final rough draft

Julia Sandoval
ENGCMP 0200
March 30, 2009

Personality is something unique to human nature. It is an innate aspect of a person, and cannot easily be changed or manipulated. It is characterized by nurture and nature, yet nurture more than anything else. However, genes do play a part in determining personality, concerning the chemical balances and their influences on basic emotions. It is unreasonable to say though, that genes can be manipulated in order to specifically shape and construct a personality in a human. Even with the same genetic makeup, which would supposedly create the same personality (given that the assumption is that genes alone influence personality), twins do not have the same personality. They are different people, no matter if they are reared together or separate; they may have similarities, but even the most genetically alike people are not the same. Using twin studies, I will argue that genes do not fully determine our personality, and only have a partial genetic influence.

The term “personality” is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as “the complex of characteristics that distinguishes an individual or a nation or group; especially: the totality of an individual's behavioral and emotional characteristics b: a set of distinctive traits and characteristics.” The definition implicates that personality is a mix of behavioral and emotional characteristics.

To be continued…

final project proposal 1st page or so rough draft

Space.
An infinite expanse of darkness speckled with millions of stars whose light travels billions of light years and provides little illumination and no warmth.
As I stared out at the vacuum of space, which had been my home for as long as I had been alive, I caught a glimpse of a nearby planet that I had heard about only in stories told by the elder members of our solitary colony. This planet is called Earth, and was mankind’s home planet until we foolishly doomed ourselves to a life of purposelessness among colonies orbiting our past home, never to step foot on what is called “soil” ever again. Although the leaders of the collective colonies still search for a viable home, it is rumored that our fate to float aimlessly through the heavens has been sealed.
I’m nearly 17 years old now, born and bred among the stars, and still have yet to acquire all the knowledge of what brought our race to flee from Mother Earth. Some say our planet was slowly dying, but we humans sped up the process and condemned the only home we have ever know to an early demise. Others say that Earth could no longer provide for us the way she used to and the only option was to abandon her, or stay with her and have mankind die along side her. However, the elders do not like to discuss the matter, and bringing up such a topic is frowned upon. Whenever I approached an elder and questioned what past event brought us to our current predicament, there is always a look of shame upon their face. But this lasts but a second until they scold me for speaking of such a sensitive and dark subject.

This is more or less an intro into my short story. It is a rough draft in that I am constantly thinking of new ways to approach my story and from what point of view to tell it. This is from the point of view of a 17 year old boy named Isaac who lives in a space colony that orbits the past remnants of Earth. Currently, he is trying to find out why humans fled from Earth.
This is just one plotline idea, but regardless of which direction I choose to go in, the main idea will stay the same. The main idea is that mankind doomed itself to flee from Earth. There were numerous advances in nanotechnology, most of which went unchecked due to the fact that scientists had no moral boundaries. It initially began as a humans controlling nanobots to perform complex surgeries, which resulted in a higher success rate and better precision. But eventually, AI was introduced into the nanobots. Now the nanobots performed surgeries without human guidance. Soon enough, the nanobots began to multiply and identify themselves as a separate species. There was somewhat of a rebellion against the humans, as nanobots became self aware and saw no reward in aiding humans, they saw themselves as "slaves" of sorts. Therefore, they set out to eradicate all living organisms so that they would become the dominant "species" on the planet. Humans saw no way of destroying all the nanobots, as they multiplied at extraordinary rates, thus they abandoned Earth for the heavens. They created space colonies which are widely spread apart. They continue to use the nanotechnology at its first stages, where humans control them, because it proves to be the most accurate way to perform surgeries. The main point is that the harms of the technology outweight the benefits, hence the humans leaving Earth, but still using a low form of the tech.
This is just a very rough outline of my story, as I continue to come up with new ideas as I write it.

beginning of final paper

The Singularity, defined by some scientists as “a future time when societal, scientific, and economic change is so fast we cannot even imagine what will happen from our present perspective, (1)” seems far in the future; past our lifetimes at least. But data from all aspects of life shows that this might not be the case. In fact, Ray Kurzweil predicts in his book The Singularity is Near that this event will happen by 2045. Not surprisingly, this radically different future will have many problems, most of which aren’t discussed by Kurzweil or his followers. There will be external dangers—such as out of control self-replicating nanobots, which I won’t discuss in this paper. There will also be dangers within the human race such as almost a complete destruction of human interaction and motivation. I believe Kurzweil’s predictions will come true, but propose possible solutions to the problems humans will inevitably face.

The basis for Kurzweil’s predictions is the law of accelerating returns, which says that technology is improving exponentially over time (p.7). An important example of this is Moore’s law, which states that the number of transistors that can be put on a computer chip will double every two years. While Moore only intended this to be a short-term explosion in computer technology lasting until 1975 or so, the trend continued and still is continuing to this day (p. 111-112). In fact, Paolo Gargini, chairman of the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors, said in 2005 that Moore’s law should continue to be correct until 2020 (2). So this law turned out to be even more powerful than its founder predicted. The law of accelerating returns occurs in many other areas with some relation to technology such as DNA sequencing and manufacturing speed (p. 74, 101). Critics of this law believe that it is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Businesses predict that a certain area of technology will improve exponentially and then focus their resources on making it happen. However, exponential improvement has occurred in so many different areas of technology that this cannot be the case.

While there is an enormous accumulation of evidence in support of exponential improvement in technology, people continue to think that technology will improve linearly. People naturally expect most things, including improvement in technology, to happen as it traditionally has. This linear view of the future has resulted in many terribly conservative predictions. Even Popular Mechanics, a magazine that has a more optimistic view of the future than most people, said in 1949, “[While] a calculator on the ENIAC is equipped with 18,000 vacuum tubes and weighs 30 tons, computers in the future may have only 1,000 vacuum tubes and perhaps weigh 1.5 tons (p. 56).” The difference between an exponential and a linear view of the future can be seen with internet usage over the past 30 years...

Final Project

Kids these days are spending twice the amount of time in front of a TV or computer screen than they are spending in a classroom, says Ed Mayo in his book Consumer Kids, making them the perfect target for excessive advertisement. According to the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, advertisements have the potential to cause major problems in a child’s life, including “dependence on the things [they] buy for life satisfaction, a “me first” attitude, and conformity.” Unless advertisements are blatantly obnoxious, such as Happy Meal advertisements on school report cards in Orlando, we hardly notice the extent to which we are bombarded with them beginning in infancy. Television and radio have been marketing arenas for decades, although marketing has gone beyond commercials and implanted itself in programs themselves, but with our increasing obsession with the Internet come new horizons for corporations. Websites not only have pop-up ads, but also are beginning to incorporate advertisements in the content of the site and this is often a major issue on websites designed for children. These advertisements convince us our lives will be better if we buy the product. This has a major effect on our perception of happiness. As technology advances, we are convinced that we can’t live without a certain product, be it an MP3 player or a new cell phone; we feel the need to constantly upgrade our gadgets. The constant exposure to advertisement we experience in our technologically dominated lives has given us an insatiable demand for new products and has formed a consumer culture that creates a perpetual dissatisfaction in our lives. As we forge on into the new technologically dependent society we have created, we must decide whether excessive consumerism is the right way to live.

Alisha Nesbitt

Dr. Adam Johns

Assignment #2

March 30, 2009

Beyond Morality

Morality is what someone believes is the difference between right and wrong (and for most cultures it’s the same). In this world today everyone has to have so type of morals that they have to go by, so they can be a good person. It doesn’t always mean that they follow all of their rules but they do try. And if they don’t there is always some type of moral lesson that comes out of it. In the novel Lilith’s Brood, by Octavia Butler, one might ask is Lilith and her son Akin’s world is beyond morality or not?

To answer this question, for me I would say yes, Lilith and Akin’s world is beyond morality of what us humans believe is right and wrong. I believe, when the Oankali made Lilith the leader of the humans, and started to make different changes in her, her world and morals started to change. She tried to stand up for what she thought was right, but the Oankali did what they wanted anyway. Lilith lost her way of living and her life when she became the leader. Most of her ways of thinking has been changed by the Oankali.

As Lilith’s life went on she was forced to have children when she didn’t want to. It was against her morals to have a baby without even knowing or having some say in getting pregnant. The Oankali went against her will to get what they wanted out of her, with no care in the world. They even have done this with the father of the children Joseph. Joseph explained to Nikanj that he didn’t want to have relations with him, but Nikanj did it anyway. Joseph felt that it was wrong for him to have relations with Nikanj, because he thought of Nikanj as a male. For most humans having relations with the same sex is wrong.

Oankali manipulate humans into doing what they think is right or what they believe is good for you. They really don’t mean any harm, but I don’t think they understand certain things when it comes to humans. After they have gotten you to do what they want, and have shown you that they will make you no matter what; they humans just end up following the Oankali’s rules. Lilith realized this a long time ago that her morals didn’t matter anymore. She knew that now she would have to go by what the Oankali believes what’s right and wrong. And her children are already born with Oankali’s morals, so she doesn’t have to teach them as much as she had to learn.

