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jickityjickityjarz
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Name: Jenny
Country: Zimbabwe
Metro: sexual
Birthday: 2/8/1986
Gender: Female
Interests: Staring down the barrel of a camera, Physics, Calculus, graphics and web design, rugby, music, aerospace engineering.
Expertise: Sharpening pencils.
Occupation: Student
Industry: Engineering
Message: message me
Member Since:
12/25/2005
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| I'm warning you-- this is long-winded and moderately technical. I go
into it with no considerations of religion, only on the lines of ethics
and science. You've been warned.
The Human Genome Project… Ring
a bell? Led by James Watson (of the Watson and Crick who discovered the
structure of the DNA), it is the successful scientific endeavor to code
the three billion nucleotides contained in the human genome and
identify all the genes present in it. The group produced a “rough
draft” in June 2000. This opened a “Pandora’s box” of sorts to the
scientific community; with this map, we can seriously begin looking
into the manipulation, engineering, and utter refining of our very
selves—our genes.
You can see applications of knowledge like
this in practice today. Potential parents may elect for testing to see
if they are carriers of genetic defects like cerebral palsy or
hemophilia. Those pregnant may test to determine if their child is, in
fact, afflicted with diseases like Down syndrome. In some cases, when
tests diagnose pregnancies positive with unsatisfactory conditions,
parents choose to terminate said pregnancies.
It’s quite easy
to see where the ethical conflict arises in the case of abortion, but I
want you to look past the abortion issue—concentrate, instead, on
future applicative science.
What if, even before the
life-state of “fetus” comes into being, we correct the genetic defect?
What if we just comb out the bad gene?
I can see where,
initially, one could be quick to condemn. The phrase “playing God”
comes to mind. But I ask you to think, instead, as a parent, a parent
whose child is born with autism or muscular dystrophy or ichthyosis
fetalis. If you had the option, the technology, the ability, to prevent
your child from suffering through such genetic disorders, would you
afford him such sanctuary? Could you really live with yourself knowing
you had the chance to spare your child a life of disability, rejection,
humiliation, even agony?
Maybe, through such genetic refinery, the human race could, quite effectively, eradicate these dark shadows of our gene pool.
Take
mental illness, for example. There are treatments but no cures. As it
stands, there has not been a successful genetic isolation of a gene to
carry mental illness, BUT there is sufficient laboratory study to show
mental illness show genetic predisposition. Perhaps the only “cure” we
can foresee is the elimination of the hypothetical genes that transmit
these disorders. What if you could wipe away the tears and terror of
madness before it ever spawns in posterity?
Of course, one must
also play devil’s advocate. Some of the greatest minds of our
civilization have been contemporarily or retrospectively diagnosed with
mental disorder. Manic depression, as but a sliver of the well, claims
greats such as:
Abraham Lincoln
Michelangelo
Vincent Van Gogh
Pablo Picasso
William Blake
Bach
Beethoven
Lord Byron
Edgar Allen Poe
John Keats
Ernest Hemingway
Mark Twain
Oscar Wilde
Christopher Columbus
Albert Einstein
Charles Darwin
Sir Isaac Newton
What if we had sifted these genes from these geniuses? Would they have gone on to do such great things?
There’s
significant correlation between mental “illness” and elevated and
creative thinking. With the suffering comes intellect, improvising,
revolution, and triumph! Kim Peek, the man whom Raymond of the movie
“Rain Man” is based, is an acclaimed genius who suffers from Savant
syndrome, among other brain abnormalities.
Let’s just assume
we perfect the technology enough that there are no consequential
medical complications from the genetic manipulation. Say our science is
sound (if such a thing could ever exist). Not only must one look at the
gene in question, one must consider the chaos theory, the butterfly
effect, changing one gene may have on the person as a whole. How will
this alter the individual in both nature and nurture? Will other
phenotypes bear the same? Will the alterations lead to activities that
encourage or discourage culturing and exposure in activities that
engender differing arenas of genius?
Without amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease), would Stephen Hawking be the amazing
theoretical physics pioneer he is today?
Another point to ponder
is where you draw the line, if you do. What of parents who consider
common aesthetics as important traits to control? Could one really say
this is going too far? Who is to determine such an extent? Having a
very desirable appearance can gain a person considerable power and
influence in society. If parents want the very best for their child,
how can you finger brown hair and green eyes as superfluous?
Conversely,
still within the realms of science, narrowing what genetic mutations
exist, though for the good of man, can be the downfall. It is the broad
span of our gene pool that allows man to survive. According to the
prevailing theory of natural selection, it is genetic variety that
allows for the survival of life. We comb strata of the past and find
species that are no longer present in today’s ecosystems. Why? Our
belief is that they were genetically inferior to their contemporaries
in response to one or more stimuli introduced into the environment.
Realistically, having those abnormalities, though detrimental in our
time, may prove to be the key to survival in the future. Our
purification could lead to the ultimate end of our species.
Say
we’re all in agreement here. We like genetic engineering. We’re out
picking sexes and colors, makes and models with all the accessories and
add-ons ala “GATTACA.” Our hospital maternity wards turn into genetic
factories, where women can pay to have their wombs transformed into
pods in a futuristic, sterile puppy mill.
There is no defect
or disease. Every individual is the paradigm of perfection, everyone at
the advantage for EVERYTHING. Where is our conflict? What are our
battles? How do we mark achievement? What means have we to define and
actualize ourselves? What is the point of life anymore? We no longer
have a mottled sea of diversity. There are no longer people with
variation of strength and genius and weakness and folly. What becomes
of us? Will we turn ‘round and find ourselves now craving that
imperfection we euthanized?
Would we really be alive without imperfections?
The more I think on it, the more torn I find myself. Discuss | | |
| Even if you don't buy into this commercialized Christian bullshit--
do something nice today.
You can celebrate the overlooked/forgotten/never-learned virtue of selflessness with out whoring out to established religion.
I'm
not trying to insult any of you proclaimed religions out there, but I
am making a statement here.I think it's a fucking shame that Christmas
has morphed into a Hallmark wallet-buster. People spend too much time
and money on material garbage, completely overlooking the fact the gift
here is the son of God. Children grow up concentrating too much of the
SYMBOL of Santa and not the birth of a savior. Does Christ even get his
glory in death? Not wholly... left playing second fiddle to pagan
potlucks and egg-shitting rabbits.
I guess, in short, I'm saying to extend the message and cordiality of Christmas even to the non-Christian.
It's sad that we can have enough religion to hate each other, but not enough to love each other. | | |
| You don't have to be a conservative. You don't have to be a republican.
You don't have to believe in the war in Iraq. Lord knows I'm not.
All you need is some morsel of compassion for the people out there,
ripped away from their families, [some regretting that choice; some
seeing the good they are doing] to want to do this:
http://anysoldier.com/
It's a website where you can see the names and addresses of military
enlists who have registered on the site in hopes of getting some kind
of contact from the people they're out there protecting. You. You just
scroll down under the "Where to Send" tab, and pick a name. You can
choose to just write a letter or even send a little care package. The
most requested item, though, is just a letter. If you do send a care
package, be sure to read the hints and guidelines... there's a lot of
stuff I didn't realize, myself.
It was just a site I found today, and it brought to my attention
something so small that could make such a difference for someone else.
It'd be nice to bring back random acts of kindness in time for
Christmas. | | |
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| Ruck on, Brandon Neill.
Subdermal hematomas can't handle you. Gramps, you're going to win this. Please keep Brandon in your thoughts and prayers.
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