E110 FA19 Class Blog

For my proposal, I plan to research the effect of weather on people’s mental health and overall mood. This is a topic I have always thought about and wanted to know more about. For instance, when it is dark and cold in the middle of winter, many people, including myself at times, tend to become more emotional, sad, or even depressed. On the other hand, on a beautiful sunny day, people seem happier, more positive, and have an overall better mood. This made me wonder: why does this happen, have people researched this before, and is this just a common social behavior or is it scientifically backed up?  

After I began research on this topic, I learned that mood does not only depend on temperature, but it also depends on the amount of sunlight a person gets per day, the amount of time spent outdoors, and the season. My research paper will include information about this, backed up by studies and experiments conducted by other people with the same questions. I am looking forward to learning about this phenomenon.

For my proposal, I wanted to write about the most effective parenting style when raising children. During my research, I discovered that all my sources revealed the same exact information, saying that authoritative is the best because it allows the parent and child to have the best form of communication. Source after source I was getting the same information, all saying the same stuff. From this, I thought I would explore why we all agree that authoritative is the best and why this idea is all established in our minds. From this new research, I learned that we all say this is the best parenting, but culture after culture there are different guidelines that fall under this parenting approach. Asian Americans seemed to have a lot of differences in the best ways to parent and it was more of the parents making sacrifices than physically showing love and comfort toward children like the white American families do. I am still trying to form my thesis/ question on this idea, but this is the direction I’m heading now for my proposal (consensus that authoritative parenting is best, but differs depending on cultures).

Space colonization, or space settlement is permanent human habitation off the planet Earth. This topic has become very controversial based on the argument that the “commodification of the cosmos may be likely to enhance the interests of the already powerful, including major economic and military institutions, and to exacerbate pre-existing detrimental processes such as wars, economic inequality, and environmental degradation.” The possibility of space colonization could expand our knowledge of the galaxy and other planets as well as decrease or eliminate some economic, environment and social issues. 

There is no real reason, right now, that space colonization needs to happen although, if it allows for humans to survive for much longer and benefits our future, then I am definitely in favor. With all the technology and ability to explore more possibilities outside of the earth, we should take advantage of the resources for more understanding of what is beyond our planet and what we are capable of. Although exploration for science is important, this article states that “… the goal isn’t just scientific exploration … it’s also about extending the range of human habitat out from Earth into the solar system as we go forward in time … In the long run a single-planet species will not survive…”  from the NASA Administrator Michael Griffin. Human nature will eventually come to an end, whether we try to prevent it or not. Michael Griffin’s very clear statement that we will not survive off one planet as long as we plan to, is very true. Earth, as we know it, will not be able to adapt to our needs for much longer with all of our constant torture and carelessness. 

As said in the article, expansion typically results in some type of environmental devastation. There is no known life outside of Earth, so therefore, expansion would not cause any type of harm to anyone. Overpopulation is something starting to become an issue for the Earth. If we expanded outside of the Earth, this would no longer be an issue. “Although many of Earth’s resources are non-renewable, off-planet colonies could satisfy the majority of the planets resource requirements.” Discovering a planet that can supports the needs of humans would be a breakthrough for our future as a population. Evolution would take over and we would eventually be able to survive after we found what will allow us to live. 

Creating another life on earth would require many resources such as food, water, a livable environment, etc. In order to survive on an unfamiliar planet, we need many things to survive. These needs would most likely be provided for us, because otherwise, we would not survive. Space colonization has a long road ahead of figuring out what is needed in order to survive on an unknown planet although, they seem to be on the right track of making it happen in the future.

Space Colonization… good idea, or bad idea? At this point in time, it is most logical to lean towards it being a bad idea. As exciting it is to imagine living in an almost “Jetsons” like environment, we have to put our emotions to the side here. With the many exciting pros there are to Space Colonization, there are just as many notable cons to go along with them. First, let’s take a look at the pros. 

    According to Wikipedia, Space Colonization can bring forth survival to the human civilization. There is no secret that humans are essentially destroying its own habitat, so developing the early alternative of Space Colonization. The amount of resources in space is another argument that is made. The Solar System is estimated to have the energy to be able to close to a billion times that of Earth. 

