trying to make people "better".
This idea of one's inability to try to control people, make them your ideal, is one that people need to remember. Too many times in history have people tried to conform the people around them into what they want. From Nazi Germany to today with the situation in Iraq, this is continuly happening in the world around us. Not only do we need to be aware of the fact that controling people should be discouraged, but also the environment. With all of the technological advances we are experiencing today, people are constantly trying to make life better without truly knowing the consequences of their actions. A widely disputed topic that is argued today is the use of GMOs. By genetically altering foods and animals around us, scientists are trying to make foods that are more productive and healthy for us to consume. Although there may not be strong evidence of what happens to our bodies and the environment now, we have no idea what impact they will have in the years to come. I wonder if there should ever be a limit on the advancements of technology or if certain things should just be left alone to their natural states. Probably not, but how are we to avoid such catastrophies as the one revealed in the secret of Moranda. What happened on Moranda is a great example of just what could happen if people are not more cautious about what they are doing with their technologies.

Response to A Modest Proposal

Today, there is constant talk about children and the problems that we face with them such as premarital sex, drugs, sicknesses and other bad habits. I believe that during that time, they had worst issues to deal with. For example, thankfully, our country does not necessarily have to deal with the problems that occurred in Ireland at that time period. We are blessed enough to be able to feed, support and educate our children. Although there are a few flaws in our system, we are so much more fortunate than of that time. OF course that comes with developments in technology, which has a long term effect on finances, health, and other important issues that we take for granted today. Honestly, we could look at the issues that we have with our children today, and they would appear as a grain of sand compared to the problems the Irish, and other countries face during that time period.

Serenity

This movie is a blast into the future with life being different from what we experience today. I believe that one day we will be able to make a trip into space as a fun trip like they are trying to do in the present. I guess that since this is centuries from now, our technology is well developed and advanced. I think this movie could be a playground for our imagination because we wonder if life will be similar to the way it is portrayed in the movie. Since space is enormous, I think it would be hard to control with a government and laws. This is how life is in the movie, because of groups like the Alliance starting trouble, and because there's no reason for everything to be compacted in one space since outer spaces has ample amount of room to live and move around. I pray that life is not this way in the future, although I won't have anything to worry about because most likely, I won't live to see the age of 550!

Response to Sustaining Life

This article was pretty interesting. I may sound like I’m out of the loop, but I had no clue that we as humans were working on the task to help humans live and survive on the moon, let alone Mars. Personally, I don’t think anyone could pay me to live on Mars or the moon. I’ll stick to what I know, and stay on Earth unless I have no other choice. I don’t really get into physics or astronomy or whatever, so I don’t know the current events regarding those subjects. However, I think that it is a cool idea, but I’m not sure that many people would go for it. And if they, I also believe we would need to hear about this subject more in order to further educate ourselves and to receive the answers to pertinent questions.

question for 6-15

All of the reading this semester have brought many thought s to my mind. I have always understood the connection between fiction and reality, but I never thought about having to explain how fiction can make reality evolve. Scientist seem to rely on the fictional word to give them ideas on their next experiment. Strangely enough, the fiction world relies on the scientist for their ideas. This connection makes both of the see the ideas go to the extremes. Without one, the other couldn't exist.

Response to Hello Doomsday

In another depressing, pessimistic article written by Mark Sumner, he uses examples of past civiliations to show how our society is on the verge of collapse. Easter Island is one of these examples. Sumner tells us how the Polynesians discovered and settled on the island. The population flourished until it reached the point where it could no longer support such a large population. Sumner also mentions throughout the article how geological evidence reveals to us why certain species became extinct.

Sumner states the obivious when he tells us that certain species of animals became extinct, and that certain groups of people died out. But just because these things have happened doesn't mean that the entire human race is going to have a mass extinction anytime soon.

Response to Last Off Ramp

In this article, Mark Sumner proposes a jarring idea. To put his idea in context, he explains that in prehistoric times, most of the hunter-gatherers were wiped out by extreme weather change. However, "humans living in the Fertile crescent passed through a tight spot and came out different than when they went in" (226). They had become farmers instead of hunter-gatherers, and this drastically changed the course that humankind would take. Instead of wandering, humans now had permanent homes. Cities arose, and eventually our own modern way of life emerged.

Sumner reports that Ray Kurzweil thinks that humanity is once again at the threshold of making a change in our way of life that will shape the future. Some people think that with the cheap energy that we use, we have poisoned our world. Others go on to say that we are incapable of fixing the damage we have done to it. Kurzweil seems to think that the only way for our planet to be saved is for someone or something smarter than humans will save it. Due to the rise in informational technology, genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics, he thinks that humans will soon meld with computers, creating a new type of being. Sumner says that although this could save the Earth if it comes to pass, we would lose our humanity in the process. Seems like a no-win situation.

Dr. Strangelove

This movie takes a very satirical, dark view of war and politics. The character who started the whole mess made decisions that could affect millions based on his own crackpot personal beliefs. I think that the most disturbing thing about this movie is that it's possible for a situation similar to the one in the movie to actually occur. Tensions are running high between the United States and another country, a military leader makes an unauthorized decision, and a nuclear war would erupt. Now, it wouldn't be exactly like the movie. For starters, it wouldn't be nearly as entertaining. Hopefully the country we attacked wouldn't have an automated Doomsday device that winds up destroying the world. But in the real world, a pale imitation of the zany situation the movie shows us could probably occur through incompetent world leaders coupled with confusion concerning military orders.

Dr. Strangelove

I figured that this movie was going to be a sarcastic movie with a man portraying multiple characters. I think that it is crazy that this movie takes place with the U.S. and Soviet Union being at the point that a nuclear war could start in a second. I also found that it was crazy that it was so many jokes and references in the movie, although some of them I didn’t completely understand. I like how this movie took the current events and showed the viewers of how real the situation was with the U.S. and the Soviet Union attempting to establish some credibility for their nuclear deterrence.

Chapter 17

I think that the most amazing portion of this reading was the part about Ocracoke Island off of the coast of North Carolina. I have never heard of this wondrous island. I guess I’m just one of the many people don’t venture out like Sumner would like. I think that the law for development to prevent it from becoming another Roanoke Island is understandable. Of course, the want to conserve the natural beauty of the city without tainting it with today’s tourism expectations. However, I do agree with Sumner that it is possible that they can complete mess up the greatness of the island if they are not careful. I find it hilarious that this can be done with one water system failing. Also, I liked how Sumner tied this reading to Playing Chicken with the Apocalypse.

The Big Picture

In chapter 18, The Big Picture, many things were discussed that amazed me. The time frame in which all of the discoveries were made seem so recent compared to the rest of history. I am so amazed everytime that I see the science behind us learning the distances to places in space. I try to imagine having the ability to discover sometime so important. So much of this world has been defined by these types of discoveries. This chapter was so much different than the others in the book. This seem to be a look into the hopeful future but I have a feeling he could find a way to make it a doomsday chapter if he wanted. I was waiting for him to start to say that the sun, our star, was going to go super nova tomorrow or something. I really did learn a lot of interesting facts and was glad to not be reminded of the eventual end to our race.