In conclusion, I do believe that Lilith and Akin’s world is beyond morality, but beyond the human morality. The way they are living is going against human morals, but as you read how the Oankali are living, they are following their morals just fine. I do feel that it is wrong how the Oankali manipulate the humans, because they are making them change what they believe in. I think that they should have given them more choices to choose how they wanted to live, instead of just changing them. But overall Lilith and Akin’s world is going fine, because they are living by Oankali’s morals.

The first page or so of my project.

Stephanie Errigo
3/29/09
Final Project
The future of society may look rather grim if we continue in all of our technological advances. Genetic engineering poses the threat of a lazy, mundane society as well as leaving a society wanting more and more. What about when the birth rate turns out to be two times what the death rate is? Why would we ever want our children born to cater our specific wants instead of needs? Some people like Lee Silver may say that we are going into the right direction, but many people like myself would disagree. Silver may also say that we need this Utopian world and hat the disease elimination aspect outweighs the bad, but we also have to think about morality. It’s not like we go around shooting people with terminal illnesses or euthanizing people left and right because they have a defect. We embrace these people and work through their difficulties; we accept what happens in life, why should we change that? We live our lives knowing that nothing should be taken for granted and that we aren’t invincible. If nothing is left to harm us we will become lazy and daring when it comes to everyday tasks knowing that no disease could kill us. Religion and faiths such as the Catholic Church provide much argument in the support of my side, and they use no only faith but also much reasoning as a backing instead of just using all faith like some people may think. Why the Catholic Church you may ask? It is one of the most widely practiced religions in the US and it is known for using many contradictions against many issues in the modern world.
Bill McKibben and Bill Joy are two people that would see it my way, but some things that they missing are the Catholic aspect and backing of things. McKibben has written on religious topics, not directly relating to designer babies, but they do apply to what I’m talking about. Joy is one of the last people that you would link with talking about the danger of the future. He is an innovator of many software programs such as Java, so what would make him afraid of technology? I feel as though Joy is starting to see the light by writing his article, “Why the Future Doesn’t Need Us.” By writing this article he is showing us that we aren’t as invincible as many people may think.



(I think the second paragraph needs a little work still)

Optional Work for Next Week

First, let me state the obvious: you should be working on your final projects. Having a draft (and research) started sooner rather than later will make your life easier. That being said, there are no required assignments for next week. There are two optional assignments instead.

#1) If you post a page or (at most) two from your final projects, I'll comment them as promptly as I can. If lots of you post material my comments may be on the short side, but I'll post them.

#2) If you want to do one more blog post for a grade, here are two prompts. As always, you should have a single coherent arguments, and display detailed knowledge of the text.

a) We talked some last class about human vs. Oankali morality; here's a related question. From your point of view, is Akin's project for a human Akjai, including the colonization of Mars, ultimately moral or immoral? One thing you might do here is establish whether you agree with Oankali morality, the human morality of the book, or something else entirely.

b) Using at least one source (probably a scientific one, and in any case not random junk from the internet - use a book or journal), make an initial attempt to address the question: "Is Butler's depiction of the "human contradition" representative of how human nature is in the real world?

Akin characteristically inhuman

Albert Wu
EngCmp

Akin: Alien in Name, Alien in Nature

In the Octavia Butler’s fictional world, there is a clear division between human and alien values. This difference separates humans and nonhumans into mutually exclusive categories. For instance, McKibben would consider taking away human values as taking away humanness itself. Subtracting the human value system, this ‘human essence,’ displaces one from the realm of what can be considered human into a dimension of alienation. For this reason, Akin cannot be considered as human because Akin cherishes Oankali, rather than human values.

One example of this is the Oankali affect regarding pain. The Oankali, who are able to manipulate sensation, regard pain as superfluous, avoidable, and evil. Humans, on the other hand, tolerate pain. They consider it as a distinct human trait, anchoring them to reality and tolerating it because it is a distinguished human value. Akin shares the same value regarding pain as the Oankali, ostracizing himself from humanness. For example, in Adulthood Rights, Akin is abducted by a group of resisters. He is regarded as waste, and treated without any type of paternal compassion. At an overnight camp, one of his abductors becomes deathly ill: vomiting blood and obviously in tortuous pain. After all the grief Akin endured in their captivity, he displayed genuine concern for the resistors pain; he was curious why someone would endure agonizing pain when an Ooloi could easily treat it. He said to another captor, “an ooloi would stop the bleeding and the pain. It wouldn’t keep him or make him do anything, it would just heal him.” In this example, Akin’s demeanor is parallel to Oankali value systems: his only concern is treating the unnecessary torment. The human perspective, however, is that the man lived a long, fruitful life, and his pain and death is the next human step of life. Akin demonstration of Oankali values delegates him as not human.

Another example of Oankali versus human values that makes Akin nonhuman is each respective value regarding violence. Oankali, by nature, are passive beings, only killing in self-defense; always intending to subdue rather than kill. Humans, however, are violent. They assaulted Lilith and killed Joseph out of frustration and rage, they created guns and abducted a child. During Akin’s initial abduction, one of the resistors placed his neck within easy reach of Akin’s venomous tongue. The man would have been easy prey, but Akin resisted the urge to sting him. The humans, in the same situation, disregarded Tino’s pleas to let Akin go. Instead, one resistor violently “smashed the wooden end of his gun into Tino’s head,” and unnecessarily assaulted him again while unconscious. The contrasting behaviors of Akin and his human captors is a scope into human and Oankali values. Because Akin chose rejected violence, whereas the humans accepted and were forthright with their impetuous values, Akin cannot be considered as human.

Altered Morality

When comparing two societies, or even two groups within a society, it is almost always evident that morality is not a universally identical concept. Examining two different religious groups may produce two different views on euthanasia or homosexuality or monogamy. Examining two governments will produce two different views on the morality or immorality of substance use and abuse. Regardless of what, exactly, the differences between two groups are, the important point is that the difference will, in fact, exist.
Morals are not universal. Individuals create a personal systems of ethics based on many different factors and the result of the effect these factors have will almost certainly never be identical in two individuals. Generally, religion is a major contributor to one’s moral beliefs. Yet, even two devout Roman Catholics will find their morality diverging on certain topics. Such things as media, culture, peers, and parental influence will also shape and mold one’s morality throughout a lifetime.
Thus, I believe that there is no situation in which one is “beyond morality” because there is no universal minimum for ethical behavior. Regardless of circumstance, it is possible to make decisions based on what one, in a particular context, can define as moral. In creating a definition of morality, a society or individual must consider many issues, such as the needs of the greater society, the risk of inaction versus the consequences of action, and the particular qualities that are considered to be most valuable to said society. This consideration can be done in any circumstance and, therefore, any circumstance can be considered to have a moral code applicable to it.
This concept can easily be placed into and proved by the context of the world created by Octavia Butler in Lilith’s Brood. In a situation such as Akin and Lilith’s novel world, morals must be redefined accordingly. In Lilith’s Brood, there are two major divisions within the sphere of intelligent life on planet Earth: Oankali/Human/Construct society (henceforth to be referred to simply as Construct society)and Resister society. These two groups have very different needs, consequences, risks, and value very different things.
Consruct society is a stable world. The ship-being provides sustenance, most resisters are fearful of invading or raiding a Construct village directly, and illness or injury, if it occurs, is easily cured if an ooloi can reached the injured party fairly quickly. Any visitor or invader to the village is easily identified and, usually, not much of a threat. In this case, morality is much more clear-cut. The society is well aware of what it values, namely the elimination of pain, disease, and the human contradiction. The society has clear members and, due to the communal nature of the Oankali, is able to make decisions fairly unanimously and easily. This is a situation typical of most modern societies, in which a moral code can be created that applies to nearly any event which may arise.
Resister society, on the other hand, is less stable. Their food supply is less certain, dependant entirely on their ability to grow crops, gather wildlife, hunt animals, or raid other villages. Though cured of disease by the Oankali before their placement on Earth, any subsequent injuries or disease are, for all intensive purposes, incurable. An invader to their society is potentially a huge danger. Morality is, therefore, much more fluid between villages and, in many cases, even within the villages themselves. Every situation must be examined carefully and decided on in its particular context. This would be the type of circumstance that the movie Solaris would be referring to when making the claim that one was “beyond morality.” This, however, is not truly the case, because, despite the fact that decisions must be made on a nearly base by case basis, decisions can still be made morally. They need not be made rashly or selfishly, but must be made with some consideration of what will best benefit the society and what would be “right” to do in the situation. In this way, the situation is not beyond morality, but answerable to a, perhaps, different set of morals than society would have had before the end of the Earth and invasion of the Oankali.

