What is a paradigm shift? - This is a term initially defined by Thomas Kuhn (Wikipedia) in 1962 to describe a realignment in the basic thinking or assumptions about a topic. For instance, when movies went from silent to talkies in 1927 with The Jazz Singer, that made a whole new kind of movie possible for future directors. Kuhn initially applied the term to science, but since then, it has been adapted to many different things since 1962.
By way of illustrating this, the way people conduct research nowadays is completely different than it was when I did my undergrad degree at MSU less than 20 years ago. Computers existed back then but mainly as word processors (like the fabulous Apple IIe pictured to the right); the internet also existed but not in its current incarnation. When I needed to do research on a topic, I went to the library and looked up stuff the old fashioned way: I found the info in a card catalog in a long wooden shelving unit that smelled of mildew. I wrote down a whole list of books / articles / etc. and then I went and found them on the shelves in the library; if they were there, I looked to see that the books / articles / etc. had something relevant in it about my topic. If not, it went back on the shelf. If so, it went in my backpack. When my backpack got too full, I stopped at the nearest study table and started either taking notes on the relevant info or made copies of said info (if I had enough $$). Sound like fun? Just writing that and remembering that whole process made me thankful for computers.
By the time my Master's thesis came along in 1996-97, I still did some of the searching in the Wayne State library. But, most of the grunt work (card catalog searches, humping up and down stairs, checking out book shelves) was done by ERIC, an educational search engine. I had also upgraded to a Windows 95 computer and could surf the net in its infancy. A paradigm shift had occurred in research - how it was conducted, how quickly and efficiently it could be done. But the evaluation still had to be done by a human.
My question is: what kind of FUTURE paradigm shift do you envision shaking up life as we know it? (cue R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World As We Know It"). What kind of technological innovation could revolutionize our lives in the near future? What kind of scientific breakthrough or discovery could alter the course of our lives? Could an accident or a terrorist attack or unforeseen event forever change the world?Take some time to think about what you think might change our lives like Darwin, Galileo and Freud had done.
Due Wednesday, January 21st. 250 words minimum (should take some deep thinking).
The ability to travel at the speed of light would seriously impact our knowledge of the universe. We would be able to study far away galaxies. We might be able to reach the edge of the universe. This could lead us to lives in space or on other planets. We might find life on another planet. There would be many possibilities and no issues with over population. There would one day probably be an issue with pollution and other things. I would assume people would begin to live in space. Earth would be left without humans, who knows what would happen to all of the plants and animals. Realistically this will probably never happen, but living in space isn’t as far of a stretch.
ReplyDeleteAs for a specific scientific advancement, the ability to create life from nonliving elements would completely change our lives. Firstly almost all religions would be discredited. This could lead to new diseases and viruses, unlike all others, which would lead to deaths of humans. Or it could be positive, helping us cure diseases in humans, or possibly leading us to recreate extinct creatures.
The first thing that came to mind was the concept in V for Vendetta, probably because I watched that movie today. I think a bad terrorist attack would be able to trigger a government like the one in V for Vendetta and 1984, which would be total control of history, complete surveillance and unlimited power. This could be triggered in many severe ways (disease, war), all of which lead people to demand protection of their government, freely handing the government power over themselves.
Megan
3rd Hour
A shift in our technology could revolutionize our lives in the near future. The one invention that I really think will expand our lifestyles and change the way we live is a robot. This robot could perform daily chores, answer any question asked, and help people with daily things. This could change the way that people live forever. Daily chores would be taken away so that there would be more time for work and leisure activities. An average person who does chores spends around an hour a day on chores. If that hour were taken away then people who do chores would have 28 more hours of time per month to do other things including homework, work, hanging out, and other things. Robots could help us do things that we may commit that are unsafe. These unsafe things include texting while driving and changing the radio station while driving. The invention of robots could make the world a much more safer place than it is right now. Robots could answer questions asked and always have correct answers. The answers from the robot would always be correct so there would be no reason for research because some things people find on the Internet is incorrect. An accident or a terrorist attack or unforeseen event I think could definitely change the world. If people from an outer planet attacked our world and began to settle down then that would definitely change how we lived. We would have to deal with other creatures on our planet. Any other attack or event that left us with less resources or no energy would definitely alter the way we live.
ReplyDeleteJake B 4th hr
There are a lot of things that we deem fiction, and if they ever became reality, we would be stunned. There are two main things that I believe would completely alter our lives. The first of these two would be if we ever found intelligent life on other planets or galaxies. As humans, most of us believe that we are special and the most intelligent of life living on this planet. What if our alien neighbors are more intelligent and far more advanced in technology and their understanding of the universe? What if they knew that we existed and chose not to be found? Not only will this forever prove that we are not alone, but imagine how it will affect our understanding of religion. I wonder how the leaders of the church will try to explain this one. As far as I know, the Bible does not say that life outside of earth exists, but it doesn’t mention that it does either.