Deadline extension for Paper #2

Note: This is a duplicate of the email you received about this topic

I've gotten two requests for an extension on the deadline for paper #2, so I've decided to grant that extension. If you need extra time, you may have until Monday at 6:00 pm. If you can meet the original deadline, however, you will receive 2 percentage points added to your grade (for promptness :-)). So there is no penalty for taking until Monday but there is a small incentive to get done by the original deadline. I hope that suits everyone. (It seemed fair to me.)

If you're one of the people who has already turned in paper 2 but would like to turn in a revised paper (because of the new deadine) let me know so I won't grade the first one.

Have a good weekend.

Dr. Strangelove

"Duck and Cover." The old "teaching tool" that was taught to our parents when they were childredn that said that if they hit under their wooden desks or just ducked and covered their heads in the event of an atomic explosion that they would be just fine. Yeah, because that worked so well for the people living in ancient Pompei.

Dr. Strangelove is a great movie but is mixed with a few confusing things, which is one of the reasons why the movie is great. The idea of "bodily fluids" is funny, not only because it's an insane general talking about flouride in the water among other things, but is humerous because it comes out of nowhere and shows what idiocy and madmen were/are running the nuclear weapons program.

Peter Sellers' use of three of the main characters also goes to show the amount of skill and humor that the man had at the time. Dr. Strangelove himself was a character I wanted to see more of, and the way the movie ended made you want to see more.

My question at the end, with the ending of all the nuclear detonations, was: "Did the doomsday device go off or not?" Saddly, I dont think we will ever know.

Question for 6/15

The readings and discussions in this course made me realize that science and technology and society are closely related. Each feeds off of the other. They use each other to get new ideas and solve new problems. You can't really separate the two. Without one, the other would not exist. Our society is far more influenced by technological advances and scientific discoveries than most people realize. In turn, science also is influenced by society.

Hello Doomsday, My Old Friend

This article is very interesting to me, in regards to the history and current examples given of societies that have collapsed and could possibly collapse that exist today. I feel like this is an issue that we need to be very weary of, and learn as much as we can from these civilizations. To take the information and apply it to what we are doing today, is some of the most valuable information we can obtain. As a culture right now, it seems like we have been so lucky with our "successes'' for such a long, it just seems like it is a matter of time that we experience the same fate as those who came before us. For example, the people of Easter Island were blessed with very fruitful land, but with time people began to misuse the lands, and eventually cut down all the trees. This disregard for the land, later led to the downfall of their island. This circumstance sounds very similar to what is happening today. People are having total disregard for the land, and need to be for careful of what they are doing to it before its too late. At the end of the article, Sumner leaves us with some gleaming bit of hope. Before all was lost on the island, the people went through a renewal. They learned how to live in balance with the land by "rationing and distributing the island's limited resources"(245). Through this experience they came out of the situation in a better position, in a way. Sumner writes how this is also possible for us. Before it is too late, we can change our ways and live in ways that are more harmonious with our environment through developing new technologies and habits that are eco-friendly.

Question from 6-15

So far, I have gained a greater understanding of how science, technology, and society relate to each other. How all of these factors feed of off each other, and each of their advancements are in result of the other. Without science, there would be no technology. Without technology, the existance of our society would be much different from how we know it today. Ideas from all three of these realms work and grow together. Because of the functions in society, people from science create a technology to fulfill its needs. You can look at each of them indepentantly, and see the influences the other two have had on them; you could look at technology and have an idea about the society as well as their ideas in science.

Paper 1

I just sent papers back to everyone that I got one from (except the one I just rec'd today.) There is one person I've asked to send the paper again, so if you didn't get one back (and are reading this) please send it to me again (w/no spaces in the file name--that may have been why the attachment didn't work.)

About the papers:
All were good, but several had citation problems or gaps or lack of specifics. (That's the not-so-good news.) The good news, however, is that you can choose to revise **one** of your first two papers (not the last one). If you revise, your new grade will replace the original grade, so if you aren't happy with what you got this time, that is an option.

All the papers have comments.Depending on your version of MS Word and your defaults, you may have to select "veiw ->comments" to be able to see them. If you have any questions, please let me know. I'm going to send this by email as well, but it's the same message, so if you already read it here, you don't have to read it again.

Question from 6/11

Something that I feel everyone need to be conscious of is the environmental factors each one of us is contributing to the Earth. We all need to be aware of the amount each of us wastes, each day it is roughly seven pounds a day multiplied by the population equals a lot of trash. The burden of our waste does not only effect the environment, but our wallets as well. Billions of dollars are spent every year, to take care of this problem. The public needs to be aware of ways to change their habits, and what will happen if nothing is done. I don't feel like this is an issue gets as much attention as it deserves. I wish everyone could experience first hand were all of there garbage is going, and the conditions it is creating at the dumps and land fills.

Question for this week:

As a result of this class and especially the readings you've done, what has changed as far as your understanding of Science and Technology and Society (and the way they interact)?

Last Off-Ramp Before Armageddon

The rate that humans are developing in regards to our technology and knowledge is growing at exponential rates. And it is possible that Ray Kurzweil's predictions could one day be right. But in my opinion, I don't see technology getting as advanced as he thinks it will be. I would have to agree with those who think Kurzweil is being "too generous in expecting continual improvements in all these areas"(230). For technology to excel to the level he is predicting, it seems to be wishful thinking to believe that our trend of success as a society is going to continue at the same rate it has been in the past hundred years. From what I gather from history, all great societies have there day in the spot light, and then fade away into the history books. I just wonder when we our time will be up. Maybe, I too am being a "gloomy Gus", but I don't see our technology excelling mortality. And if it ever does, I couldn't see myself wanting to live that long in this world.

Dr. Strangelove

This movie was hilirious. It was pretty ridiculous. Although war is a very serious issue and shouldn't be taken lightly, Kubrik did a great job in creating a satire of this period in time during the Cold War Era. I love the characters in this film. The president, in his conversations to the president to Russia, Demitri, sounds as though he is talking to a little kid. When he first gets on the phone with him, the ambassador hands him the phone and tells him that he thinks Demitri is drunk. The whole movie is full of spoofs. You've got to love the General's theory of water fluoridation, how its "the most monsterously conceived, and dangerous communist plot we have ever had to face." If you get a chance you should look at the movie posters, I love the subtitles "Why did the fate of the world hang on a Coca-Cola machine" and "Why did U.S. Paratroopers invade their own base?". I am sure if they re-released this film today in movie theatres it would be a hit. Sadly enough, this movie reflects much of the additude people have about our government and its incompentence today. No one in this movie should be taken seriously, and many people feel the same way about the elected officials that are in office now.