    Again, these arguments are exciting, and interesting. Yet, there are so many cons and “what ifs?” to go along with them. A simple barrier in the way of space colonization is cost. Sending the simplest of supplies into orbit is expensive. Think of just how expensive sending people, vast resources, etc. would be. I can almost assure you, the final cost would be an amount the government would surely be unwilling to pay. Another argument that could be made against colonizing Space, is arguing the very same point as to why people are considering leaving Earth. If we are considering leaving Earth because of man-made destruction, why put another planet such as the moon in jeopardy of destruction? Humans will very much so look to make advances on the moon that will put the moon in harm. Also, colonizing in a different environment means that you are bringing different illnesses, and organisms to the moon that may harm it as well.

    Moving to space sounds amazing, almost dream-like. There is a lot that needs to be done, and solved if it is going to be made possible. I hope that I am wrong, and we can make our way to the last frontier. 

Can we colonize outer space? Yes and no. There are multitudes of theories, ideas, and plans that back up the concept of colonizing space. With all of our technological advancements, creating communities beyond the planet earth is not a far off idea. But is colonizing space a rational, safe, or even smart idea? Let’s take a step back to focus on the cons of making a “home” away from home.

One of the main ideas behind the move to outer space revolves around Earth’s climate change. Supposedly, if human beings move to another planet, we will reduce our carbon footprint and restore earth’s CO2 levels. Of course the notion is noble and the idea sounds perfect, if all humans picked up and moved to the moon, wouldn’t that create an even larger carbon footprint? According to Dan Kwartier, Human beings are crucial to the maintenance of oil plants, subways, electricity and even the survival of different kinds of species. Without 24/7 moderation, these systems fail. Oil plants catch fire and begin to burn for days at a time. Water mains or sewage lines combust and fill subways with water causing the land beneath cities to erode. In brief, with the initial disappearance of humans comes the immediate destruction of our earth’s land. This is not to say, however, that Earth’s condition won’t improve over time. It will just take thousands upon thousands of years for Earth to rebuild itself.

This Ted Talk sums up the impact of humans on the planet Earth and how much it depends on us to maintain it now.

Now you might be asking, well how is this bad? If you think about it, as Earth restores itself to a state similar to that of pre-human colonization, we continue our destructive tendencies on another planet. Not only do we begin to destroy another planet with pollution, but we introduce new microorganisms, diseases, or parasites to a new environment. We risk killing off any microorganisms that already exist on the target planet.

Colonizing another planet or moon does not necessarily lead to a happy ending. While our carbon footprint on earth may decrease over time, leaving our planet will perminantely alter nature and life itself on Earth more than it is now. As Earth’s conditions improve, the conditions of the planet being colonized will begin to decrease and the process will happen all over again.

Transhumanism is an idea that has been around as long as humans have been looking for eternal life. The idea of human enhancement would solve medical issues, create advanced intellectuals, and create new and improved human physiology. However, a major issue with transhumanism is the socioeconomic divide it would create between the lower and upper class. Access to the technology that would aid human enhancement would be expensive, and only the upper class would be able to afford it. This would create a physical divide between the upper and lower classes, and ultimately making the upper class a physically superior race.

Statistically, those with disabilities tend to fall low on the socioeconomic spectrum. This also happens to be the demographic that would need human enhancements the most. If the people who need human enhancements can’t afford them, the entire idea of transhumanism is a moot point. Basically, the rich would become superhumans, leaving poor people and people with disabilities at the very lowest “quality” of life. 

Transhumanism is a topic that I personally find very interesting, and there are many dystopian novels, stories, and Twilight Zone episodes that warn against human modifications (surprisingly all things I was forced to read/watch in my freshman year of high school that have stuck with me for some reason). One example is the dystopian novel series The Uglies. This series is about a society that forces physical modification on its citizens, and an occasional special enhancement depending on who you are. The basic idea of this series is “human enhancement is unhealthy for society.” Another example, which is actually the opposite idea that transhumanism has, which is genetic improvement, is the short story “Harrison Bergeron”. This story is about a society that makes everyone equal by making everyone wear “handicaps,” which ensures no one is more attractive, smarter, or physically superior to anyone else. The moral of this story is “any human modification is bad for society.” These are just a few examples that warn against human modification, and transhumanists should really listen.