The Power of One

Evan Kelly
Dr. Adam Johns
Seminar in Comp
3/22/09
The Power of One

The classic alien created by producers in Hollywood is a grotesque and evil creature sent to destroy or take over Earth. Octavia Butler’s portrayal of aliens in Lilith’s Brood is an astonishingly different view on what life beyond Earth could be like. In fact, the aliens (Oankali) are so anti-violence, that they will imprison anybody that is violent, for the rest of their lives. The Oankali take pleasure almost solely in the reproduction and breeding of children. Akin, the son of Lilith and the late Joseph is the first boy born to a human woman after the war. He is clearly not human, but I believe that this is a good thing. In a world so utterly destroyed by humans, it is clear that a change was necessary.
Akin is the product of the changes that the humans required. He is neither human nor Oankali, but a hybrid. His twisting, gray tongue and sensory spots are evidence that he is not fully human, but he possesses all of the human organs and even though his memory is perfect, it is human. It is just genetically altered; the way that we could soon become in real life. Early in the book Nikanj says, that when it enhances a human’s body, nothing is added. The chemical make-up is just altered and used to it’s full potential.
Akin is a blessing to the world. He is normal enough to continue being called a human. One could argue that since he does have Oankali qualities, that he is a different species, but I think of Akin as the next pillar of human evolution. Humans were no longer able to survive on Earth once the war came. Akin is the result of human evolution. Just as humans today are believed to evolve from apes and chimpanzees, Akin evolved from us. He is better adapted to survive on Earth than any pre-war humans. Not only can he sense potential danger in plants and people, but also he is appalled by war and death. When Tilden died from his ulcer, Akin could not comprehend why he wouldn’t accept healing from an Oankali. He also did not understand how humans could kill each other. This thought process was implanted in him from birth and it comes from the need to leave war and destruction behind, just as the Oankali do.
A lust for wealth and power is consistent in almost all pre-war humans. They demonstrate this by continuing to kill, rape, and steal even after their world had been destroyed by the war. It is part of human nature to always want more, and the humans would inevitably destroy themselves again if the Oankali did not cross breed. The result, Akin, though not completely human is an improvement. The question of morals is a different topic completely, and many humans would be strongly opposed to what the Oankali do with genetics, but then again, after the world destroyed itself once, genetic alterations may have been the only viable option to save humanity.
Akin’s value to people is astounding. Lilith, the Oankali, the raiders, and even the resistance villagers value him. One can only wonder how a child can be so valuable to such different groups of beings. Lilith values Akin because he is her child, and the Oankali love him because he is one of their own as well. He is also the first boy that they mixed that thrived on Earth. The raiders value Akin for completely different reasons. He can be traded for a woman and many trade goods that will make them rich. At one point they even wonder is they should trade him because he is almost priceless. The villagers yearn to have a male child of their own, because they could not produce any after the war. Their future depends on Akin. Though Akin is not the same as Lilith, Nikanj, Iriarte, or Tate, they all admire him and see themselves and their loved ones in him. Akin is a combination of all beings. He can communicate with people, Oankali, and his environment. In turn, he is loved by all of them.
Though I do not believe that the human race will wipe itself out, at least for a very long time, I do believe that Akin represents at least a base for what humans should try to become. Even though he is not human, he is peaceful, intelligent, loving, and truthful. These are all admirable traits that would make Earth a much safer place. Change is frightening to many humans and is one of the reasons that so many resisted the Oankali, but once people learned to adapt, they tended to be much more peaceful and cohesive in the village of Lo than they had been previously. Lilith’s Brood clearly relates to the reader that money can’t buy happiness, but love and unity can. Akin is the symbol of that love, with a few useful physical enhancements as well.

Morality is a Matter of Opinion

Julie Vandervort


Morality is, and will always be, a necessary part of any civilization. Even the most unfamiliar and foreign cultures believe in some form of morality whether or not it is apparent to an outsider. In order for a society to function there has to be a set of ethical principles that everyone is expected to follow. If someone acts in an immoral way, there are often consequences. Moral enforces order and harmony within a society. Without morality, there would be chaos and a society would be unable to flourish. Lilith’s past world is an example of a society that lost all morality. Her immoral world ultimately destroyed itself and it was unlivable.

In my opinion, it is human nature to be moral. Everyone learns the difference between right and wrong, its common sense. Even though Lilith and Akin’s world is not entirely composed of humans, they are not beyond morality. For example, when Akin was only a few months old he “learned an important lesson: He would share any pain he caused” (257). This example of moral that exists in Lilith and Akin’s world is similar to our own. Even though we may not physically share in pain that we cause, we still face the consequences. It is made apparent to us that causing pain is immoral and wrong and the majority of people know not to do it.

To humans, it may seem like the Oankalis have created an immoral world. They have taken away many of the rights and freedoms that humans are used to having. The Oankali have even practically put an end to the human race by sterilizing those that refuse to cooperate and by creating a new Oankali-Human hybrid race. However, the Oankali are not exactly immoral. They are nonviolent, peaceful, and they are only inclined to fight if their lives are in danger (260). However, to some humans it may appear as if the Oankali are immoral because of the way they are altering humans.

When Lilith introduces Tino to the village, Wray Ordway makes their morals known. Wray tells Tino, ““You can do as you please here. As long as you don’t hurt anyone, you can stay or go as you like; you can choose your own friends, your own lovers. No one has the right to demand anything from you that you don’t want to give”” (287). The morals of the village are simple, however, they do prevent any conflict and violence from occurring. The Oankali sustain from violence unless it is absolutely necessary. They believe that the main reason the humans destroyed earth is because of their hierarchical tendencies. They see this as a major flaw in human DNA and they have done everything they could to prevent the same situation from happening again.

Morality is culture specific; however, every culture has a standard set of morals. An immoral world would fail; this was proven by the humans when they made the earth unlivable and almost completely ended their race. The Oankali and the humans both view each other as immoral because they are from two different cultures. The humans believe the Oankali are immoral because they are altering human DNA. However, the Oankali saved the human race and the earth. The Oankali believe the humans are immoral because they destroyed the earth due to their hierarchical tendencies which they see as a major flaw. The Oankali want to work together with the humans but it is difficult when they both have very different morals.

Morality

Julia Sandoval
ENGCMP 0200
Assignment #2
March 24, 2009

It seems to me that the more powerful a group or person gets, the subject of morality plays a lesser role in how and why they do things. Morals are most apparent in the simplest communities, for example convents; but even in the same religion as one particularly moral convent, blown up and with way too much power, for example the Vatican, can become corrupt. In the late 1490s, Pope Alexander VI had seven illegitimate children. The main problem in humanity is our tendency to adhere to hierarchical status. These people have too much power and these once moral people can revert away from their teachings and completely alter what is to be allowed and what is controversial. In Octavia Butler’s Adulthood Rites, the Oankali-Earth, morality is a question that can be argued according to which village and race is discussed. The aspect of morality varies, but from my point of view in this day and age, it is safe to say that their ideas of morality have shifted and are useless in their quest to fulfill their hierarchical tendencies and save the human race, which was ironically the very reason for the failure of the human race to begin with.

The Oankali are the most powerful and levelheaded characters in the book. Even their small genetic influences in humans create much more intelligent, rational beings. Their ideas about morality, however, are flawed. They mean well in “trading” with the human species, but denying them the right to procreate without their consent is certainly unethical and immoral. The Oankali think that because they know something is good, because they know they are good even if the humans do not, that they are morally justified to do what they please. When Nikanj inadvertently forced Joseph to lie with him and Lilith, there was a great moral conflict. From our perspective, he raped Joseph in engaging him in sex with himself and Lilith. From the Oankali perspective, the ooloi Nikanj had read Joseph’s body and noticed that he did in fact want to join in their sex. Now, a common defense of human rapists is that they perceived their victims as “asking for it.” This could be the same situation, yet the human would not actually know what the body and mind were feeling, unlike the Oankali.

As mentioned before, the Oankali trade fairly and rationally, yet without the consent of humans to do so. They mess with their bodies while in captivity and in turn restore them and Earth to their full potential. The most immoral thing though, is that when they do get to Earth and settle, the Oankali deny the rights for any human to have children unless they agree to join them and produce Oankali-human children. This is in all essence a form of blackmail.

The way that humanity has changed from prewar Earth to the postwar Earth is striking. The people have essentially reverted back to either a cavemen lifestyle or primitive-but with great intelligence. Yet this intelligence as expected does not override the growing need for hierarchical order. The same people who once lived in our world, who lived moral lives and knew right from wrong, who knew about all the horrors of the world and did not practice them, are now in the postwar Earth doing the very things they once knew were abominably wrong. Mostly stemming from the fact that they cannot produce their own children, they trade women for goods or weapons, steal children and sell them, and use guns and weapons against anyone who contradicts their thinking. The hierarchical nature of humanity is most apparent here and unfortunately will probably again lead to the demise of the human race, that is, assuming they never choose to give into the Oankali cross-breeding in order to bear children.

Both races have completely different views on what morality means. The Oankali deem morality as conduct that they know will benefit everyone, even if the humans do not realize it. The humans deem morality as anything they can do to survive and take over the Oankali. Both are flawed and as Solaris states, “we are in a situation beyond morality,” it is apparent that in the times of intense confusion and frustration, morality is only a suggestion.

Butler, Octavia E. Adulthood Rites Wagner Books: New York, 1989

What Would You Consider Human?

