Author Archives: qc64

Do you really know yourself

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This movie, NOVA, introduces the decoding of human genes and the impact of this technology.

Even a 5-year-old child, who never took any biology class, would probably be able to tell that DNA includes all the information that makes a human. Meanwhile we know very little about the information encoded. After decades of research, the scientists can now indentify the protean types of the numerous pairs on the DNA chain. Yet, we still have limited understanding on how these protean relate to our biological features. Luckily we are now already able to utilize the limited knowledge to improve human welfare, especially in medicine. Reearchers in the area believe that human will be able to completely manipulate these genetic information, i.e. modify what makes up us.

Thrilled by the wonder of science, we still need to consider the ethical side of this development. Should each indiviual have access to his/her own DNA info, and how can we protect the privacy of such info? If we can just genetically modify our descedents, what are the moral issues that come with it?

I personally think that we should consider this problems without stopping our studies becuase the benefits are irresistable. Would not it be great to not having illness or birth-defects anymore?

 

King’s Speech

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The movie, King’s Speech, is based on a real story of a king overcoming his speech difficulties and making one of the most remarkable speech in the history.

The movie tells its story calmly but my thoughts did not end even when the movie ended. I have mixed feelings about the movie’s idealization of the class problem in the Britain but the struggle of this king gave me a valuable lesson. Without the help of his wife and therapist he probably would not have overcome his speech disability and he would not have become the king if his brother did not give up the position. But on the other side, his persistance was also indispensable to his success. This convinces of the words that my parents always tell me,’ the opportunity is always for those who are prepared.’

I will keep this story in mind when I encounter difficulties in my study life.

Reflection on The Martian

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This movie describes the fictional story of an astronaut suriving on the Mars alone before being rescued about two years later.

The knowledge used by the protagonist will proabably never be used in our daily life but it is the spirit of the character  which we can learn from. He encountered tremendous odds while he was on the mars but he never gave up on hope. In our life we probably will not face the lethal situations which he faced, yet we never should give up either. We should just start working while facing difficulties.

Another thing we should learn from the movie is the spirit of cooperation. There is limit on the capability of individual human beings but with the power of cooperation human can do much more. I will also seek cooperation in my future career for greater accomplishments.

Reflection on Black Mirror

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The third episode of Black Mirror showed us the benefits and drawbacks of the technology that allows human to retain all their memories.

After watching this movie, I become more aware of the moral and enthical controvercies that come with the techonological progress. This is an important lesson to me because my career plan is to work as a researcher in engineering physics and will most likely face such porblem.

Regarding the specific topic of using a device to store all of one’s memory, I will still use it if it becomes available, even after the movie showed all the problems. The movie listed several examples of such technology. But I believe the benefits is more than what it has shown. For example, as a student I have always hated thoughtless memorization of contents such as vocabulary. With such technology students will only have to see those contents once and will have more time to devote to other studies. Moreover, police can use this techonology to solve crimes easier with the witness providing accurate statements.

Yet, one cannot ignore the problems that come with this techonology. The movie only showed a glimpse of the main problem: who should have the access to such memories. Not just between married couples or ex-boy/girlfriends, but also between the government agencies and civilians. As shown in the beginning of the movie, the security checked the protagnist’s memory. Suppose that the police needs to investigate a crime, should they have the access to the memory of the suspect?

Even with the problems in mind, I still believe human should pursue techonological progress because this has always been the way which  humanity develops.