Saturday, May 12, 2012

Doctor Who Musings

How do I even begin to explain this?
Doctor Who...
I have an obsession. A very obsessive obsession. And yes, I do know how redundant that sounds, but it's Doctor Who and my brain just ceases to function when I think about that show.
When I watched the first episode of Doctor Who I felt like I had died and gone to heaven, it was the PERFECT show for me. Don't get me wrong, I love MANY shows. I love Castle, Rizzoli and Isles, Better Off Ted, The Ellen Show, 2 Broke Girls, Bones, Glee, Gossip Girl, Criminal Minds, Modern Family, The Mentalist, The Big Bang Theory,  Lost Girl, Will and Grace, and Secret Diary of a Call Girl (yes, I know, don't judge); but Doctor Who goes beyond any normal show because Doctor Who is like a mirror image of my mind.
I've always had a very scientific mind, I love to investigate and I always want answers to my questions, but my mind only behaves like this 30% of the time. The other 70% of the time, my mind just wanders off into my private imaginarium and here's where all the fun is. I live in a fantasy world, always have and hopefully always will. My imaginary world changes constantly, it changes characters and settings, it changes plots, but it's always there. My imaginary world is fueled by books, tv shows, and movies; anything I like from one of this places I implement into my imaginarium which results, as you may have already realized, in a very weird place. When I say the show Doctor Who is like a mirror of my mind is because The Doctor is what I've always wanted to be. He is a man of science, he can solve any problem that he's faced with, and he loves to think; he also has the ability to escape to other worlds whenever he pleases. He can be here on Earth one second and on the Moon the next, and this is what I've always dreamed of being able to do; I have always wanted to escape beyond the confines of this planet, I want to be able to see everything, I want to have time and space on the palm of my hand. Basically I want to be a Time Lord with a Freaking TARDIS. And yes, I do know I sound delusional, but what is weird and crazy to you, is normal for me. It's how I've always been, and I have my crazy mind to thank. 
Plus, who wouldn't want a traveling companion that looks like Rose Tyler? 









Friday, April 20, 2012

Culture Shock

We've all heard the term culture shock at least once in our lives, but most of us has never experienced it. Over the holidays my family and I went on a trip to Japan and I realized that I have been experiencing culture shock on a daily basis without realizing that that's what it was. Almost every local and most foreigners who come to Colombia say that Colombians are very warm people, and they're kind of right. Colombians hug and kiss each other all the time, people like to be together and having some sort of physical contact; but for me this isn't a god thing, I don't think it is warm, I think it is invasive. I don't need people hugging me all day long, and I really find it extremely uncomfortable when people you've just been introduced to greet you by kissing you on the cheek. I mean: COME ON PEOPLE, I NEED SOME SPACE!!!! This way of thinking and my aversion to any type of physical contact I don't  chose to initiate has always make me seem like a freak in the eyes of others. I come across as a cold and distant person who has no interest in those around her, and this isn't true. I actually do like a lot of people and, granted 99.99% of those people are girls because boys are morons, I'm not as distant as I come across. I just don't need to touch people to show them I like being friends with them. 
When I got to Japan I felt like I had landed on a paradise for physical-contact-non-loving-people. In Japan your personal space is sacred, people don't touch you. There is such respect for your personal space, and for hygiene, that they don't even shake hands when they're greeting each other, instead they bow. If you're a man you bow with your arms at your sides, and if you're a woman you bow with your hands clasped in front of you. The Japanese are people that know how to be alone, most restaurants have tables for one or two and bigger tables are harder to find, yet they are very aware that they live in a community and they respect that. They don't talk on their phones when they're on the train or the subway, they have very specific rules as to where you should walk to allow those who are in a REAL hurry to move through the crowd uninterruptedly, they speak in soft voices when they're in public spaces, they don't eat or drink while walking down the street, and they don't kiss in public. Wonder how many of these cultural rules which  allow the Japanese to live very well in community exist in Colombia? The answer would be NONE. In Colombia everyone is in a hurry and no one else matters, they all need to get wherever they are going first so there are no rules that allow people in a REAL hurry to get anywhere on time. People in Colombia talk on their cellphones like it's going out of style, they talk everywhere and at any time, and to make it worse they don't talk like normal people: they yell. They also yell when they're talking amongst themselves in a public place like a restaurant or a movie theatre (a movie theatre!! There's not even enough decency here to shut up during a movie!). In Colombia couples have this awkward and bizarre need to kiss in public (or the typical Colombian boyfriend with his hand inside his girlfriend's back pocket grabbing her derriere) and they do it without any consideration to those around them that have to witness the not-so-entertaining spectacle. Being in Japan my brain and my body felt completely at peace. I didn't feel like the odd one out; like the cold and distant one, or the one that is to picky about how people behave, because I was in a place where there is so much respect for others that it is no wonder they managed to rebuild their country in such an efficient manner and with no altercations. 
I really do think Colombia is a beautiful country with breathtaking landscapes and a magnificent flora and fauna, but the culture here really needs to improve. Colombians need to learn to respect those around them, and they have to learn to stop being so selfish and think about others before they think about themselves. I wouldn't live in Japan because it is too far away, too expensive, and the language barrier is huge; but I won't live in Colombia for much more, if I do I think I'll go crazy (or crazier than I already am) because the culture here is so shocking for me, that I feel like I'm very far away from home.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Language

