Assignment #5 Prompt #2

When it comes to humanistic values like altruism and generosity, I agree that Darwinism always opposes these concepts.  He proposes his theory of natural selection in "Origin of Species" which is the process  where organisms that are best suited to their environment survive and pass on their genetic characteristics in increasing number to succeeding generations while organisms that are less adapted tend to be eliminated.  Richard Dawkins agrees with Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection and that as human beings, we are born with what Dawkins calls the "Selfish Gene".  He believes that it is in our nature to be inclined to support ourselves and those who possess similarly related DNA.  He proposes that genes are driven to cooperate amongst eachother and have no desire to perform any acts of altruism for anyone with unrelated genes. Dawkins states, "Natural selection therefore sees to it that gangs of mutually compatible-which is almost to say cooperating- genes are favoured in the presence of each other."  This may sound like acts of altruism for the same/replicas of the genes because they are in some ways performing good deeds for eachother sort to speak, however, this is gene selfishness.  A selfish gene, according to Richard Dawkins, "is trying to get more numerous in the gene pool.  Basically it does this by helping to program the bodies in which it finds itself to survive and to reproduce."  Therefore, biologically,  we as humans do not seek to behave in an altruistic manner towards those absent of the same genes.  We can observe this behavior at it's best in the short fictional story "Us or Me" by Ian McEwan.  When faced with a dilemma on a windy afternoon, several men had proven that it is human nature to be selfish and non altruistic with those not related in terms of genes. A young boy in a hot air balloon was slowly but surely, drifting away into the sky and the men had made attempts to save the boy.  However these attempts were in vain, because the higher in the sky the balloon became, the more selfish as a group the men became.  Each man was destined to let go of  the hot air balloon because according to the narrator of "Us or Me", letting go is in our nature.  And we all bear the selfish gene.  Both these texts support the idea that Darwinism opposes humanistic values like altruism and generosity. It is simply not human nature to self sacrifice for those who do not possess genes that are akin.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Critical Thinking Blog- Assignment #3

Picking a Reasearch Topic-I have a few ideas, but nothing set in stone yet.

1.  I have always been curious about scientist Stephen Hawking.  I've heard a thing or two about him, for instance how he is disabled to the point where he cannot produce his own speech or ambulate, and has written several brilliant books and lectures about the great questions of the universe. I think as human beings it is important for us to understand the universe-how it functions,when it began etc. I've honestly always been a bit intimidated by science, so I haven't thoroughly explored and researched Hawking and his ideas.  Our LIB 200 research paper gives me the opportunity to conduct my own research on Stephen Hawking, his discoveries, and challenges he may have faced during his career.

Professor Hawking, physicist and cosmologist takes on zero gravity aboard specially designed plane. His next goal is to travel into space to encourage space colonization.  Hawking believes, "the human race doesn't have a future if it doesn't go into space".
As debilitating and restricting Stephen Hawking's disease has on his life, he continues to inspire and provide us with thought provoking ideas about the universe and our existence
2.  Research Paper Idea #1 may be a good choice for me because it involves a 'close reading' and analysis of a literary work that uses science or technology.  I very much enjoy reading a good piece of literature, and as mentioned in idea #1, anything scientific tends to confuse me.  I already have a decent idea about Richard Dawkins's theory of The Selfish Gene and I have read the short story Us or Me, because I used these sources to write the "Portraying Science and Technology" essay.