Melanie Siokalo
Big green body, multiple eyes and arms, raspy voice are all characteristics of an alien created by Hollywood and more so our imaginations. But in the book Liliths Brood, by Ocatavia Butler, the aliens, or the Oankali, are anything but the Hollywood description. Not only do are they able to see everything around them, but they also have to power to mate two human beings without having the humans physically touch each other. Now, say this human becomes pregnant and delivers a child. At first thought the child is human, after a second thought, you reconsider. But was exactly does being human mean?
Physically, the child is not human, but if brought up in the correct way, it can transform to be exactly that. I believe that a human being does not have to be traditionally conceived to be considered a full and correct human being. This theory is not so far fetched. In Lee Silvers book, Challenging Nature, the ideas of cloning, and stem and embryonic cell research, can all back up this theory. Cloning and the idea of cell research, are not traditional in any way. But in this modern day, we consider the outcomes of these experiments to be full humans. Why should Akin, the product of two humans mating through the Oankali, be any different? It is fair to say that Akin is human, just a more enhanced version.
Part of being human, is having human characteristics. These non-physical characteristics are something that can not be passed down genetically, but rather learned throughout time. These characteristics include compassion, weakness, confusion, and hostility. All four of these traits can be seen in Akin, a non-human in the traditional sense. As Ankin feeds on his mothers breast, it feels her pain, a sign of weakness. " But it was the familiar presence that touched him, held him. It stayed with him and helped him endure the rubbing without fear" (Butler 254). He feels compassion and pleasure even while still in the womb. Akin is able to recognize his maternal bond, something only a human is able to do. It can be argued that this maternal bond is a product of the Oankali, but I disagree. This bond is something that only a mother can have with her own child, no matter how it was conceived. I do agree that the bond is something unknown and new, but it is not wrong just enhanced. The feeling is stronger and the bond is tighter. In no way, is it not real.
The Oankali, need not only the physical attributes to survive but also the cultural aspects of a human. For the "trade" to be complete the Oankali strive for how exactly the humans act or interact. Being human does not have to be traditional, but a thing that strives for feeling. Whether a child is conceived in a traditional sense or in a enhanced sense, it does not really matter. As long as it mirrors someone like Akin, it is a human.

Bring your proposals to class...

I know we didn't use them last time, but we will this time - bring your project proposals to class. You can certainly revise them if you wish, as well.

Human vs. Inhuman

Glenn Goss

Dr. Johns

ENG COMP

What determines whether someone or something is human? The word human is defined as: of, relating to, or characteristic of people or human beings, as opposed to God, animals, machines, or (in science fiction) an alien. Notice, all things in the definition that aren't considered to be human are partly involved in the controversy with genetic engineering, nanotechnology, and robotics. Combining human life with God-like impervious characteristics and robotics essentially creates a being that is foreign, or alien to everyone else. When this engineered being becomes plentiful among a population, the collective meaning and rudimentary things that establish us as human beings are lost, as outlined by McKibben. With few humans presently in the Oankali population, far superior Oankali traits will undergo natural selection. These traits will be passed on leaving the inferior human traits as things of the past.

One of the fundamental characteristics of a human being is their susceptibility to weakness and error. After all, nobody is perfect. The Oankali, described in the book Lilith's Brood by Octavia E. Butler, are powerful unearthly beings, or aliens, that seem to be impeccable, without any worry of having weakness. I say they are impeccable because their sensory perception enables them to detect anyone or anything around them at all times. It's as if they have millions of eyes looking in all directions, never ceasing. They also have a supreme healing ability and are able to analyze things genetically. Oankali traits far exceed those of human beings. These characteristics combined with human characteristics could never create a being that is entirely human. At best, this being could only be half human and half Oankali, just as Lilith's son is. It could never be wholly human or entirely Oankali. A perfect example of this scenario, occurring among animals, was contained in a television show I viewed on the Discovery Channel. This episode involved a hunter that killed what he thought was a polar bear in the arctic north of Canada. Based on markings on the bear and genetic analyses being compared to various types of bears, geneticists concluded that the bear was half polar and half black bear, resulting from black bears migrating north. Similarly, is the Oankali population interbreeding with the remaining humans on postwar Earth, resulting in hybrids like Akin.

Based on the definition of a human, we can deduce that Lilith's son, Akin, is not human; he is half alien and half human. Akin is an example of a genetic merger between a human and an Oankali. After his birth the statement was made that he looks completely human. Someone else said, "Some of his features are only cosmetic, Lilith. His senses are more dispersed over his body that yours are." (Butler 254) Akin has the characteristic senses attributed to the Oankoli; the extreme awareness and powerful perception. His superior senses are shown as he sits atop Lilith to feed. Akin's tongue is described to be as long and sensitive and malleable as the sensory tentacles of Ahajas and Dichaan. When Akin feeds he studies Lilith, tasting her flesh as well as her milk. He probes Lilith, inflicting pain upon her and feeling the same pain himself. Even though Akin looks to be human, he will always have the Oankali genes within his being. If a genetic analysis of Akin was performed, just as it was for the hybrid polar-black bear described previously, the results would yield both human and Oankali genes.

Though Akin is the result of Oankali breeding two humans without any physical connection, he will still contain attributes of both humans and Oankali, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. His human curiosity enables him to learn many things and retain the information quickly. In the book, when he hurts Lilith while feeding, Nikanj promised, "He won't do it again." Sure enough Akin did not do it again, learning an important lesson, which is that he shares any pain he inflicts. Akin's traits characteristic of the Oankali prove to be handy as well. When Lilith and Akin are walking through the woods with Tino trailing behind them, Lilith asks Akin if he can watch the man without using his eyes. Here Akin's keen senses and powerful perception come in handy by keeping track of Tino walking behind them. Akin is fundamentally both human and Oankali, with his fate as to what type of being he will become after metamorphosis resting in the hands of those who raise him. Since he is around both humans and Oankali, certainly he will remain characteristic to both species in some ways. Both Akin's human and Oankali characteristics prove to be helpful; not only to him, but to others around him. Hybrids, such as Akin, when taken under the wings of the correct parental figures, have the utmost ability to help any population in which they encounter.

Assignment for Group #2, due Tuesday

Two options.

1) Answer this question, using your own instincts *and* either Silver or McKibben. Is Akin human? Beyond just asking whether he's human or not, you might also evaluate him in terms of value; for instance, one person might argue that he is fundamentally inhuman, but that this is a good thing, while another person might take the opposite side.

2) One of my favorite science fiction novels, Solaris (some of you may have seen the so-so movie version, which bears almost no resemblance to the book, a few years back), includes this fascinating line: "we are in a situation beyond morality." In a world so thoroughly altered as Lilith and Akin's world, does morality as we understand it have any meaning or relevance? While explaning what morality means *to you* as simply as possible, explain why Lilith and Akin's world is (or is not) beyond morality.

Note: As promised, the assignment for next week will be optional. If you want an additional grade (regardless of your group), then do it - if not, don't. If you want to work on your participation grade, offer comments on one (or more!); if not, don't.

Final Project Proposal

Chris Owens

ENGCMP 0200

Dr. Adam Johns

17 March 2009

My final project will be an expansion of a previous essay, “The Irony of Darwinism,” in which I argued that McKibben’s definitions of meaning were not rigorous and were portrayed in a manner that naturally aligned his audience with his biases. Additionally I may add some material from another essay “Socio-religious Evolution” as some parts of my argument were very similar. Primarily, I want to rigorously develop and in some instances correct my logical foundation, and move on to develop more of my own ideas, rather than analyzing others. Essentially I’ll build on my papers with more information and understanding. Sources I intend to use include McKibben, Silver and Joy. My counterarguments are obvious given my original papers included several.

Final Project Proposal

Evan Kelly
3/17/09

The future of humanity is completely unknown at this time, but it is clear that we are moving towards a new era. President Obama has just recently lifted the ban on embryonic stem cell research.

I plan to analyze the good and bad aspects of research progress. I believe that we should continue forward with stem cell research, but there is also a line that could become dangerous to cross. I will use sources such as Silver, Shelley, news articles, and books and movies to back up my argument. McKibben, Ware, and other sources such as the Pitt digital library will be used as an opposition to my thesis.

Though at this time I am not certain where I believe the divider between good and bad is; I will take a clear and strong stance in my final draft. I know that I will support stem cell research when used to cure disease and when used to allow parents to choose genes. But I am against flat out cloning.

This project will include a number of issues that we have discussed all year such as our “loss of meaning”, the purpose of a human, and what makes something good or evil and when the line is crossed.

Final Project Proposal

Stephanie Errigo
3/16/09
Final Project Proposal

For my final project paper I will take the views of McKibben, Silver, and Joy and use them to talk about the Utopian world and the use of technology which in my opinion will lead to a lazy, mundane society. I will take the Catholic Churches and other churches views into consideration, and I will also take many other people’s views that support my view: that designer babies and nanotechnology will lead to a lazy society of people who don’t have unique properties. I will also portray views that conflict them and attempt to defend my argument.
I will build off of my paper about designer babies adding to the emphasis that I want to provide on the topic of how technology is going too far. I will also touch base on the thought of nanotechnology and provide opposing views to either side.
My sources will come mostly from the books we read, along with the bible and the teachings of the Catholic Church. I will use the Pitt Library to find resources of articles to contradict my opinions as well as articles that supplement my opinions.
I plan to contradict myself as well as defend my opinions while adding my views and my own values and morals into the mix.
Some initial sources include:
http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2004/s1062202.htm
http://www.catholic.org/featured/headline.php?ID=1205
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/catholic.church.warns.of.designer.children/189.htm
http://web.mit.edu/murj/www/v12/v12-Features/v12-f4.pdf
http://www.zyvex.com/nano/
There will also be many sources from the Pitt Library System.

