GATTACA

I think this movie is very interesting so far. The idea of genetically engineered children being prodominat in the future is a likely topic. The most interesting thing I found is how the movie overcame the ethical boundries genetic engineering has. The population usually thinks messing around with nature or how God has made things is not okay, but in the movie instead of saying genetically engineering, the doctors/scientists say its making a better life for the child. They say this because technically they are getting rid of the bad qualities normal, non-genetically tested individuals pass on to their children. However, the children are still different than how nature intended and have lives that arent always better.


These genetically engineered people are said to have better lives and be superior to the normal race of their parents. The threat of disease and death are replaced with the idea that they are superior and they must live up to the expectations the doctors give them when they are born. For example, the real Jerome has a hard time coping with his 2nd place medal for swimming. In addtion, now that he broke his back, he cannot reach his goals that were given to him before he was born becasuse he is handicaped.

The idea that we can change our children to rid them of disease and give them a longer and better life seem nice. However, I think it is a bad idea to change the values of society to praise a new generation of genetically enhanced people who are superior to every one else. I think it sounds worse than talking about messing around with the genetics of unborn children.

Cloning

I am doing my future technological research project on cloning and I think what I have found so far is very interesting. First of all, cloning has a negative connotation for most people because when they think of clone they think of a massive army of clones used for war. However, cloning can be used for really good things, not just the ability to have more of yourself to help. Cloning researchers are more interested in cloning to help enhance the society we live in.


The most important use for cloning that researchers are focusing on is to help save lives. For example, if your kidneys were failing and you needed a transplant a doctor could just take a sample of cells from your current kidneys and grow a new pair. This way you avoid taking someone else's body part which can cause some psychological distress and there is no waiting list so you can get what you need as soon as possible.

Most researchers in England are focusing more on cloning for economical purposes than biological purposes. A new trend within farmer/scientists in Western Europe is to clone their sheep or cows so that they can produce their products faster and get the best animal all the time. This is much more controversial because people are starting to get worried about eating the cloned animal or a product of a cloned animal for fear of sickness. However, as research has proved, cloned animals are no different than the animals that they got cloned from. If cloning livestock become popular, it could have great benefits to society. A faster out put of high demand dairy products and meats will make the cost go down and have a better quality (because you would only clone animals of the higher quality.)

The biggest problem cloning has today is peoples reaction to cloning. The ethics of cloning seem too scientific and futuristic for people right now. However, in the future it can be a whole other story...

Jurassic park

I have never seen or read Jurrasic Park before this class. The only thing I know about Jurrasic park is that it includes dinasours.

My first impression of the book is that I like it so far. The first chapter was easy to read and the plot already has me thinking about what omes next. I am interested to see what they are doing on the other island with the raptors. I would like to know if the narrorator will be the main character throughout the book because I don't know how much information she will be able to get about the other island since she is not apart of it. The other island is very mysterious and I picture it as the island on the tv show Lost. I think the people who came to the clinic are very sketchy too because the wouldn't tell her what really happen to the guy who got attacked and they took the camera.

 The introduction to the book brought up a lot of good points about the effects of new technologies on a population. If they are not regulated they can be used by any one for good or bad. I thought the best point the author brought up was when he talked about how these new technologies can be used for frivolous things which is not how we are going to advance our society. For example, take the iPhone. It is a great invention with a lot of perks like a touch screen, vocal commands and GPS etc. However, having something that is so easily acceptable is making us less aware of the things around us like how we can use the GPS and not have to know where we are or what streets we are passing.

Frankenstien

Frankenstein is a classic science fiction story however the concept we have of Frankenstein today is much different than the original story that came out years ago. The origninal story by Mary Shelly actually never called the monster Frankenstein. On the other hand, today we know the green monster that was pieced together and brought back from the dead only as Frankenstien.

There are many more differences between the book and the frankenstein story we know today. For example, the doctor that creates Frankenstien in the book is portrayed more normal than the crazy doctor that we think he is. Also, in the novel the monster was portrayed with more of a tabula rasa than in the movies where the monster is seen as slow.

The Frankenstien we know today is a big green monster with bolts in his head and has no capability of speech. Somehow this monster came from the childlike man that the doctor created in Mary Shelly's book years ago.

Science fiction themes, motifs and aspects

I have been watching science fiction moves/tv shows for a while and haven't even known. So here are  some of my favorites and what makes them sci fi.

1. The star wars movies - my dad loves star wars and showed it to me when I was little. I loved princess Leia and the light sabers. What makes this science fiction is first the existence of aliens and life outside of our galaxy. For example, Yoda and Chewbacca are fictional alien like creatures who can communicate with humans like Luke. Another aspect of science fiction within star wars is the advanced technology that seem necessary to life within the fictional world. For example, space ships and light sabers.

2. Wall-E- a classic movie for little kids, I would never quess it was science fiction. Things that stand out to me now obit I didn't realize before is the end of the world on planet earth, the advanced technology and its set in the future. Wall-E stars with the showing of an Earth ruined by the exsessive garbage thrown away by the population,Mathis is a motif in science fiction that uses the scenario of the end of the world as we know it. All the humans moved to space which is another aspect of science fiction, the advanced technology of the spaceship.

3. Planet of the apes- I didnt like this the first time I saw it but it is a great example of science fiction. First, it has the mutated monkeys who were affected by a human made stimulant. Next, it has the ending of the human race because the apes have taken over the world. Finally, It has a different political system which helps show how different the world is now since the monkeys took over.

Life and science fiction

Earnest Hemingway said "in order to write about life first you must live it." The earlier writters of science fiction like H.G. Wells started writing within the genre of science fiction because of the new technologies and scary circumstances that came with the wars that were happening at that time. For example, H.G. Wells wrote about a second world war before it happend in The Shape of Things to Come which included a variety of future technologies like missiles and War heads.

The cold war had a great impact on writers living within this time because of the invention of weapons like the atom bomb that could wipe out city in less than a minute. Therefore, science fiction writers made the "what ifs" that we're going through the populations head into stories. For example, insects becoming mutants because of the radiation and taking over the world or the end of the world because everything  on earth had been bombed.

In addition to the uncertainty of the effects of bombs, the space race inspired many of the motifs that still exist in science fiction today like aliens. When the fictional man on the moon became real writters and the population could not stop thinking about whats to come next. This lead to many stories written about alien invasions, moon colonies and galaxies far far away.

Writters are influenced by their life all the time but I think science fiction writters, more than others, draw their inspiration from the events happening around them because of the technology centered age we are in and the looming fear of what it could turn into. For example, movies like iRobot, 2001 and Star Trek.