Chapter 16

During our online class, we were asked to choose from our two readings and give our opinions on which one was more truth based. Even though I felt Chapter 17 was more truth based, it is still fun to think about what could become of our future. In Chapter 16, Sumner shows that Kurzweil brought good points to the table. It's crazy to think that we could extend our lives permanently! It's mind-boggling that technology has had such an effect on humans and how it could affect our future. The human race has come so far.

Dr. Strangelove

The movie, a Kubrick classic, is one of the "what if"'s that Kubrick likes to tease us with. Just like in Clockwork Orange and 2001 Space Odessey, Kubrick decides to tease us with what COULD have happened if some people had decided to take a "morally correct" course too far. I believe the biggest lesson that Kubrick is trying to give us is the fact that we should not let our "patriotism" overcome our humanity. That is to say: though to disobey the "orders" would mean that the country would not get "revenge", the pilots of that airplane should not have had the "guts" to pull the switch - dropping an atomic bomb on millions - because their humanity ticker should have gone off and said "wtf am i doing this for.. being a mass murderer".

Chapter 17

What Sumner does not realize is the fact that Cataclysim can also be derived from Gradualism. The act of chopping down the last tree is a Cataclysim in its own right because it is the singular event that caused the death of several thousand. To that point, we as a society cannot hope or even try to turn aside from this Gradualism. As the word implies, society as a whole is gradually falling apart .. for several decades. People are smart and smart people have a voice in society and yet society is still falling apart. It's just one of those spring like actions that the universe is built on (Big Bang/Big Crunch). Our civilization will eventually end and most of our population will die off .... but some will survive, just like they did on that island and regrow a newer (smarter as a whole instead of having only a few smart individuals) civilization.

Chapter 16

Sumner's review of Kurzweil is not only an eye-opener in the sense that this reality could possibly come true but also in the sense that Sumner, a person of intelligence, agrees with Kurzweil. When masses of intelligent people agree together, it usually means something is right or something is impending. Not to be self-appreciating but I believe that this view of the world can certainly come true. Just a few years ago, Deep Blue beat the great Kasparov at chess. Chess - a game that man has played for about 300 years was beaten by a computer designed in about 5 years. Technology is just so advanced and it's already being advanced at such a fast pace that this "immortality" could certainly just be around the corner.

Question

The latest question asked us to identify some important issue that is misunderstood by most of the public. I believe that such a topic lies within the region of using animals to test human drugs. Some, if not many people, believe that this is unethical and thus need to be corrected because we are in someway damaging the animal instead of letting it live its own life. However, animal testing is very much needed to allow humans to develop better drugs. About 80% of current drugs were made using animal testing and I think some people need to realize this before they complain about the killing of rats for testing the medicine that they are currently using to treat a disease such as small-pox.

Dr. Strangelove

Kubrick's film is one of the greatest satires ever put to film. Originally he set out to make a realistic cold war thriller, but realized he and Terry Southern kept accidentally going overboard and found it worked better as a farse. Like any great satire, there's a dark truth to much of what happens. Of course, the threat of thermo-nuclear war with Russia never came. And as it seems now such a threat isn't immediately present. But a similar film, depicting a government lead by a maniacle and imature government obsessed with oil and starts silly wars in strange faraway places, plunging the world into chaos would offer excellent stuff for a present day satircal film - oh wait, I guess that's already happening...damn, I wish I'd thought of that first.

Chapt 17

Sumner's passion and empathy for our future world is a relief - if only we had a few Sumner's out there who are in charge of making the big decisions we might be better off. I agree with most of what he says and what he cites from Diamond's work, but I'm not so sure of his analogy of civilization 'falling off the cliff.' I think the reality will be instead a slow decline into the rough, dark surf below. We've already begun our decent down the cliff long ago. If human beings have proven anything 20,000 years its that we're amazingly resiliant and resourceful, if not stubber and pig-headed. In the end, like Sumner, I agree we'll come out fine in the end, although how much we lose in the process will be the key factor.

Chapt 16

Sumner cites an interesting theory from scientist/futurist Ray Kurzweil. After seeing '2001: A Space Odyessy' and its implication that humans are like everything else, imperminant, and another more advance race will come after us seems entirely realistic. Fortunately for Kurzweil, his thesis cannot be proven or disproven - whose to know what will become of humans in the next 10,000 years. With the rate of our technology becoming faster and faster, it seems reasonable that something will come as a result - whether it's computors who think for themselves or people inserting processing chips into their brains - there's at this point only educated speculation. If history is any indicator of what the future will hold, humans will be surpassed at some point by some other creature or entity. I agree to some extent with what he says, but it may take much much longer for any of his predictions to come to fruitition, if ever at all.

Hello doomsday, my old friend

In this chapter. the author discusses the collapse of civilization and even the fact that many of them rebuild into a different type of society. He say that the possibility of our collapsing is here, but he feels that we will be able to survive and rise to the challenge. I hope that we ca because if we can't the future is bleak for my children. I hope and feel that our society will rise to the occasion and use the alternate resource that we know how to make. The fact that there is money to be made seems to keep us from changing to the alternitives, but the money will still be made, only difference is that we will be leaving a society for the children of today to raise the children of tomorrow in safely.

Question

I think that the issue of organic food vs. genetically engineered food is not understood by most people. Some people assume that just because an item is labeled as "organic," it means that it's health food. Some consumers don't see the point of organic food, and think that genetically engineered food is the way of the future. Others think that humans messing with genetics, even the genetics of plants or animals, is like playing God.

I think that this is a very important issue, because we should know what exactly is going into our bodies, and how it can affect us.

Question

The lastest question placed before us for class is to discribe a misunderstood issue that is important to the public. I know that the simply fact of my oldest daughter is misunderstood by so many people. She is under 4 foot tall, 39 pounds and uses a wheelchair. She is extemely kind, intelligent, and energetic. The things people don't understand is her diagnosis, Spina Bifida. I feel that in the upstate that this is such an important birth defect to understand since this area is one of the top 5 highest occuring spots for this birth defect. Withi a five mile radius from my house, I can find at least 5 children that I know who have spina bifida. The fact that no one knows much about if just causes more children to be born with it. The research is out there, taking folic acid will reduce your chance significantly if taken before getting pregnant. So many people don't seem to understand that by encouraging their children to take a multivitiam when young might help them to as they grow up. You know, forming good habits. These good habits could help prevent them from having a child with a birth defect such as spina bifida.

Please understand inme saying this, I in no way am sorry for who or how my daughter is, but do even now at the age of 10 teach her the importance of vitimins for her future. My daughter has changed my life for the better and I feel will help so many people with her attitude that the world is great but she herself was in tears when she knew each of her siblings were fine. She understands and I hope that one day others will begin to understand so we can begin to eliminate a birth defect or at least minimize the occurances of it.

