Mad Scientists of Today and Tommorow

so yesterday in Biotechnology we are finishing the move Pandora's Box and it's all about Jim Watson and his views on genetic engineering and purification and whatnot of the future. Now if you've ever seen the man you'd immediatly notice that he is slightly creepy. I don't know if it's that he is old or that everytime he says something he finds profound he gives you this wide-eyed "hey I'm a genius and I just blew your mind" look. Either way, I find him both smart and creepy.

In my last post I quoted him, and here I shall quote him further:

"We're playing god, but that's an awefully good thing to do."

Am I the only one seeing an issue with that? Whether or not you beleive in God or gods, I think the fact that he is, in fact, aiming to be a godlike being is rediculous.

To just give some background, the whole movie was really about Eugenics, it is this idea of purifying the gene pool. Now that sounds wrong in many ways, but ideally it isn't supposed to be. The aims of eugenics are to eliminate disease, hereditary in nature. Things like sickle cell anemia and manic depression could essentially be weeded out of the world.

There have been, however, some extremely disgusting cases of botched eugenics in the past. The most widely known one being the experiments done by the Nazi party in Germany. Their goal, duh, was to create a pure Aryan race. They tried changing eye color and hair color in sick, twisted, and dangerous experiments.

Watson argues, though, that instead of just having children with cystic fibrosis or hemophelia, parents could choose to not let these genes be reproduced. (here is the biggie) His solution to what parents would see as a problem in a child would be to terminate pregnancies. He argues parents should have the option to test for genetic "issues" and opt to end the pregnancy before it comes to term so the children dont have to "suffer" with any disease during their lives.

He isnt saying they should, he is saying they should be able to. The producers of the movie did interview an author on the genetic nature of Manic Depression about what she thought about this new eugenics. The woman suffers from manic depression and has made a suicide attempt in her past. She can make the pedigree of her family and show who has had manic depression and who has made attempts at suicide. She tells about how when she was diagnosed her doctor told her not to have kids because it was hereditary. Apalling of him, I know. She then argues that people shouldnt use eugenics to rid the population of her disease. The thing is, people with Manic Depression have a higher tendency to be extremely creative. She counters Watson with the fact that by ridding society of people like her, you would be eliminating a large portion of the creativity of the world.

He counters with by letting people be born with this terrible disease, you would be letting them suffer.

I sat through this movie for two days and at every turn I changed my mind. At first I was totally turned off to Watson's ideals, but once you see past the crazy you can see some truth and some respect for human life, sorta. Then I'm totally disgusted again. This movie made me so sdlhighodiag hdgndlghidogh. oh yeah.

So that was the past part, now on to the future.

My plan is to be a doctor, so lots of science. The only severly interesting part of it all to me is genetics. This is so vital to me that I have a stand on it, and all I'm getting is more confused. I dont want to be some crazed Hitleresque genetecist who let's you design your baby. I also dont want to be responsible for the suffering of a helpless being. I mean, sure, I have ten years to figure it out, but still....haha.

Force Force Baby

alrighty, so im supposed to reflect on force. what is force? can you force someone to do something? have you ever been forced? Is all force bad?

1. what is force?

I think the only kind of force is making a decision on someone else's behalf. Doing something that will directly affect someone else without their consent or consulting with them is force. Honestly, that is the lowest of the low. worse than betrayal, worse that lieing, worse than a slap across the face.

2. can you force someone to do something?

I dont think you can force anyone to do an action against their will. However, you can compel someone to do something they wouldnt want to. For instance (on a larger scale), take the child soldiers of Africa. They aren't forced into the armies, they are compelled to do so. If they dont, they are told, they will die, their family will be killed. There will be no one left. If they do go, all they have to do is, oh, kill their mother. If they refuse that, then they will both die. In essence, they dont have to do it, but what choice do they have? It is die now for sure or join and maybe not die. There are two options, just neither are appealing.

3. have you ever been forced?

Yes of course I have been forced. I am a teenage girl, the one type of person in the world who has to make decisions, but cant be trusted to do so. On the grand scale, I am the least dependable, the least moral, the least compassionate. stereotypically, I am a shallow, flighty unsurity. Because of this stereotype, people make assumptions and decisions for me. Dont get me wrong, they might feel they are doing it out of love for me. Mostly, it is a safeguard for them. Sure, it offends me, but the world is about power and they have it all. I could kick and scream and cry, but that will just perpetuate the stereotype.

I have also been forced by peers, by equals. Forced to let go, forced to leave, forced to doubt myself. Probably the pinnacle of it happening almost two and a half years ago, but I am thinking that just opened to door to the rest of it. What they dont see is that, yes, I do know what is going on, I just dont feel like talking about it. If they see fit to force me, then i dont want to stay, hold on.

I have been forced to see good things, to do good things, to feel good things. There are those people in your life who unintentionally force you to be a better person. Their attitudes and outlooks make you see their way. If there could be a silver lining of force, I think I just found it.

4. is all force bad?

This is the stickiest part. I think all force is bad because it discredits the person being forced. When you are forced, it is the assumption, whether it be consciously or unconsciously, that you have no intelligence in the matter. however, one could argue that force can be a good thing. That through love, when you make a choice for someone else it is ok. Like when my parents forced me to be baptised, to go to Catholic school. Yes, that is force, but I was a baby, a child. How could I make that choice? I couldnt, but the choice was posed to me later, when I could.

All in all, I wish people didnt see the need to force. I wish people trusted in others, in me.