Biology Assignment Week Fourteen

I chose my research topic because I have always been fascinated about very fundamental questions of life such as whether we have free will or not, whether there is a reason to act morally, and what is the nature of existence.  As a result I have searched for answers to these questions in various philosophical and scientific ideas (both western and eastern).  My presentation is a summary of the result of my research.  I am glad to have this opportunity to summarize my ideas so I can present them to people in a logically clear and easy to understand format.   

Biology Assignment Week Twelve

1.

Since I missed today’s class I did not participate in our class discussion.  However I find the topic vaccination and public health quite interesting.  I have read the material in the package and found them to be very educational.  The article on how and why vaccines work is an especially good summary on what vaccines are and how they work.

2.

I would not support making vaccination programs compulsory.  I understand the herd immunity argument.  It is true that not getting vaccinated can potentially increase the risk of infection for other people.  However this is true for a lot of other things in our society.   As long as we live in a community any and all of our decisions and actions will have an effect on other people.  For instance by not having an education a person can negatively affect the whole population.  Or similarly by engaging in unprotected sex a person not only endangers himself and his partner but also increases the cost of health care as a whole.  However this reason alone, in my opinion, is not strong enough to make a program compulsory.   

Biology Assignment Week Eleven

1.

Yes, I would definitely prioritize the reintroduction of the American Bison.  Bisons are the biggest land animal in America.  Not having enough of them roaming and living will surely have major environmental consequences.  In addition, bisons are intertwined with the lives of the native Americans.  I believe, we the non-native Americans, owe a great debt to the American indians for their collective suffering in the brutal history of American modernization.  If the reintroduction of the American Bison is something that is important to lifting the spirit and culture of the native Americans, we should definitely do it to repay in some way the debt that we owe them. 

2.

We are certainly not doing enough for global warming as it is evident that the weather is becoming more extreme in many places of the world.  There are simply too many people on earth demanding too much natural resources and creating too much waste.  Fortunately it seems that the tide is changing and more and more people are aware of and willing to do something about the issue.  

Biology Assignment Week Ten

1.

I agree with the substance of “Eight-point Deep Ecology Platform" which is to say that humans need to do something drastic to reverse the damage done to our environment.   However I think someone should rewrite them not in a moralistic or legalistic tone.  Words such as rights, responsibilities, obligations and must are moral/legal terms that demand compliance.  However the foundation of both are some form of punishment either in this life time (law) or in the after life (morality/religion.)  

Unless deep ecology can summon the backings of legal and/or religious institutions the use of moralistic or legalistic terms serve no positive purpose.  In my opinion it might even back fire by turning  main stream people away because it makes the platform sound close minded and radical.  

2.

Ecosystems are both strong and fragile.  It is strong in the sense that ecosystem is made up of many factors including living and non living elements.  It is able to adapt to change and still flourish.  However it is also fragile in the sense that if humans change the ecosystem too drastically the ecosystem might adapt to these changes in a radical way that no longer allows human to survive within its system.  For instance global warming can cause extreme weather changes that makes earth no longer habitable for humans.

Biology Assignment Week Eight

1.

It seems to me that the western approach to HIV and AIDS is similar to its approach on cancer, common cold or flu.  It focuses on identifying the specific virus that "causes" the illness and finding ways to kill them without damaging the rest of our body.  However this kind of strategy faces the problem of  HIV viruses mutating and adapting to the medications.  It seems that as long as HIV viruses are able to mutate and adapt we can never find the "cure" for AIDS just like we cannot find a cure for common cold or flu.  

2.

Perhaps we should find the "cure" of HIV viruses in the sense of helping the body "push" or "flush" out the viruses without killing them.  This is TCM's general strategies for for treating common cold and flu.  The upside of this strategy is that if we are not killing the viruses then they have less incentive to mutate and adapt.

Biology Field Trip Assignment

1.

This week I have experienced loafing around without feeling guilty each day.  It is not as easy to do as what one might have otherwise assumed.  I am currently working full time and going to school at the same time which together demand a lot of my time and energy.  This means whenever I am not doing something that is productive I would start to feel the pressure building up from knowing that this idol time can be spent more efficiently on work or school.  

However the experience of loafing around makes me realize that idol time is really productive as it helps my body and my brain "reset" so they can work more efficiently later on.  Further more a lot of times we care too much about our performance and what other people would think of us if we fail to live up to certain standard.  By being kind to myself and accepting my own limitations I can feel less "guilty" when I loaf around.  : )

Biology Assignment Week Seven

1.