Last off-ramp before Armageddon

In chapter 16, I was surprised that the authur was not completely pesimistic. I do not think that he is right about the combination of man and computer but do understand why he says this. The combination of man and computer would end our race and humans are way to stuburn to end itself. The fact that we build bombs and weapons of mass destruction to protect us from other nations seems to me as an indicatpor that we will defend our indepence not give it up to a computer. People do not like to depend solely on anything or anyone because we know that problems can occur with machines at a drop of a hat. The risk of viruses I think will be viewed as the computer's veapon of mass destruction and I think we are smart enough to stay clear.

Dr. Strangelove

Dr. Strangelove is a past futureistic movie. It is set on a military base with a crazed General Ripper. He takes command of his base to an exetreme, cutting off all communications from the outside world. This is a movie that demonstrates the power and devistation one man can cause to the world. I feel that this could be a possibility because there are many times when one commanding officer has so much power that if he wanted to cause trouble he could without much resistance. Most of the army now contains check and balances to prevent this from happening with the hopes that no devistation, like that shown in the movie, will happen to the world. I hope for mankinds that the worst never happens because it could very easily end most life and the lugeres that we hold so dear.

A Word from Paster Dan

The central theme of this chapter to me seems to be "what kind of God created the Earth?"

Well, I am not a super religious person, but i seem to recall God not being a very nice person in the Old Testament section of the Bible. He was always destroying cities, saving lives and then closing the sea on the fleeing Jews, and always ordering people to kill their own sons to prove their deviotion to Him. The parts of the Old Testament that people remeber are pretty bloody.

The New Testament is a little different. Not much is done by God Himself, but he did send his Son to save humanity from their sins, because God loves us. Other than that, God really isnt mentioned. The New Testament is the "Jesus Channel," all Son of God - all the time. God seems to be a little more relaxed in the New Testament too.

Now, as far as the argument of Intelligent Design and Darwin's Theory of Evolution. I dont care which you believe. Please STOP trying to push your beliefs on me! That's why they are your belifs, because they are not mine! Do I believe that God, whatever He may be, create the Universe? Oh Yeah, you bet your barnacles! Do I believe that He created Adam and Eve and that was it? Uh..no. The fact that animals such as dinosaurs were here before man kinda ruined that theory for me. Do I believe that God had a hand to play in our evolution? I dont know, but if I die and go to the "happy place," I'll be sure to ask him.

Playing Chicken with the Apocalypse

I think that this reading addresses a subject that we were familiar with six years ago with the Millenium Bug. We, as a society, have become so used to certain pieces of technology that it would not take much to force us back into the "horse and buggy" days. The loss of all computer systems six years ago would have meant that the world economies would have been thrown into chaos and lives would have been lost as a result. More recently, the "fossil fuel" debate, if you can call it that, is a bit of a contradiction that is cause for concern. After the recent rise in gas prices and the already well-known knowledge that gas and oil is going to run out in the near future, there are NO technologies in place at this time to solve this problem and very few are in development and even fewer pose a soultion. The only difference between myself and the author is the fact that I have come to terms with the Social Security death that will occur in the next few decades and have accepted it. Other than this, I agree with the author

Ender's Game

First, I would like to say that it is high time that this classic work was placed on a Clemson required reading list. Second, I wish the other books in the Ender Series were as good as the first.

Moving right along...

I think that the thing that suprised me the most about this book after reading it the sceond time was the fact that, unlike most military leaders and "murders," Ender feels a lot of remorse for what he has done and even goes so far as to wonder if he should continue in Battle School for it. This amazes me. He kills without "conscience" because he is never told that he has killed. He is always told the Goff or another of the high Grand Poohbaahs that the student or the person that he has killed has been sent home or transfered to another school. It is only later, when Ender finds out the truth, that Ender begins to second guess himself. Most "brilliant military minds" wouldnt question themselves. They would see it as an acceptible loss and would move on. To Ender, there is no such thing as an acceptible loss. Every man is important in the Battle School, and Ender understands this.

It is the humanity and the wisdom that makes me see myself in Ender's shoes, but also in his inhumanity and evil, for that is within us all.

Misunderstood

I believe that the issue of stem cell research is a bit misunderstood. Many are told on the news and by their church leaders that the only way to get these cells is from the remains of aborted fetuses. I have this funny feel that this is not entirely true. I get this feeling because they same news cast that I hear all of the complaints in, you hear a very quickly spoken line of "stem cells are also found in adults..." and then they move on to more about aborted fetuses. While I do NOT agree with the use of fetuses in this way, I AM for stem cell research. Christopher Reeve was the best example of a true Superman and stem cell research may have saved his life if Congress hadnt shut it down. The ends in this case do justify the means as long as the research is done ethically and in the correct moral context.

Question (somewhat late)

Hello all,

Because the blog was down and you had papers due, I decided not to give this question last week. Please try to answer it by Tuesday evening.

Identify a scientific or technical issue that is misunderstood to some extent by (at least some of) the public and which is currently being disputed or negotiated. Try to find something that is very important that people understand, but which is either obscure or complicated enough that many people do not currently "get it." Give a brief overview of what the issue is and why you think it is not understood as well as it should be. (Think about something that may be fodder for your 3rd paper if you can.)

Playing Chicken with the Apocalypse

In this section of the eBook, Sumner goes into detail about how humanity has slowly been poisoning Mother Earth since the industrial revolution. According to him, we are going to bring about both our downfall and hers by using up all of her resources, polluting the atmosphere, causing global warming, et cetera. But as he talks about all the things that we've done wrong for such a long time (and continue to do wrong), it makes you wonder what the point in warning us is. Hasn't this been going on for so long by now that it's too late? We have the technology and the means to make life so easy for ourselves (cars, airplanes, air conditioning, power plants, computers, factories). But we don't have the technology and the money to gain the benefits of these things without harming the earth. This problem would take massive worldwide change in order to be solved. The audience of this eBook can't really do anything to change the way things are.

A Word from Pastor Dan

I didn't really get much out of the arguments in this article. The author and I have very different views on religion. He tries to use reason to disprove or undermine religion. But just because logic and religion are different doesn't mean that one is right and the other is wrong. The author seems to be making the argument that logic and faith cannot exist together. I think they can. Humans don't just have minds and bodies; we also have souls. Most people recognize this, even though it cannot be proved by science. Just because something can't be scientifically proved doesn't mean that it's not real. Science and religion don't exist on the same level, and one cannot disprove the other.

Ender's Game

Ender's Game is a futuristic story of the future of Earth. It was written in 1977, and it's eerie to see the similarities between the world of the book and our world in the present day. In future America, couples are usually allowed to have only two children, and any additional children are considered a disgrace. In China today, birthrates are restricted to only one child per family. Also, when the Battle School was described as a structure floating in space governed under international law, I couldn't help thinking of the international space station. In 1977, the concept must have seemed radical, but we will probably have the technology to create something like the Battle School someday. (Whether we actually use it or not is another question.)