Final Project Proposal

Bailey Moorhead
ENGCMP 0200
Adam Johns
March 17, 2009

For my final project, I would like to study how the prevalence of technology in everyday life has lead to an ADD culture, both figuratively and literally, and how this has lead to a perpetual dissatisfaction with our lives. I will begin to argue this by showing how there has been an increase in ADD diagnoses recently and although not all of us are clinically diagnosed, most people show many of the symptoms and this translates to the way we live our lives. I would like to focus on an increase in materialism that has arisen because of our constant exposure to advertisements. We are constantly trying to obtain more possessions to fill the void that technology has left us. I will argue that technology, such as TV, the internet, and our cell phones, encourages us to focus on breadth rather than depth; that is, we focus on forming as many relationships as possible and getting as much work as possible done, but our relationships and work lack depth and quality. I would also like to discuss how we have become obsessed with acquisition of wealth. A counterargument to my thesis could either be that technology has increased our prosperity, which has allowed us to obtain more possessions and that technology itself hasn’t changed our mindset or that technology is actually filling a void that we have been missing: we are now able to communicate with people around the world and the fact that we are constantly on Facebook or our cell phones only says that we are able to maintain friendships with those who are geographically distant.
To begin research, I plan to look at studies that track ADD diagnoses over the past few decades. Also, I plan to study how our materialism and consumption has changed. I will also study the increase of the presence of technology in our lives and how this affects our materialism (the amount of commercials we see, the accessibility of online shopping, etc.).

Initial Sources:

Dimitri A. Christakis, Frederick J. Zimmerman, David L. DiGiuseppe, and Carolyn A. McCarty. Early Television Exposure and Subsequent Attentional Problems in Children. Pediatrics 2004; 113: 708-713. (http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/tvapril.pdf)

http://media.www.thelantern.com/media/storage/paper333/news/1999/11/10/Column/Consumerist.Culture.Hurts.Poorer.Nations-48706.shtml

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/393599/social_networking_sites_effect_on_relationships.html?cat=15

Final Project Proposal

Alisha Nesbitt

For my final project I'm to use the character Paul Titus from

the book Lilith's Brood, and write journal entrys from the time

before his is taken way from Earth until a little after he wakes

up from hurting Lilith. As I'm writing the journal entrys

argument will be about how making the choice of living with

the Toaht is the best thing for him. For my research I plan to

use different search engines to get background information

about this character, and why Ocavia Butler put Paul Titus in

her book. And those are my main plans so far.

Final Project Proposal

My final project will concern the lack of motivation that technology has the potential to bring in the future. We’ve already discussed the motivational problems that can result from genetic engineering forcing humans to enjoy and/or be good at certain activities. I’m going to look at other motivational problems that are farther into the future but also more serious. Ray Kurzweil’s book The Singularity is Near shows several possibilities for this. For example, he predicts that by the 2030s mind uploading will be possible, enabling humans to copy knowledge from others. Everyone who participates in this sharing of knowledge will obtain every bit of information ever gathered about the world. This will be possible because of an enormous increase in brain speed and power. But this means that there is no incentive to learn anything since everyone will be made equal. Another example is relatively long term. Sometime after around 2060 Kurzweil believes the universe will be completely transformed into a supercomputer. At that point, however, any remaining motivation to improve life will disappear since the universe will truly be at its limit.

Proponents of this view say that this loss of motivation is ok since life will become perfect. Any attempts to keep motivation will slow down improvements that could save peoples’ lives. I believe, however, that steps must be taken to allow humans to have a purpose. A degree of inequality created by a limitation on brain capacity will give people motivation to improve. Also, the percent of the universe saturated by information and computers should be limited to keep potential for the future.

I’ll use The Singularity is Near as well as articles supporting Kurzweil here: http://www.kurzweilai.net/meme/frame.html?main=memelist.html?m=1%23696 and One Half A Manifesto, a paper that shows the dangers of Kurzweil’s future.

Proposal for Final Project

Jessica Titler
Final Project Proposal
March 16, 2009

For my final project, I would like to expand on and enhance the essay I wrote last week, “Nature vs. Nurture.” In the essay’s current state, it focuses on my personal opinion, which is that genetic engineering will not rob humanity of its identity due to the effect of our environment during growth on personality and skills. As an argument, I will expand on this opinion, utilizing many more resources than my original article and including further support for my personal opinion. I hope to include an examination of many of the class texts and their relevance to the topic (e.g. Frankenstein, Bill Joy’s essay, Enough, Challenging Nature, and Jimmy Corrigan), but recognize that I may not be able to include all due to the assignment length. I also will include literature from several philosophers, such as John Locke, and many psychologists/personality theorists, such as Jung or Freud. My counterargument will be provided by both texts from class (e.g. Bill Joy’s article and Enough) and dissenting personality theorists and philosophers. The counterargument would be, basically, that genetic engineering will rob humanity of its identity and that personality is determined entirely by our genes.

The Grand Finale...

Albert Wu
EngCmp Final Proposal

For my final project, I propose to support, and write about the efficacy of genetic engineering and stem cell research related to healthcare. Researchers have established the link between heredity and several disease processes, and have even gone far enough to determine which chromosomes are responsible for certain diseases. There are several inheritable diseases that could potentially be cured through genetic engineering, for example sickle cell anemia and cystic fibrosis. However, many would argue that if humans reach the point where genes can be manipulated to exterminate these diseases, we will take the next logical step towards manipulating genes to create a generation of children with higher intelligence and perfect physiques. Several of the books we have read question the ethics of genetic engineering and stem cell research to “improve” future generations of humans. Some believe that through science, we will take away the “essence” of what makes us human, for example individuality. However, genetic engineering is imperative to eliminate health disparities, regardless of potential consequences.

To support my argument, I will cite research regarding several disease processes and explore the potential of genetic engineering to cure disease. In addition, I am going to use some of Lee Silvers, Challenging Nature, to support my argument.

From another scope, I am going to cite McKibben. McKibben would argue that we have reached a point where we’ve had Enough, that genetic engineering is parallel to taking away what makes us fundamentally human.

Final Project Proposal

Ryan Lynn

I have chosen to write an original short story that will embody many of the themes and ideas that have been introduced and argued in many of the readings. The central argument or theme of the story will be that technology should be kept in check and that there should be limitations to what we invent. The story will be an exaggerated tale about a technological event that has almost led to the complete extinction of the human race in a world where scientists do not have moral limitations. The counter-argument to this story would be that allowing scientists to have less limitations on what they can or cannot research could lead to beneficial breakthroughs for the human race. I will be using ideas discussed in Bill Joy's essay, such as the idea of technology becoming the dominant race, and also Jimmy Corrigan, which showed that isolation can lead to social awkwardness. I will also use pop culture sci-fi references.

Final Project Proposal

James Toye
Dr. Johns
3/17/09
Final Project Proposal

For my final project, I plan on analyzing in depth the themes of the Unabomber Manifesto, or Industrial Society and Its Future. Written by Theodore Kaczynski, the Unabomber, it offers reasons for turning away from technological development. The obvious counterargument is that technological development is vital and not harmful enough to mankind to stop it. For researdch, I will be using Kaczynski's essay, as well as various readings from class this semester, including the Bill Joy article, Lee Silver's book Challenging Nature, and bill McKibben's book Enough.

Final Project Proposal

Julia Sandoval


If genetic engineering can change one’s preference and personality traits, why is it that identical twins, with their same genetic makeup, have different personalities? Why is it that we are so sure that we can influence these traits in humans if even the natural “clone” types (an example of what could come) do not ensure sameness? Genetic engineering cannot influence personality or personal preference. Animals, already proven to be able to be genetically engineered, are not tested on their personality traits. They are tested on physical aptitude, not personal preferences. I would heavily explore Silver’s opinions on cloning and identical and fraternal twins, triplets, etc. I will research the meanings of “the soul,” personality, how and what kinds of genetic changes are possible to influence personality (displayed by the genetic engineering of animals). I will counteract McKibben’s statements that genetic engineering will influence personality; not because I feel that will not, but because I believe it cannot be done. Yes, personality can be characterized by emotions, but emotions are due to a chemical balance. This is not sufficient to describe personality in my views and seems to be the only basis for genetic engineers to support their hypotheses that they can change personality, just by the evidence proven by genetically engineered emotions; which I think is deeply flawed.

Final Project Proposal

For the final project proposal I plan on expanding on my paper that I wrote two weeks ago, titled " When the motivation no longer exists". The thesis and argument will ultimately be the same, however I will expand more on the argument.
taken from my paper:
"So is there a limit? Yes,there is a max to what the human race can achieve in the terms of making things “better.” Better becomes the best and that is all it really can be. And once this maximum has been reached, all individuality is lost. What makes the human race, the human race, will be gone." I will expand on how the individuality of the human race will be gone, if things progress in the way they are. Also, I will do some more research on the exact meaning of the flow that I am arguing. Without this flow, humans will loose all motivation and essentially happiness.Genetically changing our bodies will not propose a challenge but will eliminate the flow all together. I will also look at the past and how changing the body has not created happiness, mainly focusing on sports. I will go into detail on the topic of steroids and how they have hurt the flow and not made it better.
The counter argument will be defending Silver and what he would say in response to McKibben. Saying that everything that human race makes or does genetically to themselves will be nothing but beneficial. The flow that we know of right now may be eliminated, but a new flow will be created, one that will be far better than the old one. Changing our chemical makeup may be able to stimulate our minds and our bodies not to eliminate the flow, but to enhance it. This new flow ill be so enhanced that the old one will no longer if be in comparison. There is no maximum for human achievement in human genetics. The best will keep on getting better. Also will argue how steroids has improved the flow and not damaged it.