It seems that our understanding of cancer is both too sophisticated and not sophisticated enough at the same time.  Like what we learned in class about chaos theories and complex patterns it seems that we do not need to know every little detail about a system in order to find out its general overall patterns.  Applying this idea to our understanding of cancer it seems that with all the advance technologies what we try to do is to get a full understanding of all the minute details of cancer.  However this might be an impossible task and it might blind us from seeing the overall pattern of the diesesae and develop more practical and effective treatment strategies.   

2. 

It seems that TCM’s approach to cancer is the exact opposite of our modern approach.  It tries to understand the overall pattern by bypassing the minute details of cancer.  This approach might seem unscientific to modern people but when the underlying causes are too complicated it might actually be the more practical approach.

3.

I really like the article that explains the stages of cancer.  Cancer starts out with inflammation and it takes multiple stages before the cells finally become cancerous.  This idea connects cancer with other diseases of the body and opens the possibility for holistic treatment of cancer

Biology Assignment Week Six

1.

To rationally distinguish between living and non-living system is very difficult if not impossible.  The article we read suggests three key criteria and they are pattern, structure and process.  However I believe even with these criteria it is not sufficient to distinguish the two.  This is because ultimately there cannot be a fundamental distinction between the the living and non-living.  The two are ying and yang of an undivided universe.

2.

I think to argue that whether it is the DNA or it is the society that determines race is really arguing whether it is nature or nurture that determines who we are.  The question itself presupposes nature and nurture are separable.  However they are in fact inseparable.  This means both DNA and society determine have something to do with our race.

Biology Assignment Week Five

1.

It seems that both views about how a new species emerges (continuous and slow change, sudden mutation) have merits and can exist along side each other.  It is possible that environmental pressure can add up continuously and slowly on a species.  And at some tipping point some individuals within that species can mutate suddenly as a response to the accumulative pressure.     

2.

The question "which comes first, the chicken or the egg?" is really a question about causation.  It is very similar in structure as two other philosophical questions about causation—the first cause and the free will question.  

First cause

Usually we assume that an event happens because there was a prior event that has caused it to happen.  For instance if a puppy is born we assume that the puppy had a mother that has given it birth.  The mother must also have been a puppy herself before she became a mother, so on and so forth.  But if everything has a cause that is prior to it then does it go back infinitely in time or is there a first cause?  This is the question of first cause.  

Free will

The free will question is if we apply the idea of every event has a cause to human actions then our actions, whatever they are, must all have prior causes that trigger them.  And if that is the case then it seems that we do not have the free will to decide our own actions. 

All three questions point to the mystery of causation.  The difference is in the chicken and the egg question there are two elements which are chicken and the egg, in the first cause there are unlimited number of elements, and in the free will question there are just one element which is the person.

I believe there is a common answer to these questions and it is closely connected to the ideas of Buddhism and Taoism.  The very short answer is that the very idea of individual elements existing independently of each other is itself an illusion.  Further more to the extent that causation is a concept that is used by us to explain how each individual element relates to each other it is also an illusion.  Please read my presentation for further elaboration.  

Biology Assignment Week Four

1.

We humans tend to think we are more intelligent than animals. We usually think of intelligence as abstract reasoning and the ability to make and use tools.  However animals have other forms of intelligence that are not comparable to humans.  Through adapting to their environment they have developed countless abilities and skills.  They might not be abstract or conceptual but that does not mean they are not powerful and effective.  Similarly animals might not be able to make and use tools in the exact way that humans do.  However tool making is only human’s way of adapting to our environment.  Animals have their own way to adapt to their environment.  If the theory of evolution is right then ultimately it is about survival and passing your genes on to the next generation.  If an organism can achieve this it should be considered a success whether or not it has abilities similar to us.   

Biology Assignment Week Three

1.a 

It is really hard to say what this means with regard to how similar or different human and chimps are.  It is easy to argue that because 99.4% of our genes are identical we are very similar to chimps.  However genetics is such a new science that we might not know the whole story about our genes just yet. For instance, it might be the case that there are genes that are more important than others.  This would mean that even if there is only 0.6% difference between the humans and chimps, as long as these differences come from the more important genes it is enough to make a big difference.  Further more it is also possible that genes as we know them today is only part of what makes us human.  It is possible that there are still other things in addition to our DNA that determines who we are. 

1.b 

How bacteria live function and procreate is very fascinating.  Since they are so much smaller than us we tend not to think of them as organisms with intelligence engaging in purposeful actions.  But it seems that they can learn and have sex.  What is most interesting is that once they have sex the female turns into male. 

2.

I think Kim Kardashian’s $550 beauty treatment shows how rich Hollywood celebrities have access to special anti-aging treatments and expertise that are not available to normal people.  It also shows how youth and beauty are such driving forces for human desire and how hollywood can turn them into the foundation for fame and fortune.