Does language limit our understanding of the world?
I think it does, but I also think that other factors like context and knowledge limit our understanding of the world. 
If we read a story about a man who belongs to the guerrilla, but we're not specified which guerrilla, and we are not from the country the author is writing about, or we know nothing of the history of that country, our understanding of the story will probably be limited. In this case our language is not the limitation because the language is one we understand and it enables us to understand the anecdote of the story, but the limitation of our context and knowledge is what hinders us from understanding a deeper meaning or an occult message in the story. 
An example of how language might limit our understanding of the world is a scientific journal. Our year 12 education does not enable us to have an advanced and complex scientific vocabulary, which makes reading a science journal a difficult task. If the language in the journal goes beyond our mastery of scientific terms then we will never fully comprehend the text we are reading, which is an example of how language limits our understanding of the world. 




Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Kony 2012

30 minutes. 5 days. 7,000,000,000 people.
Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Ifunny, pinterest, and many other social networking sites have been invaded by the video above. Kony 2012 is a campaign by the Invisible Children Organization that aims to capture Joseph Kony and put his reign of terror in Africa to an end. This video has become a massive awareness campaign, with amazing results. In just 5 days the video received over seven thousand million views.

In my opinion, what the Kony 2012 campaign has accomplished, and  is aiming to accomplish is beyond words. I take my hat off for these people, because they have managed to take something that very few people knew about and make it into something impossible to ignore. I have read the articles criticizing the campaign and, although some raise valid points worth considering, I am still a firm believer in Kony 2012. I don't give a flying fizzle (pardon my French) what people like Jorge, Sergio, Santiago, and others who always want to criticize everything and always go against the "mainstream" thing, think or say. I honestly don't think that this campaign will do more hurt than good. I don't think that we should be dissecting this campaign and trying to find its problems in TOK class because I honestly believe our opinion on this subject is none of our teacher's bussinnes (she types while waiving goodbye to a good grade this term).

I, of course, am aware that there are several issues with this campaign, like the prominence of the producer's son that has almost no relevance to the message of the video, or the fact that this didn't attract the attention of the USA government until now (shortly after oil was found in the African region were Kony operates), or also the fact that the orders are to kill or capture Kony knowing that his assassination could lead to more problems than solutions. I am aware of all these problems, but I firmly believe that this issues should not stop people, if they truly believe in the cause, from making donations or pledging their support. The Kony 2012 campaign is striving for good, not evil, so I would like to keep that in mind when discussing the potential issues of the campaign or the video. 

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Here's to the crazy ones, the ones who know we live in a wonderful world




Think different, be different.
Smile. Laugh. Love.
Be the change the world needs.
Love this wonderful world.
Give life all you've got.
Be one of the crazy ones.
Think.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Is it Ethical to Create Recombinant DNA Organisms?

"A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world."
-Albert Camus
"Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do."
-Potter Stewart

Recombinant DNA is defined by Biology-online.org as spliced DNA from two or more different sources that have been cleaved by restriction enzymes and joined by ligases. Genetically engineered DNA made by recombining fragments of DNA from different organisms. The joining together of genetic material from two different organisms. 

Examples of recombinant DNA organisms include:
  • Glofish - A zebra fish infused with either coral, anemone, or jelly fish DNA; which makes it glow neon red or green instead of being the usual black and white.
  • Vacanti mouse - A mouse that has what looks like a human ear growing on its back. The "ear" is not an actual ear but an ear-shaped cartilage structure. 
  • Neonmice - Mice that glow in the dark.
  • Golden rice - A new variety of rice engineered to express the enzymes responsible for β-carotene biosynthesis.
  • Insect-resistant crops - Crops with recombinant DNA from Bacillus thuringeiensis, a bacterium that naturally produces a Bt toxin protein with insecticidal properties. It repels insects without having to spray the crops with insecticides. 










There is no doubt in my mind that recombinant DNA has helped scientists make huge advances. It has helped them create crops that could help save people from vitamin deficiency, which could lead to death. Golden rice is a great example of this, as its DNA allows it to make up for the vitamin A deficiency in the diets of people in undeveloped countries. 
Another example of the advances that scientists have been able to make thanks to recombinant DNA are the Neonmice. Neonmice allowed scientists to understand 2 very important things: they helped them find a new way to engineer the animals to make them acquire certain medical conditions which has greatly speed the research in finding cures for this diseases. The second thing they helped them achieve was a greater understanding of type II diabetes which has send scientists around the world on their way to find a cure. 

However, what troubles me is this: how far should the scientists take recombinant DNA? Recombinant DNA (or rDNA) is something that shouldn't be played with. It can create dangerous organisms, or organisms that when inserted into natural habitats could unbalance the food chain and destroy other species. 
It is also not ethical to toy with life. Scientists who experiment with recombinant DNA might develop a "God complex" which could lead to them trying to control life and new species. It is also not fair to the animals being used as experiments for rDNA. The scientists are meddling with the essence of their being, their DNA, which could lead to trauma. Another thing that isn't ethical is how much pain and discomfort these experiments must be causing the animals.

The questions I have are:
How safe is it to experiment with rDNA?
Should the humans be allowed to create new species without consideration to the consequences it may have on the environment?
How far should scientists be allowed to go? Should they stop at plants, fish, and lesser mammals? Or should they continue towards greater mammals and humans?
How far is too far?