Research will include further detailed reading of specific chapters in "Enough" and past papers about "the flow". Also, reading in depth these sources:

http://flowstate.homestead.com/files/csikszentmihalyi_four.html

The work of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, specifically : "Beyond Boredom and Anxiety: Experiencing Flow in Work and Play" and "Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience"

Also :http://academic.udayton.edu/jackbauer/CsikFlow.pdf

Final Project Proposal

Glenn Goss

Dr. Adam Johns

Stem cell research will become more prevalent over the next few years mainly due to the recent lift of the ban on the research. I plan on examining the different types of stem cells that can be used and determining which will benefit us more and why. The main focus of my paper will involve why adult stem cells are safer to use than embryonic stem cells. Though embryonic stem cells are more efficient, adult stem cells do not require the killing of innocent life. With this I can tie in the religious aspects, such as when does the embryo receive a soul and is the embryo human when it is harvested. Since stem cell research and genetic engineering go hand-in-hand, I could bring into account some of the things discussed in class, such as our collective meaning. I can use Joy and McKibben as some sources as well as various other books and reliable internet sites. I can develop the counter argument simply by proving that adult stem cells can reap the same benefits as embryonic stem cells without the worry of killing innocent life.

Final Project Proposal

Julie Vandervort
Dr. Adam Johns

For my final project I plan on writing an essay based on the nature versus nurture argument. I want to determine if nurture is completely taking over human development and not leaving anything up to nature. By nurture I mean our parents, the culture we are growing up in, and technology. I plan to use genetic engineering as an example of how nature will no longer play a role and the dangers of it. I will also discuss whether or not the lack of nature's influence will be beneficial to humans and why. I will include examples from several readings this semester such as McKibben and Joy along with examples I find from books and articles in the library and online.


Bibliography:
"Genes and Identity: Human Genetic Engineering | Learn Science at Scitable." Nature Publishing Group : science journals, jobs, and information. 15 Mar. 2009 .

Newton, David E. Social Issues in Science and Technology : An Encyclopedia /. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 1999.

Quick Update Before Class

1) I have now read, commented and graded all papers except those which you did the week before spring break, and haven't revised yet. I have read all older papers, as well as those from the last batch with revisions. You can still revise papers you wrote the week before Spring break, as long as you post them by 6:00 p.m. on Monday.

2) I'll email grades tonight or tomorrow.

3) Remember that your project proposals are due by Tuesday. Bring a paper copy to class, as well as posting them.

Final Project Proposal

Phill Oostdyk
Dr. Johns
Eng Comp

My proposal for my final project is any essay on what is happening with genetic engineering right now and how this is beneficial. It seems that at least once a week, something else is happening in genetics. From a Today Show report about in vitro clinics are starting that let you choose the sex of your baby in LA and New York to the Bema administration rescinding some of the Bush administration’s laws on stem cell research. I feel that all this advancement in genetics will help the human race. It will lead to a time where diseases such as cancer and HIV can be cured, not just prolonged.

For the counter-argument, I will use some of the views of McKibben and Joy that we have read, along with some of the views of government officials who are against such legislation like Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia and Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama.

The research I am planning on doing for this paper is to use the readings from this semester; Joy, McKibben, and Silver, along with research on the Internet. I will be using reliable websites to get stories from such as MSNBC, CNN, and ABC News. I am also going to look up science Journals such as Science and American Journal of Science.

When are they due? The proposal is due before class next Tuesday. I will prioritize them, so you'll get comments quickly - hopefully on Wednesday.

What, exactly, is due? I want a detailed proposal, between a paragraph and a page, discussing what you want to do. If you are doing a conventional essay, things you should address include:

1. Your thesis, which should be clear, concise, and non-trivial.
2. A counterargument which an intelligent reader can take seriously. This especially helps to demonstrate that the thesis is, in fact, non-trivial.
3. Some indication of what research you intend to use. Most of you should begin (if you don't know this already) at the Pitt digital library page (I can't post a link right now, because it works differently from home - can someone do so?). On the upper left hand corner, you'll find links for "search for articles" and "search for books." The articles are conveniently broken down by subject heading. I intend to discuss this in class next week, for anyone having research difficulty. You should also feel free at any time to ask for help in the library: your insane tuition pays their meagre salaries just like it pays mine.
4. A brief explanation of how you see this project relating to the class. Don't bother with this if if it's completely obvious.

If you are not proposing a conventional essay, you should provide equivalent details, as far as it is possible to do so.

Notes:

1. Everyone should bring a printed copy of their proposal next week, in addition to posting it on the blog.
   
2. I want everyone to offer detailed comments on at least two other proposals, next week. We'll discuss details next week.

Final Project Proposal

Hamid A. Campbell
Dr. Adam Johns
ENGCMP 0200
03.17.2009
Final Project Proposal


With all of the knowledge that humans have accumulated since the beginning of our search for enlightenment, we have come closer to uncovering an ultimate truth. This, in part, is due to the rapid expansion of science and technology that has introduced us to fields such as genetic engineering and robotics. Not only has technology revolutionized the way that we live, but it continues to develop at an exponential rate. A rate that will soon render humans the tools of technology, effectively reversing the relationship between man and machine.

There are those, however, who believe that all advancement is good advancement. Uneducated about the risks of technology, or convinced that the pros outweigh the cons, these people support the unhindered search for knowledge and creation of artificial intelligence. They feel that technology can somehow make life more livable for future generations. It is certainly arguable, and popularly believed, that technology is indeed the solution to our problems.

However, the depth that technology has reached, as we have discovered this semester, is quite dangerous. Humans, by nature, are a species of curious creatures. We have spent centuries seeking the answers to the questions that are not directly answerable, or even provable. When we realized that we were incapable of this feat, the need for and creation of a higher “artificial” intelligence arose. Will we ever stop? When will we have reached the point at which we are satisfied with the amount of knowledge that we have attained? What would we do with this new knowledge anyway? Will this knowledge lead to solutions to the problems that we currently face, or will it further complicate our problems, thereby making them harder to solve?

This project would, in essence, explore the motives of human curiosity and attempt to answer these questions. Literature would be consulted that discusses the extent of the progress that we have made in fields such as robotics and genetic engineering, enabling an objective analysis of the progress that we have made in the human quest for omniscience.

A Collective Meaning of Goals

Phill Oostdyk
Dr. Adam Johns

Have we lost our collective meaning? According to Bill McKibben in his book Enough, he believes that we are on our way. I feel that this is not possible. Our collective meaning is open for debate, but I feel that our meaning is just to be ourselves and live our lives. We spend our lives making decisions and making goals. This is why I feel like it is not possible to loose our collective meaning. People are always striving for something. They always have some sort of goal they push for. The goals could be as simple as going to the store or getting out of bed, or as extravagant as being rich and famous.

McKibben uses Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's term of 'flow', the state of joyful absorption, to give a point. “It's clear, then, that souping someone up genetically will not increase his opportunities to fall into this flow state” (p. 52). McKibben is saying that with genetically engineering one's body to be better at something (i.e. rock climbing, sports, painting), one will not feel the same joy as if they were not engineered to do this. He says that engineering your body will not give more joy. “Instead, it might well sap joy, because forgetting the self seems to be a key part of falling into the flow. My round-about connection to my point is that, why being engineered to excel at a particular thing, you will always have goals to strive for. The reaching these goals is what bring people the joy they feel. Take, for example, an unaltered person who has tried climbing the same mountain over and over again, but has never completely succeeded. This person makes a goal to make it a little farther than he ever has before. They will not feel the joy or reach his state of flow, to use McKibben's term, if he does not reach his goal. Now take a person who is genetically altered to climb mountains. Their goal is to reach the top faster than they ever have before. This person will reach their state of flow when they make up the mountain two minutes faster. The point is that no matter if someone is engineered or not, they will always have goals to strive for. Reaching these goals will bring people joy, the state of flow. This is, what I feel, is our collective meaning. So, to counter McKibben's argument, losing our collective meaning could never happen.

In Jimmy Corrigan the Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware, McKibben might see what human life would be like if we lost our collective meaning. He would see a person who has no motivation, totally isolated, with no flow. Jimmy is a person who is depressed and tired of his life, he seems to have no meaning. I see this book as the complete opposite. I see it as an example of my point. Jimmy goes through life without anyone, except his mother and his fantasy of Superman. His goal is to find some sort of connection with someone else. Whether it is a father/son, brother/sister, or just a friend. Jimmy might not acknowledge this goal aloud, or even know that it is there, but it is there. This book seems to be his journey to reach his goal. At the end of the book, when all hope to be lost, Jimmy seems to finally reach his goal. The final frame showing Jimmy overlooking the cubicle to Tammy, there seems to be a moment of flow.