I think that the most frightening part of Ender's Game wasn't the use of children as fighters, but the way those children were manipulated and deceived. The government knew almost everything about Ender, and they knew exactly how to form him into a weapon for them to direct at their enemies. Rather than persuading him or giving him the truth and letting him decide, they lied to him. Through their deception, he unknowingly committed genocide. That's a heavy burden to rest on a twelve-year-old's shoulders.

Playing Chicken with the Apocalypse

The problem with this message, as with other messages of its kind which proclaim that we need to “do something” about the eminent destruction of the earth, is the fact that the message is not heard very well through out all channels of communication. A very insignificant percentage of the world population has the ability to access an e-book much less have the money/time/willingness to read this particular point in this particular e-book. Thought the fact of us approaching our eminent destruction cannot be denied, none of us, alone, can do anything about it. The common man, an average Joe who has the luck to be born in a first world country (a very small percentage of the entire world’s population) simply does not have the time or desire to “save the world” when he has other aspects of LIFE that he needs to look after. I can agree with the fact that someone-s has to stand up and stop using so much gas and start conserving few but I for one count myself out – I have to pay college bills, meet a girl, raise a family, and maybe even earn a 401k if the future allows… all I can do is hope that there is a future.

A Note From Pastor Dan

The article puts forth a good argument for reason overcoming religion and faith. The fact that one can easily put religion at a disadvantage by using simple arguments is a blow against the credibility of a religion that should have an answer if that religion is at all credible. Instead, however, religion's best answer is a counter question - a question that simply asks .. "Why not?". The article can be further supported by questions reason commonly proposes to religion in the form of: "Can God create a stone too heavy for him to lift?" and "Can God kill himself?".

Week 3's Responses

Response to Apocalypse

Its amazing to me how fragile everything around is really is, how much of an impact we make on our surroundings, but at the same time ultimately we have no control over the outcome. When thinking of Sumner's conclusions on how man has placed such reliance on "cheap energy", and how soon this era of fossil fuels is going to end, it is discouraging to think about how little we are doing to find alternative methods. We could be doing so much more. He writes, " Solving the cheap energy problem has to be one of the primary goals, if not the primary goal, of the entire world" (224). Yes we are looking for other methods, but doesn't seem like enough emphasis on the importance of it is enough. Hopefully articles like this one will spread the idea of importance on this issue, similar to the idea Sumner mentioned, "meme". Maybe if enough people start to place enough concern about this, it will do nothing but spread and the chances of someone changing our current practices may rise. I have no doubt that something is going to be done about it, I just hope it is going to happen soon.

Response to pastor Dan
For whatever reason, I just didn't get very much from this reading. But, the part that I responded to the most was where he was talking about Burrough. He commented that "Burrough's knew what all great inquirers know: that beyond the limits of what is "safe" to know, there is room for surprise, and and awesome beauty" (40). To me, that is what science offers. Knowing beyond what the eye can see, or beyond what one observes on a day to day basis, is true beauty. Science allows us to step outside of ourselves to see the big picture of things, from the tiniest atom to the infinite universe. This is a place which is unimaginably complex, and what we know know is only a speck of dust compared to what is out there. With our developments in understanding the world around us comes a world of technological advancements, and sometimes the things in which people spend so much of their efforts on seem frugal. For instance, the disposable razor with three blades. Why would someone spent a billion dollars on an object that cuts the unwanted hairs off of one's body? That seems like a waste. The evolution of technology comes a standard of civilization, and for whatever reason we have placed great importance on a cleanly shaven face. None of this really matters, and realizing the absurdity of these efforts makes no difference. To answer pastor Dan's finial request at the end of his "word", I think people are aware of the issues that need to be addressed. Apparently the razor industry is a big money maker, and that is why they are willing to spend so much money on such a silly product. Many of these big businesses could be presented as wastes "of our resources", but they are what make our civilized technological society thrive, and will probably not be stopped. If only we could somehow redirect the money to important issues, the world would probably have a few less problems. And we all know that will happen. I only wish that more people looked for the beauty in science, not the money.

Response to Ender's Game

The character of Ender is amazing to me. No matter what happens to him, he perservers and becomes stronger through the challenges. He seems to bet the odds, being smaller than the other kids he is around he holds his weight quite well. It is his character that kept me intregued in the book. This is the kid to save the world and he's under ten years old. I loved descripions of the school, they were very realistic and made me want to go there. How cool would it be to be able to beparticipate in the battleroom and be one Ender's team. Its great to see a book that gives credit to kids for their genius. Although these three siblings were pretty much breed to be smart, they still share the child like qualities that every other kid has. I was glad to have stepped out side of my box, and read this book. I really enjoyed it. I may even read the second book.

Playing Chicken with the Apocalypse

When Mark Sumner brought up partying like it’s 1999, it brought back so many memories. I remember hearing all of the rumors claiming that the world was going to come to the end and that there would be a major blackout. I also remember when it did not happen. I loved how Sumner used the metaphors “tides” and “ripples” to illustrate what he truly means.
For my second paper, I plan to discuss c heap energy and the pros and cons about popular hydrogen-fuelled cars. It was interesting that Sumner brought that topic up; I do not plan going as far as he did regarding the end of the world, but I do plan on discussing the end of cheap energy. After completing a lot of research, I found that Richard Heinberg had a point. After reaching that place that cheap energy no longer exists, what will we do? When we get there, it would be too late.

A Note From Pastor Dan

I think that this passage touched me the most because I am a Christian. In today’s society, I know that there are a lot of people who do not believe that the Bible is not “holy” because it was written by man. Science and religion clash often in this world. But what I thought was the funniest part of the reading was that it included a Bible passage with an explanation provided. Although I did not agree with some ideas, the one idea that I agreed with was the truth that some religious people do not completely understand or believe Genesis. I play devil’s advocate a lot so, overall, I think the story was pretty good.

Ender's Game

I love this book! I read this book in middle school for the accelerated readers program at my school. Although, I had to re-read it in order to refresh my memory, I still loved it. I am the oldest of all of the girls in my family. I know that constantly the youngest feels intimidated by both the middle sister and me. However, I was never evil to her the way that Peter was to Ender. The point is that every baby of the family has big shoes to fill. But if my youngest sister is more talented than I was at that age, I would not to hate her for it. Ender could not help is talent, and although his brother hated him with a passion, he had Valentine as a support system. All the obstacles that Ender overcame were outstanding. He had patience and compassion when it was not necessary. I felt so bad that he ended up murdering the bully and Bonzo. He did not understand why his talent was used against him. Ender knew who he was, but never wanted his negative side to come out. It was great to know that at the end, he shows his strongest characteristic, compassion, in order to repay his debt to the buggers.

