Ever since mind mapping research starts, there have been many ethical issues surround the topic. In order to bring maximum benefits to the society, scientists often debate that some ethical issues have to be cast aside; however, many don’t agree that technology should advance at the expense of moral values and ethics. In order to strike a balance, there is a need for scientists and engineers to set restrictions and guidelines regarding the usage of such technology.
To predict the possible ethical abuses of the technology, firstly, scientists and engineers must know what can the technology be used for, both what they intend and what they don’t intend. For example, as stated by the National Science Foundation (US) in the article “A computer that can ‘read’ your mind”, neuroscience research can ultimately led to the ability to read a person’s mind. This will led to the problem of privacy which is mentioned in the article “Ethics and mapping the map” when the writer talked about access to such information. Sometimes, other industries may also make use of such technology and these should be considered by predicting the possible ethical abuses.
Secondly, a single technology can benefit people from a wide variety of industries and it is important to know who the users for such technology are. Having different groups of users will have different ethical issues, therefore requiring different sets of rules and guidelines. For example, fMRI (functional magnetic resonance images) can bring benefit to both the medical industries and also in criminal investigation as stated in “Ethics and mapping the brain”. The ethics issues surround both industries will be different and should be determined by different groups of people.
In order to minimize potential abuses, controlling who uses the technology and what the technology is used for are very important. Even if a technology does have its uses in many areas, ethical issues in some fields may be more serious than the rest. Ethical issues in those fields could hinder the development of the technology that could reduce potential benefit in other fields.
One question to answer is who should be put in charge of setting the restrictions and guidelines for the technology. I believe there shouldn’t be a single group to make the decision due to the different dynamic of each industry. The decision makers should consist of the government, the engineers and scientists and the experts in the industry. These are the parties who have the knowledge and the power to make the right rules and ensure they are followed.
In conclusion, in order to deal with the ethical issues mind mapping brings about, scientists and engineers have to put into a lot of effort and they will require the help of other bodies to make sure everything will be successful.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Portfolio 6- how engineering can contribute to improve our life
Many advancements in the world, no matter if it is technological, social or in any other areas, are resulted from the input of many great scientists, engineers, writers, musicians and many other professions that contribute a lot into the areas they are specializing in. Just to take a few examples, in science, we have Newton whose discovery of gravitation opens up a large field of study in Physics that ultimately led to a better understanding of how our world works. In literature, Shakespeare’s stories became an important art of study for any interested in the area. Many things we saw in the modern world are results of all these great minds.
However, like the saying “great things don’t come often”, such great men are hard to come about and not all will have the opportunity to land themselves in the right place and time to contribute as much as Newton or Shakespeare do. The only thing we seem to be able to do is to maximize everyone’s opportunity in term of education so as to create the best situation for people with the factors of great man to unleash their potential. This may be the best method in the 20th century but recent advancement in technology had created a new frontier to achieve what may be impossible in the past- to create these men from a normal human. Known as genetic engineering, by altering the DNA structure in the brain in the smallest of amount, we are able to create someone with the intelligent of Einstein or the battle skills of Napoleon.
Genetic engineering has many other uses other than being a platform to create breakthrough in many fields. Firstly, genetic engineering can alter our cells to ensure they operate in the maximum possible effectiveness. This will not only create stronger humans but also prevent diseases and illness that often resulted from the undesired respond our cells from external influence. Secondly, genetic engineering not only can make men better but only reduce the undesired traits and character in men. Many scientists believed that criminal behaviors often resulted from certain parts of the brain. By altering our DNA, we can remove the genes responsible for such behaviors.
Despite the positive effects, genetic engineering remains expensive to develop and may be even more expensive to use. This brings us to one possible concern the society might face if should such technology be surfaced to be available to the public. This usage will only be available to the richer population of the world, up to the point of even only about 1-2% of the world’s population. Using such technology to improve their body will only make them even more superior to the rest of the population. The increased difference in abilities will allow these people, tapping on their new found abilities, to become even richer. This led to a vicious cycle that may further separate these people with the rest of the whole world until the state that the two cannot remain as one single species. That may be the time where the ideas of “superhuman” which only exist in science friction come true. This may not be an ideal world to live in, especially for those who cannot afford to go through genetic engineering.