McKibben's claim that we are losing our collective meaning is false. As humans, we will always have a collective meaning as long as we have lives to live and goals to reach. Even if we get to a point where we are engineering ourselves to be better at sports, painting, or higher IQ's, there will always be someone else right there with them. There will always be that goal to be better than the other or to figure out the next scientific mystery. Goals are what drive us, what makes up our lives, how we are ourselves. Goals will never fade, thus making the argument of losing our collective meaning, meaningless. Our goals, no matter how obscure or unsaid, will always be there and reachable, just ask Jimmy.

Perpendicular?

Christopher Owens

Composition 0200

Adam Johns

3 March 2009

 

            Both Bill McKibben’s Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age and Christopher Ware’s Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth heavy-handedly convey the sentiment that humanity has lost aspects of its collective meaning, and maybe we have. McKibben stresses that technology has contributed to this loss. Ware’s plot also involves loss of meaning of course, but to say that it parallels the arguments of McKibben is inaccurate. Unlike the arguments of Enough, Ware’s reasoning does not rely on technology to explain isolation, and the pointlessness of Jimmy’s life stems from his lack of personal meaning more than collective, or familial. They both have arguments warning of a meaningless state, but not the same meaningless state.

            A large portion of Enough passes with McKibben attempting to substantiate his argument that humans will be rendered obsolete to later generations due to technology, at one point saying, “[…] offspring will be superior to their parents […] categorically better, of a higher order. Different” (61). In Jimmy Corrigan, it is actually quite striking to see the similarities of every generation of Corrigans. Each iteration develops in much the same manner the last did, yet there is still little meaning for any of them. Regardless of time period and technology the lives of both versions of Jimmy are equally pointless. This is true not because they are alone, but because they have no meaning in their personal lives, no purpose that drives them. In fact, Jimmy appears to be alone because he lacks the desire to do anything worthwhile.

            Jimmy’s behavior is summarized by the various attempts to ignore his complete lack of personality or interest with rote routines in addition to setting obviously unattainable goals. He talks to his mother several times a day, falls into surreal daydreams, attempts to establish a connection with his father in middle-age, obsesses over superman, all because his life without these distractions has no content, no purpose. McKibben’s argument that humanity has lost purpose is strangely contradictory to this one. If Jimmy had been given a predisposed talent via genetic engineering, he may have had a more valuable experience. 

The Decline of Humanity

James Toye

3/3/08

Dr. Johns

ENGCMP 0200

As humanity creeps forward in time and technology, very few people stop to think about what is happening to humanity’s humanity, that is, what is happening to our ability to be a community, to come together and socialize with one another. Of those who do, many do not see any loss, they have not known anything else or they were just oblivious to what they had. Some see a problem, a cancer slowly eating away at the fabric of what makes human beings human, but do nothing. Then there are those who see a problem, and try to do their best to make others notice it, to put it out in their faces in black and white and say “Hey, something is not right with what is happening to us.” Two of these people are Chris Ware and Bill McKibben, who both express their shared opinion through a similar medium, a book, but in very different, yet equally effective ways. Frankly, I agree with their point of view, which will be discussed towards the end of the essay, and I think humanity is on a steady decline.

While I sit in my faux-wood chair, resting my arms on the once again faux-wood desk, playing a game of hearts on my computer against my good friends Pauline, Michele, and Ben, I lean back and think of earlier in my childhood when I would actually play cards with real people, not a computer pretending (and doing a very poor job) to be three individual persons. Where playing with other people was fun (or at least as far as I can remember, since the last time I played hearts with real humans was over six years ago), hearts has now become a chore for me, a simple task of analyzing the most strategic move that the computer will make. Have I seen where the queen of spades could be? If I have not, then the computer will move it to the person after me so I’ll get it if I drop the high card. Is it trying to shoot the moon? If so, how long can I wait before I have to take a point? It plays the game the same way every time, and yet, I keep playing. Why? Is it because I have nothing better to do or is it because I do not know how to amuse myself otherwise anymore?

People used to talk; they used to have long, continuous conversations individual things, be it the news, the weather, or just their lives. Some people still do, but not-so-slowly that is drifting away. If you are reading this, you might be thinking something along the lines of “Hold on now, are you serious? I talk for hours at a time with my friends and family all the time!” Well, take a minute and think about those conversations. Do you carry one topic to its fullest extent or do you keep going off on tangents or start talking about completely unrelated topics? With your family, maybe you do not, but chances are, with your friends, you spend hours talking about everything, but do not learn or care about anything the other people say. The world is simply losing the ability to stay on the same topic. Why is it so common now to walk down a hall and hear someone say something about having an “ADD moment?” Simply put, the answer is technology. In this fast-paced world, where computers, television, and cell phone texting are what everyone does, images flash past people faster than ever, making them expect to be seeing or doing something new every few seconds.

In his book Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age, Bill McKibben expresses the same belief that I have; that with technological improvement comes monotony and abbreviation in things that were once enjoyable. He describes running a marathon, and how it used to be a huge accomplishment, since Pheidippides died after running the original. “An unimportant finisher in an unimportant time in an unimportant race,” is how McKibben sees the future of the marathon with new technologies on the cusp of invention (McKibben 2). He knows this will happen, not might, because it’s already starting to, as he details with the photographer in the above quote. With genetic modification, he correctly believes that the best athletes will no longer be those who train the most, or put the most effort and love into their sport, but those whom had the wealthiest parents who could buy them the best genes out there. As this continues, he sees the loss of value in sporting, the loss of the feeling of accomplishment that makes people enjoy watching them and participating in them.

Chris Ware also agrees as he portrays this loss of emotion and purpose in his graphic novel Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth. Technological development in Jimmy’s grandfather’s life, namely the World’s Columbian Exposition, as well as in Jimmy’s life, had a huge impact in their emotional development and connection to the outside world. Jimmy specifically is connected to the world around him by only the telephone, which in turn makes everything seem fake to him. The constant use of it makes even the most familiar of people, his mother, unfamiliar and uncomfortable to be around (Ware 9 pages before “The End”).

Through their works, McKibben and Ware both assert the same belief. Technology has contributed to the decline of humanity, through the creation of voids where there was once human interaction. In this day and age, and those eras to come, action must be taken to preserve what we presently call humanity. Whether it’s a family card game, hanging out with friends away from video games or computers, or a ban on extreme genetic modification for aesthetic use, it must happen sooner rather than later.

Works Cited

McKibben, B. (2003). Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age. New York: Owl Books.

Ware, C. (2000). Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth. New York: Random House.

Meaningless Future

Andrew Vogel
ENGCMP 0200
Dr. Adam Johns
3/3/09

Bill McKibbin argues in his book Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age that genetic engineering will take the meaning out of life. While his argument made some sense to me, Jimmy Corrigan’s life exemplifies the consequences of a meaningless life. I believe that future advances in technology will cause people to have a short “meaningful life” followed by decades or longer of useless fantasy-driven lives. Also, I think life will lose further meaning through weakened social interaction.

Genetic engineering has the ability to gradually make each generation of humans smarter. McKibben conjectures that in 2005 babies will be able to get a boost of 10 IQ points, and by 2010, babies will being receiving boosts of 20 IQ points (McKibbin 34). Even a supporter of genetic engineering Ray Kurzweil uses Moore’s law to predict that the human brain will double in power about every 3 years ("Ray Kurzweil: Life in the Future”). While this is great for the youngest generation that has the best genes, people even 5 to 10 years older will be significantly less smart and become obsolete. Since older people won’t be able to contribute anything of use to society, they will have no purpose. This will make them similar to Jimmy Corrigan, who doesn’t have a job or any responsibilities. Because of this, Jimmy lives his life through fantasy, imagining himself as a more popular and successful man or dreaming about superman. This will be the fate of people once they go past their 5 to 10 year span of usefulness. While a responsibility-free life seems great, Jimmy’s depressing life shows that it isn’t. He confirms Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s study, which showed that enjoyment comes from challenges, not from leisure (McKibben 51).

Genetic engineering will also create a future where family ties are damaged or completely lost. Parents and children won’t be genetically linked anymore. Instead, children’s genes will come from “any other person, or any other plant or animal, or out of the thin blue sky” (McKibben 10). But at the same time, parents will be forcing their kids to conform to their wishes. Parents can “gain complete control over their destiny, with the ability to guide and enhance the characteristics of their children, and their children’s children as well” (McKibben 58). Also, the kids will be genetically superior to their parents and soon surpass their parents intellectually. This inequality will occur among siblings as well. These social problems resulting from technology are reflected throughout Jimmy Corrigan. Jimmy’s grandfather’s horrible relationship with his father occurs during a time of huge technological progress shown by the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. The contrast between the wonders of new technology and the harsh consequences of it on society is seen when Jimmy’s grandfather Jimmy is abandoned by his father on top of the magnificent new buildings constructed for the fair. In fact, Jimmy’s father worked on the zoopraxographical hall, which was used to show new forms of movie-making. Thus, his father’s meanness is associated with the enormously influential piece of technology that movies became. On the other hand, Jimmy had probably the happiest moments of his life in his Italian friend’s house making little horses using primitive technology. Even though the technology presented at the fair probably could little horses instantly, the important part for Jimmy was the process of making them.