Ender's Game

I have to admit, this is my 5-6th time reading through Ender's Game. Though this reading is for a class, I still believe I have to contend that Card's idea of children taking on adult roles is a good one especially because he set up the children with emotions and intelligence beyond that of normal adults. Though many criticize that it is horrible that Card used children in his war novel, I believe that that this concept is perfectly fine. Card perfectly imagined the idea of children having active roles in news forums (though he may have slightly exaggerated the idea of children taking over the world. In today's internet-based culture, the measure of character depends only on intelligence level in the person's writing as opposed to the age of the person. It is fairly easy to talk to an intelligent person online and consider him a debate buddy despite him being of a young age.

Card, in Ender's game, and in his later series begin to further pronounce his belief that nothing should be age based - instead, everything should intelligence based - as proof of later relationships and feelings love between Petra and Bean in Ender's Shadow and Shadow Puppets at their young age.

Chapter 15 - Playing chicken with the Apocalype

In chapter 15, the discussion is on whether the world is going to end and how is all connected to cheap energy. The butterfly theory says that everything causes a reaction and then reacted onto itself. This seem to be true in the case of cheap energy and the world as we know it ending. Mankind depends on the earth in order to be supplied with cheap energy, lots of it, but at the same time the cheap energy comes at a great cost to the earth. The earth supplies the energy by us using the remains of the past inhabitants but it will soon run out and the new supply will have to become us. The earth many not end but the way we live now will definitely change. So we had better watch out because when the earth reacts to all we have done, our lives will definitely change.

Chapter 4 - A Word from Pastor Dan

In chapter 4, I find it interesting that the discussion of chaos can be answered by that of the Bible. Chaos is what we come from, where we are headed and what we live to be a part . The chaos is in us all, but with the understanding of the Bible we are able to see that there is a purpose to all of it and that the answers will be visible when the time is right. Many days, life throws us more than we think we can handle but we handle it. The next time we handle it easier until the next challenge. The chaos is in the over burdens we feel, then the understanding comes when we finish and see that we are now prepared for the next challenge in our life. God uses chaos to teach us, now we just have to learn.

Ender's Game

In "Ender's Game", I found that the intelligence of the children made it hard to remember that the main characters were children. In the story these children had the roles that even most adults hope to never have to play. The fact that the children had to become adult so young and have no childhood is so sad. This story is in some ways the same as the story of so many of the children growing up now because of the wide spread uses of drugs and the violence. In this story, the innocence of youth is taken away for all of the children without them ever even knowing they would never have it back. Games in the story helped to save the whole race of mankind, in the current real world those same type of games are taking and ruining the whole race. Children become violet and uncaring toward each other because separating reality from the game becomes almost impossible. The same type of thing was demonstrated in the fact that even Ender got caught up in the games to become a different type of child and in his dreams he still never left the game. This is a future that could be seen but I sure hope we never have to resort to using children as adults.

Status Check

I just wanted to let you know that I've put up all the pictures I've received and responded to all the the proposals I've gotten, so if you picture isn't up or you didn't get a response to your proposal, that means I didn't get it (so please send, asap.) The proposals looked like very interesting topics. Remember that our time is very much compressed, so you'll want to start reading (and in some cases, watching) your texts right away. I'm looking forward to reading your papers.

As always, if you have questions post them and I'll try to respond asap. Have a great weekened.

T. F.

Week 2's Responses

Response to Ch. 10- the sexual evolution

Sometimes, most of the time, journals and articles concerning science are just not that interesting. Mark Sumner on the other hand has found a way of presenting his ideas in an entertaining and somewhat informative manner. Through the means of literary writing he is able to apply his scientific knowledge and present his theory in a way that anyone could understand and possibly have interest in. He seems to have a pretty extensive history with the subject matter, claiming to have degrees in geology and biology, and participated paleotological excavations. Instead of presenting us with a bunch of scientific mumbo-jumbo that most people could not understand, he shocks you with his less than politically correct word choice, and makes you laugh while simultaneously informing you of his ideas. This is definitely one of the major advantages of writing in a literary manner verses scientific. The author is able to provoke interest in the audience to a subject that may not have ever been considered.

Response 1 to The Handmaid's Tale

Slow to unfold, a confusing plot of absurd situations is presented in the Handmaid's Tale. As the story progresses, the reader begins to realize that what seems to be the barbaric practices of century's past is actually the future. Offred, the narrator, continually refers back to this past life that once she existed in: the green of the Martha's uniforms was like that of "a surgeon's gown of the time before" (p.9), and listening at a door was "a thing I never would have done in the time before"(p.10). This "time before" is mentioned often, but the specific of what had happened to make life so miserable was not told until nearly half way through the book. On page 174, we come to find out that the president and Congress had been shot, and in the hysteria of this state of emergency the takeover began and eventually led to the disastrous conditions that Offred lives in. I put myself in that situation and realize that this situation is not as far fetched of an idea as I would hope. I can not imagine how one could keep their sanity in conditions that she had to live in. It's haunting to read how much Offred misses her past life, and the little things that she once took for granted. She remembers the last time she and Luke were in their house together before they had to flee, "He put his arms around me. We were both feeling miserable. How were we to know we were happy, even then? Because we at least had that: arms, around" (192). The world that she previously lived in, and the world I know live in are very similar in regards to our freedoms and opportunities. Seeing this being taken away from her makes me see how fragile what I have really is and appreciate it that much more.

Response 2 to The Handmaid's Tale

The way woman are treated in this book is ridiculous but not all that far fetched. Woman have been mistreated for centuries, used for their bodies and work. But this extreme treatment of woman is not like any I have heard of before. Divided into groups and color coated, the Marthas in green, the Wives in blue, and the Handmaids in red, and the Econowives in stripes each woman assigned to a particular purpose. Treated as mere object, a vessel to procreate the human species the Handmaids are treated the worst. At one point Offred thinks the Commander sees her beyond the Handmaid position, "To him I'm no longer merely a usable body. To him I'm not just a boat with no cargo, a chalice with no wine in it, an oven- to be crude-minus the bun. To him I am not merely empty"(163). It is so inhumane to think that these woman had been treated this way. The Commander treats the situation of the woman so coldly, he thinks it is better for them to be like they are verses the way they were, "This way they are protected, they can fulfill their biological destinies in peace" (220). If these woman are unable to reproduce they are sent away to the Colonies, a place that no one but the nuns are willing to go. Being a Handmaid she is conditioned to lose the identity she once held. Offred is like a machine, a baby machine and is no good until she is able to make a product. She says, "My self is a thing I must now compose, as one composes a speech. What I must present is a made thing, not something born"(66). The way in which not only they are treated but treat themselves, is degrading and unnatural. It seems the sole purpose of this society is merely survival but nothing else, but I wonder what they are surviving for. How can one live without emotion, or freedom to be oneself?