Because of the many moral issues that surround genetic engineering, together with the negative consequences it might bring about, developing the technology and justifying for it will be tough job for the scientists and engineers.
However, like the saying “great things don’t come often”, such great men are hard to come about and not all will have the opportunity to land themselves in the right place and time to contribute as much as Newton or Shakespeare do. The only thing we seem to be able to do is to maximize everyone’s opportunity in term of education so as to create the best situation for people with the factors of great man to unleash their potential. This may be the best method in the 20th century but recent advancement in technology had created a new frontier to achieve what may be impossible in the past- to create these men from a normal human. Known as genetic engineering, by altering the DNA structure in the brain in the smallest of amount, we are able to create someone with the intelligent of Einstein or the battle skills of Napoleon.
Genetic engineering has many other uses other than being a platform to create breakthrough in many fields. Firstly, genetic engineering can alter our cells to ensure they operate in the maximum possible effectiveness. This will not only create stronger humans but also prevent diseases and illness that often resulted from the undesired respond our cells from external influence. Secondly, genetic engineering not only can make men better but only reduce the undesired traits and character in men. Many scientists believed that criminal behaviors often resulted from certain parts of the brain. By altering our DNA, we can remove the genes responsible for such behaviors.
Despite the positive effects, genetic engineering remains expensive to develop and may be even more expensive to use. This brings us to one possible concern the society might face if should such technology be surfaced to be available to the public. This usage will only be available to the richer population of the world, up to the point of even only about 1-2% of the world’s population. Using such technology to improve their body will only make them even more superior to the rest of the population. The increased difference in abilities will allow these people, tapping on their new found abilities, to become even richer. This led to a vicious cycle that may further separate these people with the rest of the whole world until the state that the two cannot remain as one single species. That may be the time where the ideas of “superhuman” which only exist in science friction come true. This may not be an ideal world to live in, especially for those who cannot afford to go through genetic engineering.
Because of the many moral issues that surround genetic engineering, together with the negative consequences it might bring about, developing the technology and justifying for it will be tough job for the scientists and engineers.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Portfilo 4
The work in university often includes more than examinations and tests but will also include projects and report writing which requires academic writing which is what EG 1471 is preparing us for.
My first contact with academic writing in University is when I was doing my Science GEM module during the special semester. Part of my module required me and my group members to find an article on Astronomy and write a report on it. Being completely new to academic writing, this was quite a challenge for me. I faced a few challenges while writing the report such as the style of writing, using the right words and linking the ideas together.
The main challenge was getting the style of writing. Being used to the JC education system which focused a lot on argumentative essay writing, writing a formal scientific report was something new to me. The structure we used in argumentative essay, explaining a point, countering it and countering the counter point again simply does not apply to formal writing which focuses on the final conclusion we come out with instead of the process of getting it. To overcome this, I went through a few reports written by seniors and consulted my group members who completed EG1471
Using the right vocabulary and words in the report is also a challenge for me. A report needs to be precise and strong in explanation. I did the mistake of using too much “may” in writing, and the draft turned out not to be as convincing as expected. To overcome this, I used modals that show stronger certainly like “must” and “will” to show I am certain of my stand.
The last challenge I faced is linking the ideas in the report. The report consisted of 4 sections and each section was further break down to 2 or 3 points. Linking each point and section was very important to achieve smooth reading. I overcame this by using linking words between paragraphs and when I wanted to start on a new idea.
In conclusion, writing the report before taking EG1471 helped me to better appreciate the importance of learning academic writing.
My first contact with academic writing in University is when I was doing my Science GEM module during the special semester. Part of my module required me and my group members to find an article on Astronomy and write a report on it. Being completely new to academic writing, this was quite a challenge for me. I faced a few challenges while writing the report such as the style of writing, using the right words and linking the ideas together.