The modern Jimmy, growing up in another era of technological progress, also has problems with his family. His dad is completely absent for much of his life, and there isn’t any good reason for his absence. It seems that this lack of a relationship between father and son is a common situation in the new era. He has a strange relationship with his mother as well, and its oddness is accentuated by their complete lack of face-to-face communication; instead, they talk only on the phone. This associates the technological progress of the telephone with a weakening of relationships.

Jimmy Corrigan shows some of the ways in which technology can take meaning away from life and parallels McKibben’s arguments. Just as we are living in an era where genetic engineering has huge potential benefits, Jimmy and his grandfather lived during times when other technology had the ability to change the world. However, the Corrigan family’s dismal existence shows that the costs of the new technology may outweigh the benefits.

Works Cited
McKibben, Bill. Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age. 1. New York: Henry
Holt and Company, 2003.
"Ray Kurzweil: Life in the Future." 23 Dec 2005. 2 Mar 2009
.

Jimmy Corrigan: Portrayal of Humanity’s Loss of Meaning

Ryan Lynn
Dr. Adam Johns

I do not believe that there has been a complete loss in meaning in our culture, but I do think that we are heading in a direction where we could lose meaning. Technology has grown exponentially over the past few decades, and has without a doubt made modern life more comfortable. A little too comfortable. Modern day technology has made it possible to continue to interact with the outside world without actually having any real physical contact. This is dangerous, as we can become a species that finds aversion to having contact with its own kind unless it is through the Internet or a cell phone. Chris Ware’s Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid On Earth is a prime example of a man who has lived a life of social awkwardness and minimal human contact. However, if Jimmy was aided by technology, could this help overcome his socially awkward tendencies and become a functioning member of society?
Jimmy Corrigan lives a very sad and meaningless life. He works in an office cubicle and is often pushed aside or ignored by co-workers. He has no friends and is extremely awkward upon talking to other people; often times he stutters his words or just responds with short, quick answers such as “OK”. He lives alone in a barren apartment and visits his mother frequently. However, when his mother calls him, he always says that he is very busy. Jimmy lies to his mother because it tricks himself into believing that he has a life of significance if his mother believes that he is too busy to talk to her. He also has an extremely active imagination, into which he escapes his mundane life into a fantasy world. However, most of his adventures have untimely or disastrous ends. For example, he dreams that Superman picks up his house, which results in the decapitation of his son, who turns into a head, which Jimmy crushes with a brick. Superman is a recurring theme throughout the comic, he is a god-like figure and is looked up to by Jimmy. If Jimmy was genetically engineered so that he to was above the level of a human, would this give his life meaning? Would he be better off if he was genetically superior? I believe that he may have acquired a better job, and this is the eyes of some people would mean that he has more purpose. But, I do not think that genetic enhancements would aid in his natural ability to be socially awkward, which was product of his upbringing.
Technology has even affected Jimmy Corrigan’s grandfather. His great grandfather was one of the many people to aid in the construction of the Chicago World’s Fair. However, as the Fair progressed, Jimmy’s great grandfather lost his wife, his house and eventually abandoned his son at the Fair. The stress from building the Fair and the amount of time it took out of Jimmy’s great grandfather’s life made it impossible for him to have a normal relationship with his son. Both Jimmy and his grandfather were abandoned by their fathers, which could have caused them to grow up to be awkward adults and unsuited for normal human interaction.
Technology threatens to take the purpose out of existence. As Bill McKibben states in Enough about being sucked into new technologies, “…we leave behind the possibility of a reality that “gathers and illuminates our world,” substituting instead “the insubstantial and disconnected glamour” of the technological world, which “provokes disorientation and distraction.” (55). This idea of getting lost in a world of distraction is demonstrated by Jimmy’s overactive imagination. McKibben is absolutely right, we are leaving “the possibility of a reality that “gathers and illuminates” our world” as we continue to rely on technology to keep us in touch with our fellow man instead of going outside and interacting. Humans are inherently social creatures, but I believe that we need to continue to have physical interaction with one another.
I believe that Ware is in fact depicting modern life, but is exaggerating it somewhat. He takes general aspects of meaninglessness that can be found if a multitude of lives, and crams them into one life, Jimmy’s. Jimmy’s life exhibits everything that can be meaningless in life, your job, your social life, your home life, and how some people choose to deal with such meaninglessness, such as fantasizing. Technology is becoming dangerously close to having all human beings in a sort of physical isolation from the world, and interaction with others will have to be done through the Internet, etc. This is not a world that is suitable to live in, to grow up to be healthy individuals physical interaction is key. Without social interaction, motivation is loss, and when motivation is loss, purpose is absent. Jimmy’s life is not a life that I wish upon myself or any one else, and if we can change this from occurring, we need to.

Works Cited
1. McKibben, B. (2003). Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age. New York: Owl Books.

Bailey Moorhead
ENGCMP 0200
Dr. Adam Johns
March 3, 2009

If Bill McKibben is right, I am going to stop trying right now. I will become a lawyer or a secretary. I’ll live in the same neighborhood of Pittsburgh for the rest of my life. There’s a good chance I’ll get cancer and die at the age of forty-one. What is the use of trying to make my own decisions when my life is predetermined by my genes I’ve inherited from my parents? Perhaps my example is a little extreme, but McKibben’s argument that we will lose our individuality if we genetically modify our children is also extreme. He argues that once we start choosing genes for our children, they will have no meaning because their lives will be predetermined. If this is the case, our lives are predetermined now even without genetic engineering. We are only able to receive alleles from our mothers or our fathers, with the slight chance of mutation causing a new allele. If our genes determine what we can do with our lives, we will become just like our parents. This is obviously not the case. We are able to make decisions about our lives which separate us from the lives our parents have chosen, although we have inherited their DNA. Similarly, if humans become genetically modified, individualism can still thrive. McKibben’s argument that we will lose meaning as a species cannot hold up, because it relies on the fact that humans’ lives are entirely determined by genes inherited and this is not true.
99.9% of human DNA is shared among individuals. This means we only differ with each other by .1%, technically. Despite this, we still show an enormous amount of individuality. Even identical twins can show a great difference in personality traits. If we continue our path of genetic engineering, Bill McKibben believes we will lose a sense of meaning. He believes our individuality is what makes humans human. I don’t necessarily condone designer babies, or engineering humans to have superior genetics, but I do believe that genetic engineering can do a lot in the way of preventing heritable genetic diseases. Even if the technology does become available and people do decide to choose the genes of their children, it will not completely wipe out all individuality. Competition has always been an evident in human societies. If all humans are given a certain gene for optimal performance, running for example, certain humans will still have a harder work ethic and will be able to out-compete their peers. Although certain tasks will be made easier for us, we will still strive to achieve more.
Jimmy Corrigan seems as though he has lost all sense of meaning in his life. He has an overbearing mother, an extremely awkward situation with his father, and the most contact he has with women is with the mailwoman, Peggy. He never seems happy with his life and often escapes into daydreams of Superman, women, or murder. Despite the fact he lives in a modern world, however, it does not mean that he has lost his sense of meaning because of increases in technology. In fact, Ware seems to argue that his lack of meaning stems from a bad childhood and poor relationships with his family by comparing Jimmy’s life to that of his grandfather, also James. Jimmy doesn’t meet his father until he is 36. By this time, he is living a very mundane life with few close relationships. Jimmy often displays a sense of bitterness regarding his lack of a father figure. He sees Superman, a sort of father figure to him, fall to his death and shows little emotion. He dreams of murdering his father. He obviously doesn’t regard father figures very well. This is not a modern development, however. Ware also narrates the story of Jimmy’s grandfather, James. He has an abusive father and his mother died in childbirth. Because of this, he is terrified of his father and is very reluctant to form relationships with others. He disdains his classmates and is shocked when he meets a man, his Italian friend’s father, who is caring. He is extremely inept socially. His grandfather’s story took place before the turn of the 20th century, in a time when genetic engineering did not occur beyond breeding the best crops and livestock together. The grandfather’s sense of meaninglessness is similar to Jimmy’s although they live in very different societies. Their lack of meaning stems from family relationships, rather than diminishing individuality resulting from genetic engineering. The lives of Jimmy and James are extensively affected by their upbringing. James lost his mother as an infant and Jimmy had no relationship with his father until his 30s. By choosing these situations for the characters, Ware is showing that regardless of the traits passed on to Jimmy and James by their parents, they show a sense of meaninglessness because of their childhoods.
McKibben argues that we are losing a sense of meaning as a species as we enter a modern age of GNR technology recklessly. A sense of meaninglessness can be seen, however, in any society at any period of time, as shown in Chris Ware’s graphic novel Jimmy Corrigan: the Smartest Kid on Earth. Both Jimmy and his grandfather show a similar lack of meaning despite the fact that Jimmy lives in a far more technologically advanced world. Our genes do not determine who we are and what we will choose to do with our lives. It is our upbringing, environment, and individual choices that can create a sense of meaning, whether or not we are genetically modified.