Space colonization is a valid and serious argument that we need to consider. According to Wikipedia, Space Colonization is permanent human habitation off the planet Earth. People would leave Earth due to an unfortunate natural or self disaster upon our own planet. Many scientists believe that space colonization will save human civilization. This topic is extremely controversial because there are some concerns with living in space. Space colonies would create several technological and economical challenges. Living in space means human civilization would have to provide for hundreds of thousands of individuals in a unique environment where we do not know how humans life will react. Scientist Stephen Hawking, predicted that if we don’t start colonies in space, humans will become extinct within the next thousand years. I agree with Hawking in this statement due to the fact that Earth is slowly dying and we need some alternative. 

While reading this article, I found the ‘astronomical trajectory of mankind’ very interesting and effective. This idea has to do with four different levels of ways to live in space. First, space colonies could be formed by several habitable locations which would be able to rely on earth in the beginning of the process. Second, slowly the colonies start to progress and become independent when earth becomes no longer. Next, these civilizations would eventually begin to grow and flourish on their own by terraforming. Lastly, the colonies would duplicate and grow copies of each other throughout space. I think this idea would be successful because it starts off with the space colonies slowly separating from earth to expanding at a fast rate. 

A benefit of living in space is that it has an incredible amount of resources. According to research, space has so many resources that it can support over a billion times more individuals than earth. I think living in space is a scary idea and I understand why individuals are hesitant but if humans need to live there in order to survive, it seems like a great plan. 

When looked at as a whole, space colonization sounds like a pretty cool and intriguing idea. But, if you delve into the specific pros and cons of it, it ultimately could end up doing more harm than good. 

One of the issues with space colonization is it’s extremely expensive. It would cost around $640 per pound to take things to space. A strong reason many people argue for space colonization is it would save the human race from becoming extinct. In turn, spending so much money on it would be worth it because you can’t put a price tag on life. Normally I would agree with this statement, but the human race wouldn’t be completely saved. Unfortunately, it is inevitable that one day the human race will become extinct and considering their is also a limited duration to our solar system. It simply doesn’t make sense to spend so much money on a project that isn’t very promising. 

Considering the US has a huge amount of debt, being able to contribute to a big project like space colonization just doesn’t seem reasonable. Hopefully, in the future it could be explored when we are more economically stable and have more wiggle room for errors. 

Transhumanism is a very complex topic so I will be focusing my discussion on how it is an unethical idea that should not be implemented in society primarily because of how it provides a loss of human identity and the meaningfulness of life as well as the unfairness it will cause. Transhumanism is the idea of transforming the human condition by developing and making sophisticated technologies to enhance human capability further than what it can do on its own. 

One of the aspects of transhumanism that proved it to be unethical to me is the idea of tampering with fundamental aspects of people to make them capable of things out of their reach. An example of this is the idea of maximizing humans lifespan. By doing this, human life is becoming less meaningful and in a sense shows a loss of human identity. As humans, we were made to learn how to deal with physical hardships in our lives involving our health and well being. If this were to all go away and we could easily get past any issue in our lives, it would degrade the value and meaningfulness of life we have today. 

Another aspect that makes transhumanism unethical is how it can cause unfair human enhancement in many different areas of life. Whether these be physical advantages or mental and cognitive advantages they will all affect the social plane. This could very well divide society between people who are capable of certain things while others are not because of the advantages some people have over others. These advancements proposed through transhumanism that can improve life will most likely not be available to all people. This will create a socioeconomic divide between people. Certain people won’t have access to these technological advancements while others are living with a great physical and economic advantage. 

These aspects of transhumanism prove to me that it is unethical and should not be implemented in our society. If it is, I believe that it will cause more problems than people think it will. It will cause a divide between people and degrade human identity and the meaningfulness of life we have now.