Today during my final Rose Café, I was introduced to the topic of genetic engineering. As a non-science major, this discussion warned me to pay attention to scientific trends and keep up with technology to make the most sound choices in the future. At the discussion, I learned that there are so many opportunities for genetic engineering. From curing disease, creating sustainable food options, changing one’s eye color to making someone more muscular by nature, there seems to be endless possibilities for genetic engineering. Looking ahead, it will be necessary to regulate some of these activities because of morality concerns and how the side effects of genetic engineering have not yet been fully uncovered. Personally, the idea of being able to alter almost all the attributes of a baby is scary and could create significant changes to our ecosystem if abused. On the other hand, curing cancer would be a significant step in human history and our lives collectively will be prolonged to 200, maybe even 300 years if we all make use of genetic engineering to make ourselves immune to life-threatening diseases. While I am still so unaware of the topic, I am highly optimistic of future scientific endeavors and am excited to see what sorts of innovations we will have available to us in the coming years.
Author Archives: rps245
A Semester in Reflection
Last night, I attended the final table talk with Ty about how the semester went based on personal and global events. I had a good conversation with a couple of peers who talked about how their semesters have been difficult and that they are looking forward to winter break. Attending this talk was a good way to refresh my mind into “finals mode” because I still need to take one more prelim and a couple final exams that carry weight on my final grades. I often think of how we value grades so much as students, and how getting higher scores mean so much to us in the moment but will probably seem irrelevant in years to come. College could be much more meaningful if there was less of an emphasis on grades and a greater emphasis on learning; I do understand why grades are in place this way because of how students would never study or go to class without it. A lot of my reflection ended up being personal, and I feel that by living at Cornell we are so isolated from the real world. We could remain enclosed within our own bubbles if we wanted to and never read the news on what is going on in the world. While I am already looking forward to graduating in 1.5 years, the thought of “not having a bubble to go back to” scares me and lets me appreciate the heavy workload I currently have.
Thinking about free will and our world
On Wednesday, I had the opportunity to attend a Rose Café session on Free Will; do humans have truly “free will”, or are we bounded by “destiny” and other uncontrollable factors? Who is responsible for our actions? Are you really responsible for your own actions? These were some of the many confusing questions that were brought up during discussion. We learned during the discussion that children have a much more difficult time trying to control themselves, but at the same time are a lot easier to observe than adults when trying to analyze the interplay between human behavior and emotions. While I am unsure of whether I have full control of my own actions, I would like to think so; believing that my “free will” has gotten me to where I am today is more comforting than to think that some uncontrollable force has brought me to where I am today. While I am not very philosophical, I believe that these concepts are extremely interesting and occasionally makes me wonder about the world we live in; it may all just be a dream and there is no way to prove that anything exists in our world.
Political Turmoil
Attending the “Secure the Vote” event was a wonderful experience as I got to listen to esteemed political scientists from other institutions in the Untied States. Something that has always bothered me is how voting day is on Tuesday, which could possibly be a liability for voters who are living on day-to-day wages and cannot afford to skip a couple of hours of work to go vote. Transportation infrastructure is not the best in the United States, and citizens especially in suburban areas need modes of reliable transportation, motivation/political interest, as well as a willingness to potentially sacrifice other commitments on the weekday. In addition, differences in voting methods have significantly impacted ballots, and could even affect voter psychology. With the electoral college that is often regarded to as unconstitutional, I wonder if the United States will be able to adjust its political measures and politics to the current era; there are many more people in the United States compared to the 1700s when voting first began, and systems should change regardless of tradition to accomodate fairness and convenience. Many issues in the constitution (eg. gun rights) were a necessity for people living in the 1700s; sticking to these policies from a couple hundred years ago could be significantly limiting the growth of the United States and due to this lack of flexibility. I always enjoy listening to these types of political discussions because they are intellectually stimulating, and they bring our the diverse values and belief systems that even esteemed political scientists have.
Polarization and Politics
Last week, I had the opportunity to attend a Rose Café session on the American political scene and how polarized the political parties have become in recent years. It was exciting to hear about something that I had always wondered about: the stances of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party are so different now from the past, as party ideologies have shifted and people have consequently moved around from supporting one party to the other. The Republican Party used to be the party that originally stood by abolishing slavery, and the Democratic Party stood by beliefs of the “common man” and slavery. Economic politics from the past still mirror current beliefs, while the Republicans used to be much more socially liberal and the Democrats were economically liberal but socially conservative. These notions began to slowly change and supporters slowly moved from one political party to the other over time, as the Republican Party became much more socially conservative as well. I have read a book on how the Republican Party is much more polarized than the Democratic Party, and that many republican supporters tend to live in the suburbs and are consequently uneducated. It is amazing that these generalizations even exist in such a geographically diverse (and large scale) nation like the United States. From my perspective, it is highly disappointing that parties feel the obligation to stand in more polarizing stances because of how that is the only way to take in the “ultra-right wing” or “ultra-left wing” voter; most voters indeed remain neutral, just like how the political parties were back in the day. Getting the opportunity to hear about the political scene in the United States is a great way for all Cornell students to get a better understanding of America and its culture, no matter what discipline we study. I am looking forward to more of these opportunities in the future.