The main challenge was getting the style of writing. Being used to the JC education system which focused a lot on argumentative essay writing, writing a formal scientific report was something new to me. The structure we used in argumentative essay, explaining a point, countering it and countering the counter point again simply does not apply to formal writing which focuses on the final conclusion we come out with instead of the process of getting it. To overcome this, I went through a few reports written by seniors and consulted my group members who completed EG1471
Using the right vocabulary and words in the report is also a challenge for me. A report needs to be precise and strong in explanation. I did the mistake of using too much “may” in writing, and the draft turned out not to be as convincing as expected. To overcome this, I used modals that show stronger certainly like “must” and “will” to show I am certain of my stand.
The last challenge I faced is linking the ideas in the report. The report consisted of 4 sections and each section was further break down to 2 or 3 points. Linking each point and section was very important to achieve smooth reading. I overcame this by using linking words between paragraphs and when I wanted to start on a new idea.
In conclusion, writing the report before taking EG1471 helped me to better appreciate the importance of learning academic writing.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Portfolio 3
Challenge chosen: Prevent neclear terror
The article talks about the discovery that, DHEA, also known as Neumune, a performance-boosting supplement will help to fight radiation from “dirty bomb”, as well as of other forms of radiation from other type of nuclear attacks.
The explosion from “dirty bombs” are not as damaging as normal bombs, but the radiation resulting from the explosion can affect many others as suggested from a predication from BMJ. Consequences from radiation from “dirty bombs” can be death due to depletion of bone marrow cells as well as other bone marrow sickness due to the fact that the infection-fighting marrows are usually hit most hard from a “dirty bomb” or nuclear attack. Thus, Neumune is believed to be effective as it protects the bone marrow from effect of the radiation.
An experiment had been conducted on 30 monkeys in which the monkeys were given radiation doses similar to that humans will suffer from nuclear attacks. The result shows that only 55% of the monkeys which received placebo or no treatment survived compared to 90% of those which received Neumune treatment. The experiment also shows that there are little side effects from using Neumune, none of which are permanent.
The experiment proved to be a success and researchers are planning to conduct further experiments to find the correct dose to use. Researchers also plan to extend the research into other non human primates which are the best model for studying effect of radiation from nuclear and “dirty bombs” attacks and the treatment after that.
Article
Lanio, R (n.d). Hormone May Prevent Dirty Bomb Deaths. Retrieved October 5, 2008 from http://www.webmd.com/balance/news/20041005/hormone-may-prevent-dirty-bomb-deaths
The article talks about the discovery that, DHEA, also known as Neumune, a performance-boosting supplement will help to fight radiation from “dirty bomb”, as well as of other forms of radiation from other type of nuclear attacks.
The explosion from “dirty bombs” are not as damaging as normal bombs, but the radiation resulting from the explosion can affect many others as suggested from a predication from BMJ. Consequences from radiation from “dirty bombs” can be death due to depletion of bone marrow cells as well as other bone marrow sickness due to the fact that the infection-fighting marrows are usually hit most hard from a “dirty bomb” or nuclear attack. Thus, Neumune is believed to be effective as it protects the bone marrow from effect of the radiation.
An experiment had been conducted on 30 monkeys in which the monkeys were given radiation doses similar to that humans will suffer from nuclear attacks. The result shows that only 55% of the monkeys which received placebo or no treatment survived compared to 90% of those which received Neumune treatment. The experiment also shows that there are little side effects from using Neumune, none of which are permanent.
The experiment proved to be a success and researchers are planning to conduct further experiments to find the correct dose to use. Researchers also plan to extend the research into other non human primates which are the best model for studying effect of radiation from nuclear and “dirty bombs” attacks and the treatment after that.
Article
Lanio, R (n.d). Hormone May Prevent Dirty Bomb Deaths. Retrieved October 5, 2008 from http://www.webmd.com/balance/news/20041005/hormone-may-prevent-dirty-bomb-deaths
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)