Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Closing Thoughts
This semester has made me think about a lot of different things -- mostly summarized in that robots are better than humans but will never become better than humans if they are sterile...but we all are cyborgs anyway so it doesn't matter.
Something my brain really started working on this semester is genetics and genetic engineering. It was one of the those rare cases where two of your classes relate to each other, and in this case they informed one another. With an environmental studies background you hear about GMOs, that they put genes from an arctic fish into a tomato so it can grow in colder weather. But with this class, you see how far this could be taken. The Windup Girl was very interesting to read, because instead of suggesting that GMOs are bad because they aren't "organic" or whatever, it is because of the ways that they can allow for corporations and capitalism to become further ingrained in what we do. While we were learning about this in Tec. Ec. Lit., we were looking at gene therapy in genetics, and how plasmid and reverse transcriptase and all that sciencey-stuff goes into gene therapy. I think this is an area where there probably are, and definitely could be, a lot of interesting sci-fi novels in the future. The combination of lit and genetics really got me thinking about some sci-fi stuff I want to write.
As for things I was already thinking about, and that this class further informed, came at the beginning of the semester when we read Paley. Coming from 13 years of Catholic schooling, I guess I was used to doing science in a religious setting, and it wasn't like people were lobbying to ban evolution. But I guess it was really illuminating to see what that whole movement is based on, beside the bible. It was also fascinating that Darwin was inspired by the same text that people use to deny Paley's theory. It also felt like I started seeing Paley everywhere, and could actually understand. For example, professor Weldon loaned me Angels and Insects, which takes place right after Darwin's theory started taking root in England. The main character is a scientist and believes Darwin's theory, while the man who hires him believes in a more Paley theory. I was able to appreciate this era and the conflict between the two characters because of the readings for this class.
Thanks for reading, shout out to my 13 Russian readers. You guys are the best!
Something my brain really started working on this semester is genetics and genetic engineering. It was one of the those rare cases where two of your classes relate to each other, and in this case they informed one another. With an environmental studies background you hear about GMOs, that they put genes from an arctic fish into a tomato so it can grow in colder weather. But with this class, you see how far this could be taken. The Windup Girl was very interesting to read, because instead of suggesting that GMOs are bad because they aren't "organic" or whatever, it is because of the ways that they can allow for corporations and capitalism to become further ingrained in what we do. While we were learning about this in Tec. Ec. Lit., we were looking at gene therapy in genetics, and how plasmid and reverse transcriptase and all that sciencey-stuff goes into gene therapy. I think this is an area where there probably are, and definitely could be, a lot of interesting sci-fi novels in the future. The combination of lit and genetics really got me thinking about some sci-fi stuff I want to write.
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| Reading sci-fi helped me understand this... |
As for things I was already thinking about, and that this class further informed, came at the beginning of the semester when we read Paley. Coming from 13 years of Catholic schooling, I guess I was used to doing science in a religious setting, and it wasn't like people were lobbying to ban evolution. But I guess it was really illuminating to see what that whole movement is based on, beside the bible. It was also fascinating that Darwin was inspired by the same text that people use to deny Paley's theory. It also felt like I started seeing Paley everywhere, and could actually understand. For example, professor Weldon loaned me Angels and Insects, which takes place right after Darwin's theory started taking root in England. The main character is a scientist and believes Darwin's theory, while the man who hires him believes in a more Paley theory. I was able to appreciate this era and the conflict between the two characters because of the readings for this class.
 |
| ...and this! |
Thanks for reading, shout out to my 13 Russian readers. You guys are the best!
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