Making Tough Decisions in the Real World
This Wednesday, I attended the “How to make a tough call” Rose Café session which focused on Cicero’s book of moral duties. All of the topics were interesting and gave me a moment for thought, including when to reject a leadership position, and when to not tell the truth.
I resonated the most with the general question of how to make a tough call; as students, we are often forced to make potentially life-altering decisions on a daily including choosing out major, choosing a college that has a limited selection of majors, choosing a junior summer internship that could lead to a full-time offer, and so on. While these events do not mean much in the scope of the rest of your life, they could surely have a great impact on the type of career you end up in, and I believe that we often feel overly pressured to make “correct decisions”. While we all understand the potential consequences of choosing one decision over the other, we may be overthinking these decisions on a daily. Some people cry over not getting an internship, but this doesn’t mean that your prestigious career is over. There is always room to crawl back in, and this is something that we often forget as busy students. Relating to how busy we are, I believe that if taking a leadership position will add to the possibility of my success as a student, I should take it; on the other hand, if any time constraints and other commitments will get in the way of performing to the best of my ability for this commitment, then I should not take it as other people may be more fit for the position.
Cicero’s book introduced many interesting examples of how to view the world, and how to make tough calls especially when relating to issues of morality. Acting with morality will be an essential component of my life that I should stick to, as well as understanding how it is important to take a step back and relax; your life is not bad as you think it is.
Our Generation’s Mindset on Food Waste
On Wednesday, I had the opportunity to attend a talk by Frank Rossi at the Bethe House on food. Among the various ideas presented in the talk, a couple of thoughts including food waste, the value of food within cultures was especially memorable. Especially regarding professor Rossi’s discussion on food waste and how we need to stop wasting food, I thought about my own roots and how my culture perceives the value of food. In Asia, many people talk about food as something precious and how we cannot waste even one grain of rice because farmers dedicate so many hours to the production. However, nations have become much more westernized in the past few decades and many Generation Z people are direct contributors to the problem of food waste that so many people have taken on seriously from generations ago. While institutions like Cornell have taken strands to lessen food waste on campus, much of these solutions are solely psychological and do not directly affect the mindset of students. Even if dining halls now have less food waste, the essence of “how students eat and waste food” has remained the same. There should be more explicit movements for students to understand the significance of food waste, so that Cornelians will be able to take responsible action once we are in the workforce and beyond.
Getting to know the Trustees
Last Wednesday, I had the opportunity to listen to a couple of trustees at the Cornell Board of Trustees Rose Café event. Before going into the room, I wasn’t fully sure of what the board really did, and who would be on the board. After hearing them speak, I now have greater trust and an understanding of the board system and how the trustees really do care about Cornell’s wellbeing.
For instance, I found out about the steps they are taking to ease mental health concerns around campus. As people before were complaining about how they could not get an appointment to see a counselor, the board changed the time slots so that people could be treated when they want (by developing short-notice time slots). In addition, I found out that Cornell performed an audit on all freshman class athletes to check for any fraud in our system after the nation-wide college athletics scandal from last spring.
While the board seems to be taking proactive measures to improve the school, we do not ever get a chance to hear about their accomplishments. If we could have a more transparent and convenient way to communicate with the board as students, there will be greater understanding and recognition for the people who dedicate their time to serve for our community.
Thriving at Cornell
This Wednesday, I had the opportunity to engage in a discussion about “happiness” in college and how this ties into the concept of “success”. While people may perceive you to be successful at Cornell, are you really happy? With stressful prelims, overachieving peers, and pressure to sign with a top-tier firm for summer internships, we may be more unhappy with our lives than others perceive we are. While we are in very fortunate situations, our busy schedules could be making it more difficult for us to understand how privileged we are in the context of the real world. This thought made me notice how I try to compensate for all the stress I accumulate from my academics by constructing artificial happiness (eg. getting takeout, sleeping in on the weekends). This discussion allowed me to notice how my time in college will be what I make of it, and that making conscious decisions to find happiness is key. Constructing healthy relationships, understanding myself (and my character strengths), and taking on challenges (inside and outside of the classroom) could be good ways to make the most of my experiences at Cornell, and I am glad that I got to partake in this discussion.