This whole blogging thing is starting to get really intense. I've delayed in writing this blog long enough, so where should I start? I really didn't know where to go when I read the topic...I mean, last topic, I argued that humans should not be able to modify the genes of their children. But our whole lives, the food we eat and even some of our dogs or animal friends have been genetically enhanced or mutated. Really, is there any justification in this and under what rights do we have?
When I ask myself these questions, I think of the blog topics we have all previously wrote about. Think back to when we were talking about whether or not we were good stewards of the world. When I wrote that blog, I thought about global warming and climate change. That's large scale stuff. But what about the things we eat everyday and all the groceries in the supermarket. Is anything real these days? Think about it...we don't live in God's natural, beautiful world anymore...it's just all fake, nothing like what He intended it to be.
But honestly, I could see how we got here, just like how I'm sure the people of the appropriate generation could see how designer babies and whatever other monstrosities we cause, were created. Everything (most things, anyways) always starts out seeking good, but we always end up taking it too far. I can see how people started making their crops disease resistant by modifying it genetically, because back then, this was their livelihood and their families needed to be fed. A bad harvest was devastating. This is just how modifying human genes started, when people started to find a cure for sex-linked diseases. Genetically modifying dogs? People wanted dogs to perform certain tasks and to do certain things. Yes, kind of selfish, but not as bad as having people today purposely make "dog show worthy" dogs. I don't blame people who own mixed bred dogs, because I have one myself (see below-his name is Boomer!), so I hope this isn't a biased opinion. But I think people who own dogs in general are dog-lovers and it wouldn't matter if they were purebred or mixed. Mixed dogs aren't bad, because different types just...might have had a connection - it's wrong when humans step in to encourage it. Mixed bred dogs are just the norm of today's society, as are all kinds of genetically modified crops and animals.
The wide variety of foods we have come to love and know have most probably been genetically modified somewhere down the line. When we really think about it, a part of us thinks it's wrong, but the other part of us thinks "How could it be wrong? I've lived like this my whole life, so it's impossible that there's a problem." A lot us think like this, because we don't want to open the door to the possibility of opening the door to changing the way we live our life, because life is good. Like they say, ignorance is bliss. To be honest, I don't know what we can do. But I think just knowing will do us good in the future. Maybe realizing the mistake we made can prevent the human race from making another mistake, such as allowing parents to select the genes of their children. We need to think beyond ourselves.
We always think things of the world in relation to us, as if we're in the center of it. But lwe're not, so let's take a look at something other than ourselves, like animals . Animals can be mutated by artificially selecting traits, which is very inhumane. Take the example of a chicken selected to be without feathers. Their nakedness makes them more vulnerable to sunburn, parasites, and mosquitoes. Male chickens are unable to flap their wings, making them unable to mate. Seriously, if they ain’t broke, don’t fix ‘em.
Let's go back and take a look in the mirror. You know, since we do think we're at the center of the universe, it would help if we used this mentality to see just how much our lives depend on the livelihood of others. We truly are all in this together. To answer the question from the first blog, no, we are not good stewards of the earth, because we cater to ourselves first and this is not an attribute of a good steward. In my designer babies blog, I said that humans would always try to find something fix. Maybe we need to fix ourselves, and I don't mean by altering our genes. We need to change our mindset to the fact that things always have a way of working themselves out, WITHOUT our help. And for this blog, I would like to conclude that artificial selection is wrong with the wrong intentions. So where will you stand?
Works Cited
Answers Corporation. (2009). artificial selection. Retrieved December 13, 2009, from Answers.com: http://www.answers.com/topic/artificial-selection
Education, B. (2009). Artificial Selection. Retrieved December 9, 2009, from Understanding Evolution: http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evosite/evo101/IIIE4Evochange.shtml
Wikianswers-What are the advantages and disadvantages of artificial selection? (2009). Retrieved December 2009, 14, from Wikianswers: <
6 Left a Message:
"Seriously, if they ain’t broke, don’t fix ‘em."
