The Inhanced and the Unenhanced

“The Enhanced and the Unenhanced” by Gregory Stock was one of the most interesting essay that we have read yet. It made me think about how advanced we are becoming. One hundred years ago we did not think that it would be possible to get on a phone that wasn’t connected to the wall with a cord and call anybody that we wanted or that we could just get on a computer and type a report or even get on the internet with it. And now days these things are done without even thinking about it. In this essay we are so advanced that people who want to have children have an option of genetically modifying them to how the parents want them to look or act. We can screen the embryos to see if they have any signs of diseases or if they will become a boy or girl. To be able to do this is just crazy to think.
In my opinion I don’t think that I would want to have my kids genetically modified. I think that the way children are raised is a way to make them act a curtain way when they are older through gaining experience in life. If we just modify them to be perfect then they wouldn’t need to learn through experience. I think that they way kids turn out is the way mother nature wanted them to be and if we decide to manipulate them then something might turn out wrong with them. If everybody decided to have their kids this way then it could take away the idea of being unique. Everyone would want their kids to be smart and healthy and if everyone was good at everything then they would all be the same with all the same talents.
If we had the technology to do this to our children some of the pluses that could come from it would be that we could screen out all of the possible sources of diseases. If we could see a possible source of a disease and fix it before the embryo started to grow. The only reason I would ever want my kids to be genetically modified would be because of this. It would make me not have to worry if my kids would be unhealthy. Another good thing that could come of this would be if a couple was unable to have kids because of health issues then they could get their child made in this lab or however they do it and the kid would be healthy.
In conclusion I liked this read but I don’t entirely agree with what Gregory Stock was saying will and should happen. I think that if we all were good at everything from the beginning then we wouldn’t have anything unique about ourselves. But I do see how modifying our children could be a good idea to make them healthy but other than that I wouldn’t want to mess the gift that god would be giving us.
http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2009/03/the-worlds-fi-1.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_Stock

Dogs Snarling Together

The short essay “Dogs Snarling Together: How Politics Came to Rule the Global Apparel Trade” by Pietra Raivoli was a very long and boring essay. I thought the author used to many abbreviations of the different companies that are involved in making T-shirts. The only part of the essay that I could follow easily without losing my attention to it was the beginning were it talked about Auggie and his army that he had to keep the made in China shirts from getting out on the market in the United States.
In the essay where it described what Auggie does was kind of interesting. He basically runs around Washington persuading politicians to make laws that restrict some of the free trade from other countries. This seems kind of smart in a since that if he didn’t do this then by now the United States would probably wouldn’t have any textile mills left. This would take away several jobs in the United States which would hurt our economy even more that how it already is. In the essay, it mentioned Julia Hughes, who is a Washington representative for the United States Association of Importers of Textiles and Apparel. Her job consists of trying to get some of the laws that Auggie gets passed lifted. She thinks that the T-shirts that are coming from China are a good thing. As Pietra put it, “They follow each other around Washington constantly plugging holes where in the import dike and the other is trying to punch them out. Because they are in constant motion the trade laws are always changing making it harder for other countries to make profit in the U.S.
In conclusion it thinks that I agree with what Auggie is doing because he helps some textile workers keep their job. This is good for our economy because it helps the unemployment level and it gives several people jobs. And I think that if it is made in America it is instantly better that things that are made in China. When I think of “Made in China” I instantly think that the quality of the produce is as cheap as it can and probably wouldn’t last as long.

Robert Thurman "Wisdom"

The short essay “Wisdom” by Robert Thurman was about trying to find our own self. The way to do this was to try to get rid of our inner demon that is always telling us to do the things that we do. It is this thing that makes us act a curtain way to others and that will cause us to become afraid of things that are not clear to us. Once a person defeats this then they have found their true self. They then no longer are only concerned about problems in their own life but are more concerned with the problems and issues of everyone around them.
People often think that they know who they really are because they think curtain things, or are knowledgeable in a curtain issue. By being knowledgeable in a curtain issue, we think that we know all there is to know about something. This gives a sense of security because we will know what do and how to act when in a curtain position that we think we know everything about. But in reality we are actually wrong in thinking we know everything about a curtain something. This is the inner demon trying make you believe something that is not what your true self would believe. In order to find who you really are you need to admit that you are wrong. But this is hard to do for us because the demon doesn’t want you to become vulnerable to not knowing what to expect. “Knowing something is a way of controlling it, being able to put it in its proper place in relation to us so that we can use it effectively” (743). If we think we know something then we will feel a little control over ourselves and we will no longer feel afraid of it because we know what the thing is. Once we admit we are wrong then we feel like we are no longer in control and not being in control makes us become afraid. But if you are your true self then you are not afraid of these things but you are curious as to why you were afraid of it in the first place.
Once you have found yourself you will no longer be self centered and worried about the things in your life. Instead you will be a person who cares about others around you and you will try to help them find their way. “One of the most significant changes you will notice upon discovering you selflessness is that your sense of being separate from everyone else has now eroded. Your new awareness enables you to perceive others as equal to yourself, a part you, even. You can see yourself as they see you, and experience empathically how they perceive themselves as locked within themselves” (752).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism