Tuesday, May 26, 2009
RoboCorn
But there are always good things that can come from these "freaks" of nature. perhaps there can be medicine spliced in with an apple, so that children do not have to fuss over taking pills and syrups. Maybe one day there will be a time where we can know the repercussions of is done to the plants before they are released, and that would be ideal, but i do not see this happening any time soon, and without knowing what will happen, good or bad, then i do not think we should be meddling in this area of science.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Alongside Humans
Animals should be treated with more respect because humans rely on them to survive.
“An Animal’s Place” is a very strong piece on the treatment of animals. Pollan argues that animals do have the right to consideration as to how they are treated. Surely we should not treat them as we do fellow humans, but we should treat them as an animal, not an object. The treatment of animals, specifically the animals raised for human consumption, seem to not have the same rights as the animals raised for other purposes. Some may argue that there should be no wasted time nurturing the animals that will be killed sooner rather than later, and yet how can one treat animals so inhumanely? Just because the animal is raised for food shouldn’t mean that they are kept in cages so small that they cannot turn around. There has to be some thought about the quality of life of these animals that are raised so that humans may be nourished. The thought of treating animals as objects is clearly abundant in the video about super cows. Only in a world that needs to fill a quota of how much meat is produced in a certain amount of time would think of selectively breeding these cows so that each muscle on their body is doubled in size. There is no other purpose for these cows than to feed us, and these cows would not exist if not for our meddling.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
A letter to Margaret
You flatter me with all your kind words while touching on a very important topic. Much has changed from the days with Elvis and Marlon Brando. Gone are the days of unwavering patriotism and optimism. Looking back at my comparatively short history, there has never been this much doubt about me as we are seeing today. Even some of my own citizens are ashamed and appalled at what is done in my name. My people have lost pride in me and I cannot wholly blame them.
I have been increasingly dependent on everyone but myself for the products found in daily life. No longer are people proud when they see “Made in USA.” The American soldiers abroad have not been the shining examples that we once thought they were. I feel like we treat everyone else with disdain and condescension. This is not the America that everyone called the land of opportunity. How horrible it must be to come here and realize that I am not the shining example I was made out to be. Perhaps this is where the disappointment and contempt started, when people first found out that they were lied to about all that I supposedly promised.
All the while the citizenry go about their daily routines with this disappointment about them and it spreads to all parts of their lives. Then along came the people who try and divert our attention from the important issues so that the people may forget their disappointment in their country and instead be disappointed about the latest American Idol reject. Is this really what we want our American idol to be? Someone who leads us astray from what needs to be done so that the few with power may do as they please while we are distracted by our “American” idol?
There is much that is to be desired about me, but I still have hope that one day I may live up to your expectations about me. I still believe in the image that has been painted of me and I know that there will come a time that others will think of me and see that image as well.
Thank you again for your kind words and concern,
-America
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Horse Blinders
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Ads and school
Somehow our society has come to be jaded by all the ads that are shown everywhere. Ask a some students if they are having a hard time memorizing some notes for a class and you will probably get an earful about how it sucks to memorize all the stuff. Then ask them what the catchphrase or latest commercial is for a product and they probably would know it right off the bat. Croissant makes a good point about the growth that a student does during college, “Students are developing their identities, and that includes brand and lifestyle identities as well as the disciplinary and occupational identities that are the focus of faculty work. (82)” This means that the companies want students to be able to access their product easily so they may build a loyalty to that brand. Companies want to have the students have fond memories associated with their product. Unfortunately because these companies are not actually interested in helping the university, even though it may seem that way, greed seems to play a large role in what is advertized on campus. There seem to be monopolies forming in advertizing in universities because to have two different soda brands advertizing would be a conflict of interest. But whose interest? Certainly not the students who probably prefer a certain brand of soda, but are not strictly dedicated to one or the other. All of the advertisements that we see give us the right to make a decision about who gets our money. If we are only able to see one option on campus, then there really isn’t a choice for us.
This episode of Clone High is about how a corporate sponsor influences a school election. A highlight is at 5:20 to 5:56.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
The future da Vinci
Just the other day I was wondering why there was no person comparable to da Vinci living today. It cannot be that there is nothing left to be discovered or invented. Then I got to thinking that the way that da Vinci learned was totally different from our school structure today. Within our school system we have requirements that have to be fulfilled in order to pass. While it is like a safeguard to make sure that people have the correct knowledge to continue their education, it makes for students who dread going to school. This dread of classes makes it so the student does not like going to class and does only the minimum to get by. After the student is done with their required learning they have formed a habit to do the bare minimum to get by. This is part of the reason that we do not have a da Vinci of our time, people rarely go out into the world and learn about everything they can. They have this notion in their head that learning is dreadful and certainly cannot be enjoyable. Granted in da Vinci’s time there was a lot left to discover about what we today consider common knowledge. Perhaps for there to be a da Vinci of our time, this person has to be well versed in the most complex knowledge in many different areas, but who would want to take the time to learn all that?
Newman presents a good point when he says that if all learning was together, there would be people all around that we could learn from from all different interests. This would help us be more well rounded so that we can have a better grasp on all aspects of life rather than a narrow specialty.