Well... why not make them better? It's not like they are fixing them, they are just improving them, just like the technology we have today. However improving animals is for human beings' selfish desires, and it's for luxury and corporations who think nothing but revenue. I dont think people will change, even if we somehow managed a peaceful mindset, somewhere, there will aways be a person who will think differently and try to change everything. We are born with different minds, therefore different opinions. It would be really nice if people thought, "We truly are all in this together.", however people are so selfish it's really sad.
I also dont think there's anything wrong with bred dogs, I always think of it as something like a caucasian and african person getting married and having kids.
Omg cute dog chong (:
I don't think that there is anything wrong with artificial selection since it actually has its benefits. But sometimes, like when it's used selfishly, like dogs being modified so that people can win dog competitions for appearance or racing but that's not TOO bad. Just as long as artificial selection doesn't harm anyone, it's okay. However it CAN cause harm to those being modified or artificially selected which is why it isn't okay. Like the featherless chickens, artificial selection can be cruel since featherless chickens might not even be able to mate. Humans are completely eliminating the option of natural reproduction for the chickens in this case. They will probably be killed for humans to eat anyways but what if they obtain a disease which a human obtains by eating it. I think that's a possibility.
What can I say about Chong's blog? Like always its good, i read your blogs before but never really commented on it. Now I am. I joined reading your information about the topic, but I really liked was the introduction, it set a kinda in our face perspective which were brings the reader's attention. All in all keep up the good work and keep writing em' blogs.
awesomee blog Christina;
I really enjoyed reading your blog because it diverged from the regular "strictly information" blog, I like how a lot (if not most) was your personal opinion. Furthermore, you made some great points throughout your blog, for example, when you mentioned artificially selecting/ creating dogs that are "dog show worthy". I couldn't agree more, I believe thats when selective breeding goes to far. I mean, its great we have all these various breeds to choose from - because without them we'd all be domesticating grey wolves. Yet, when it comes to selecting a dog, simply to make money off of him- thats just cruel and inhumane as you mentioned. Lastly i liked your quote "ignorance is bliss" when you were talking about people who don't even want to hear about potentially stopping artificial selection.
In conclusion, well written blog, I can't say I agree COMPLETELY because I do believe artificial selection plays a huge role nowadays and we do need it, but on the other hand, some aspects of artificial selection, such as over-excessive selective breeding, well thats just incomprehensible.
" .. humans would always try to find something fix. Maybe we need to fix ourselves, and I don't mean by altering our genes. We need to change our mindset to the fact that things always have a way of working themselves out, WITHOUT our help. "
Dear Christina,
Great job on your blog! I specifically liked your conclusion in which you told the audience (in this case, me) exactly where you stand on the topic! Your response seemed very well thought out and you organized your ideas and personal responses very well. You related the topic to your own personal life (Boomer is tres cute!) this showed that you've really understood the topic.
One point of constructive criticism that I would give would be to add more thorough with current information that elaborated and explained that blog topic. Although I enjoyed reading your personal opinion on the topic, I think a bit more background research would have done the trick.
In reading your bio blog, you showed a high degree of writing skills, which also did engage me in the topic. There were no grammatical errors or spelling mistake whatsoever. Great job! Keep up the good work!
Christina,
I want to start off with, you have an adorable dog, and great blog! I loved how you incorporated your own life, and your dog into your blog. I definitely agree with you that artificial selection is wrong, and unethical. However, I think it can come to great use, for medicinal purposes, through the research of stem cells.
I certainly do not think there is anything wrong or unethical with mixed breed dogs, because it's just like having a mixed baby, whether their a poodle, golden retriever, black or white, it doesn't really matter... they're all dogs, and want the same things; love, and attention.
I enjoyed reading your blog Christina, it was a great one, like all your others!
Post a Comment