Week 2's Question Response:

"Europe's baby shortage crisis"- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/Europe/1236237.stm

A major issue in The Handmaid's Tale is the low birth rate in Gilead. It is such a major problem in this book that the society had trained specific woman to fulfill this need in their culture. For these Handmaid's their sole job was to make babies. Offred remembers Aunt Lydia saying "when the population level is up to scratch again we'll no longer have to transfer you from one house to another because there will be enough to go round" (162). Fortunately, the problem in Europe with their low birthrate is not as bad as in Gilead, and they are not going to the extremes that the society in the book went to to re-populate its cities. In Italy, the crisis is the worst, but instead of creating Handmaids they are looking at funding the mothers for the first year of their child's life. One struggle the Europeans are having is the woman having to balance their jobs with families, so the women are choosing not to have children. The Italians are hoping that this "One year Off" program will help relieve women of some of their concerns with having children and working.

"Natashay Ward: Paying for prayers?"-
http://www.waff.com/Global/story.asp?S=3290256&nav=0hBEZMmt

I know this is a little extreme, but both of these situations seem kind of ridiculous to me. In the book, there is a store called "Soul Scrolls" were you buy prayers. This society is a bit crazy to me. They are incredibly legalistic and practice ridiculous disciplines. To buy a prayer seems to defeat the purpose of praying altogether, kind of like the Church selling indulgences to the poor in the 15th and16th centuries. At "Soul Scrolls" you choose the prayer you would like then "punch in the number, then punch in your own number so your account will be debited"(167). The worst part of it is that its not at all shocking to hear about things like this are still going on today. In an article posted on the WAFF 48 News website, a woman is reported as having starved her kids to death because she was giving the majority of what little money she had to her church and the Joyce Meyers ministery. "I've had a lot of cases where people felt like in order to serve god and be pleasing in god's sight, they had to do literal things," said a local pastor, T.C. Johnson. Its very sad what happened to this family, but its a very good example of Marx's quote "religion is the opiate of the masses". It is a very powerful thing that could be abused to manipulate people, similar to the situation in Gilead.

Chapter 10 Response

Ok, give me just a moment to stop laughing and looking for a zoo close by. (It's not for me, I swear.)

Now, I was always under the inpression that Neanderthals and humans were decendents. I seem to rememeber in my High School Biology textbook that "Evolution of Man" little diagram with Neanderthal Luke on one side and present day Luke on the other. I was under the impression that this change took a few thousand years or so and some evolution in between, but I also thought that there was some "getting on" getting on in order to get from one side of the dialgram to the other.

I guess I was wrong.

I had NO idea that humans were not direct decendants of Neanderthals. I'm actually trying to figure out why my Biology teacher, or anyone else in the Sciences for that matter, told us that this was the case. While sometimes the truth "shall set you free," this truth left me a little scared, in need of a shower or ten, and a little confused.

I was humored, though; which is always good.

Handmaid's Tale Response 2

"Are there any questions?"

You have GOT to be kidding me! Ok, I tend to like movies and books that have those "open endings," but most of those books and/or movies give you just enough information to know what happened to the character or the rest of the world after that. Now, to tell me that no one knows what happened to Offred at the end is kind of a killer. It's almost as if the author got sick of writing the story and gave us a cop-out at the end of the book. Granted, you are allowed to draw your own conclusions and "create" your own ending, but by putting the lines "maybe she was captured again or killed" doesn't really help the 20th/21st Century mentality of a "happy ending." And then to close it out with the entire story being nothing more than a class discussion? Ok, I get that, but I have yet to meet a teacher who went through an entire story and didnt give an ending. It's like a joke with no punchline. That whole last chapter just killed the book for me. If was an awsome look into the "what could happen" doomsday read that is always fun to read, but, sorry, I can't put it on my favorites list because of the last chapter and line.

Handmaid's Tale Response #1

Ok, I KNOW I am going to catch some flak for this, but hear me out.

To me, Handmaid's Tale sounded a lot like the V for Vendetta graphic novel by Alan Moore. If you havent read it, you should. Basically, the British government has fallen after what is possibly another world war or a nuclear war and a Hilter-eske dictator has taken over the country and instituted widespread martial law. There is censorship everywhere, gays, people of color and non-white decent are put into camps and killed, etc etc. Alcohol is replaced by milk for goodness sake! (Possibly a wink to A Clockwork Orange there, I would think.)

But as far as the "Of" women, and just women in general in this tale, it seems almost the same. Their rights have been taken away, the world is in an "orderly" state and is run by the theology and thoughts of the new reigim.

Answer to question 2

As futuristic and surreal as The Handmaid's Tale may seem, parts of it do parallel real life. In The Journal of Medical Ethics, scientists pose a question to a group of women: "Would you rather be a 'birth' or a 'genetic' mother?" This question mirrors one of the central themes in Handmaid's Tale. It is most noticeable when a Commander's Wife attempts to play a part in her Handmaid's birth, as is customary, in Chapter 21 on page 125.
An article in US News and World Report features another similarity between the book and the real world. A fundamentalist Mormon extremest, Warren Steed Jeffs, used his faith to justify his criminal actions. Under his leadership, young girls were used in ways not completely unlike the way Handmaids were treated in Atwood's story.

Response to Question #2

It is so crazy how there are real life situations that relate to what happens in the handmaid’s tale. This whole book describes the constant degrading of women. This can also force some of the women to rebel and murder (Moira) and to commit suicide. In chapter 29, page 187, the Commander says a Latin quote to Offred and told her that one of his old handmaids committed suicide after Serena found out about the Commanders and the handmaids secret nighttime liaisons.
Today, in Turkey (http://www.wluml.org/english/newsfulltxt.shtml?cmd[157]=x-157-537784), there is a concern about the current rise of young women suicides. Investigators from the UN, feminists groups and government officials are claiming that the women are killing themselves because of their forced lifestyles and if one would get caught doing something wrong, they were told that if they committed suicide, it would clear them of their wrong, and give the family “honor.” That stuff is just sickening!

In Chapter 37, Offred sees Moira at Jezebels, the club that the Commander sneaks her off to show her off. Moira tells her story, saying that she stayed with Quakers who were against the Gilead life (Chapter 38, 246). She said that they put her on the Underground femaleroad, an underground network that helps women trying to escape from Gilead reach safety. This underground femaleroad is related the Underground Railroad for slaves during the pre-Civil War days in the United States. Harriet Tubman, a former slave during slavery in the U.S. was one of the main people who helped slaves get from their plantation masters to the North, sometimes beyond Canada (http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/99/railroad/j1.html).

Chapter 10: The Sexual Revolution

This was the craziest reading I have read in my life. Of course I know about the Neanderthals, but I never once questioned why Homo sapiens and Neanderthals ever hook up! I’m so glad that Homo sapiens were hotter and more attractive. This man obviously has a lot of spare time because I would never think about dating a chimp, although I think some of them are smarter than some of these Homo sapiens sapiens I put up with today.

Handmaid's Tale Response #2

This book made me more appreciative of the society we live in today. Still, women do not receive the credit that they deserve, but that is completely different from the handmaids. Since it was filled with the controversy regarding feminism, this book made me feel like joining a radical feminist group! GO WOMEN! I am so shocked that Atwood thought this way to create a story like this, but I loved how it tested my imagination.

Handmaid's Tale Response #1

The Handmaid’s Tale frightened me to death! I do not understand how these women went through this, although, they did not really have a choice, unless they wanted to be an unwoman. It’s really sad because in reality, there are women on the other side of the world that are living lives that are very similar to what the handmaids go through. Most women want to be respectable, honest living people like the handmaids. If the women do not, they are looked at and frowned upon, or they are considered prostitutes. Offred went through plenty emotion stress thinking about her pre-Gilead life. I do not think that suicide is ever the answer to troubles. However, I do not blame the women that did kill themselves after everything they have been put through.

The Handmaid's Tale-- response 2

In The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood induces readers to feel sympathetic to the main character. Since the story is told first person from Offred's point of view, we feel closer to her. It makes it seem like she's talking to us. Also, the way the story follows Offred's stream of conciousness gives us a glimpse of what she's thinking. We feel closer to her by experiencing her flashbacks and reading her opinions on all that she has seen. Another reason why we feel close to Offred is the way the book is narrated. Our information is limited to what Offred knows. In that respect, we are in the same position she is. If this story were told by an omnicient narrator, we would get the big picture, but we wouldn't understand how Offred felt. Chapter 46, the ending of the book, is the best example of this. It has an ambiguious ending. The reader is in the same posistion as Offred, because neither one knows what will happen to her next. The narration, stream of conciousness, and the ending all work together to make the reader more aware of how the main character feels.

The Handmaid's Tale-- response 1

Margaret Atwood makes a thought-provoking social commentary with her novel The Handmaid's Tale. In this futuristic work of fiction, a sect of Christian extremists have taken over the United States. They killed the president and all the members of Congress, and have instituted their own government that controls people's lives. People who belong to other faiths are persecuted and killed. Women are robbed of their rights. This book--like 1984, Brave New World, and We--features a controlling, invasive regime in which individuals have little to no power. These four books also carry a warning to readers. They make people stop and think about where their own society is headed.

Chapter 10 response

Mark Sumner makes an interesting speculation on why homo sapiens survived when Neanderthals died out. I don't think that he is trying to prove a scientific theory so much as he is introducing a new idea. He doesn't adopt a serious, scientific tone--especially when he simplifies his theory about humans and Neanderthals simply to "I think we were sexier than them." But Sumner gets serious when he needs to be, explaining how humans and Neanderthals co-existed and how chimpanzee mating habits may help us gain insight about why humans survived and Neanderthals died out. I think that his theory makes a lot of sense. It was interesting to hear a different theory about the extinction of Neanderthals.

Chapter 10

After reading Chapter 10 of our reading one thing seems crystal clear, Mark Summers, the author of "The Sexual Evolution," is one weird dude. But his point, if I get it right, was to describe how sex played a crucial role in which species (Homo sapiens / Neanderthal) ultimately dominated and won out other the other. Although for all of Sumner’s comedic undertones, his point seems to be small beans. Although sex surely played some parts in Homo sapiens becoming the dominant species over Neanderthals, in no way was this the only factor. More likely, as Jared Diamond's book "Guns, Germs, and Steel" illustrates, there were several factors which made the Neanderthals the less effective species. But thinking about how sexual relations have made some species more effective at survival than others is interesting.

2nd Reading Question

In "The handmaid's Tale" many of the events match events in our own real lives. One such event involves the birth defects causes from pollution, agent orange, nuclear waste and just plain contamination. Agent orange has caused birth defect such as spina bifida and contamination has caused many different types of structural malformations in newborns. Scientist have proved these events by their testing and observations of these specific birth defects in relationships to the higher concentrations of occurrences. You can read about these problems in many medical journals, magazines and even on the news. On place to look is at http://www.sbaa.org/site/pageserver?pagename=asb_agentorangefaq which gives some information on agent orange side affects. This is the same type of events as described in chapter 19 page 112 of "The Handmaid's Tale". The possibilities of birth defects and stillborns is taught to the women at the Red Center. Even though this is a fictional book, it does describe many of the events which could happen in the future if pollution and chemicals are not managed more closely to protect the future live.

Another event which happens in "The Handmaid's Tale" is terrorism. This country has already seen the effects terrorism can have on it, in just one day. The events of 9-11 not only caused the lose of uncountable live, it also cause transportation to stop, the stock market to close, and most of the state and federal governments to halt. This involved only four planes but the devastation is unbelievable (http://www.september11new.com). In "The Handmaid's Tale", we read a story that is completely based on the idea of the President and the congress all being killed. This problem is then further added to by the constitution being placed on suspension. By removing the rights of some people and giving others all the power to rule and control, we see the US as we know it turn into a prison for some and even worse for others (Chapter 28 page 174). People are killed just because of who they are and we have no more since of security which is the whole idea of terrorism. This is a fictional book but if we aren't careful, it could be us in some distant future.

Chapter 10 - The Sexual Evolution

In Chapter 10, The Sexual Evolution, many interesting ideas are discussed. The relationship between neanderthals and us compared to chimpanzees and pygmy chimpanzees is a very unique way of thought. We do have many DNA similarity but the differences should make the comparison almost impossible. Neanderthals seem no more related to us than the chimpanzees are related to us. After reading this article, I am wondering who and when someone is going to compare humans to birds since we both start off as an egg at some point of our lives. This may seem like a far stretch but so is trying to compare the sex live of an extinct species to an existing species when there are no written evince to even look at to start the beliefs. As stated, the author doesn't even know how many children each women from the neanderthals gave birth. The explanation of them not having sex could be just as easily explain as a longer gestation period for neanderthal babies or more miscarriages do to the harder life they lived. I feel that a judgement of why need to come before the comparison of species.

The Handmaid's Tale - 2

"The Handmaid's Tale" discusses many topics of controversy. Servitude, promiscuity, and indulgence all of which can be viewed as sins by one group or another. Our constitution gives us the right to freedom which leads to these type of action many times in this society. The events like 9-11 and wars should show us that we need to watch over our shoulders because others are always judging and trying to take away the rights we hold so dear. All it takes is one plane, one boat or one car in just the right place and our lives are changed forever. The is shown in "The Handmaid's Tale" by the fact that their live went from being like ours to a whole new life by having one group of men kill one group of people. Just the right group at just the right time and the world changes.

The Handmaid's Tale - 1

"The Handmaid's Tale" is a very scary view of a future that could happen to all of us. We are all able to lose our freedom and chooses just as easy as someone coming to our house and taking it from us. I pray that the conscience of our society will keep our society from ever evolving into the backward world that this book describes where the women go back to the way things were so many years ago. Women had to fight for the right to own property, learn to read, have a lob, and to have the basic right to vote. In this book all of these rights are removed for the women with no say from the women. The men do also lose so of their rights that are so basic that no one would have ever thought those would be taken away from them. I feel that this book shows us that even the most basic of rights need to be protected and fought for because once one is taken, how long before the rest of them will be taken from us as a society?