ReplyDeleteThe second main thing that I believe would significantly alter our lives is if the United States of America crumbles before our eyes. As citizens, a lot of us deem this to be the best country on earth. We even hear this fact from other countries and watch as our immigration problems continue to rise. Living here, I can honestly say that I would not want to live anywhere else in the world, but this is still a very young country. We speak very highly of our democracy, but what if it simply stops working? Would other countries say I told you so? I wonder what would happen to this country of immigrants when a nation of the people and by the people ceases to exist.
Brittany C.
3rd Hour
Galileo's Paradigm Shift - What would be our next one?
ReplyDeleteThere have been many paradigm shifts in the past and there certainly be more in the future. The next paradigm shift that I am truly hoping for is the cure to a major illness like Cancer or AIDS (hopefully both!!). This would be a major scientific experiment that might even help lead to other ones. The cure to Cancer and AIDS would change our lives so dramatically. I would be surprised to find someone who hasn’t been impacted in any way or form by either of these horrible diseases. This scientific advancement would save so many lives and many people pain and heartache. So many people donate their time and money to these causes and with both of them cured all of that time and energy can be devoted to new causes and we can conquer the world one disease at a time. I think that these two diseases take priority over every other scientific advancement discussed right now. If this scientific advancement were to happen it would not only help the U.S. this could help the entire world. This advancement is the most important advancement that could happen at this point. So many people have gotten Cancer and AIDS and it is just not fair at all. Many of the other advancements that people would like to see don’t save lives most likely but this will it will save so many lives.
Kaelin Roberts
I was reading a forum I frequent, and one of the posts was from a guy who had been emailed by his friend, talking about how he met this "CIA agent" in a coffee shop in downtown New York. (Hard to follow, right?) The email was about the confrontation they had, and it went roughly like this:
ReplyDeletejust one thing; you ever see the Statue of Liberty?' I said 'yes, who doesn't' and the he replied 'it is a weapon; it is a 150-feet tall robot that will save mankind in case of a global threat.' And then I was... 'wow'.
'Alien invasion... it is inevitable. There is a NASA intel that was given to us that in next 5 years, this can happen. The intel says there are certain unusual movements around Mars and within it; they say it's not just rocks, it's something else. That's all I gotta say to you. Thank you. Please keep it. Don't tell anybody as much as possible, it may cause a panic. Goodbye'.
It sounds shifty, and was worded poorly enough to almost make me disbelieve it, like I initially do with anything that sounds baseless. But what if he's right? He doesn't even have to be a CIA agent; he could've just been a bum coming in for some coffee, or begging for people's loose change in exchange for a story. But there's always the possibility for something this outrageous to be true, albeit extravagantly slim.
The government (damn them) hides things from us all the time. Why would this be any different? We rarely hear anything about NASA and their findings, and much of it is actually said to be fabricated. (I'm looking at you, Armstrong.) There was even a conspiracy recently about releasing facts and info about a fatal crash that was due mainly to NASA's complete mishandling of the experiment. (It came out eventually, even though it made them look terribly inhumane.) There's no reason to immediately disprove the possibility of a giant, secret weapon being held somewhere so obvious, like the Statue of Liberty, or maybe even the Washington Monument.
Let's take a moment to pretend that Lady Liberty is really a huge laser cannon aimed directly at Mars, in the event that it really IS housing a large brood of evil aliens hellbent on destroying/enslaving/probing mankind. (I know, its a stretch, bear with me) If you were part of NASA's secret committee that knew this secret, wouldn't you try your hardest to make sure that NO ONE could possibly figure out it's truth? Imagine how much trust the gov't would lose from its citizens. BUT, at the same time, if you imagine how unlikely this whole story seems in the first place, isn't it just easily unlikely to place the most unlikely situations together for the rumor to be started, only to have a vast majority of people shun the ridiculous notion? That would eradicate any chance of the info getting out, because no one would believe an agent after that. It's the perfect mask against unwanted publicity. It would also completely flip America upside-down if this was real, and if actual truth came out of it. It would be the next great paradigm shift.
Ramius Maniere-S
3rd Hour
Our next paradigm shift might be a folding car like the Jetsons had. It doesn’t have to be exactly like theirs in terms of flying, but if we had our cars fold up, it would change a lot of lives.
ReplyDeleteFor one, if we had folding cars, we wouldn’t need parking lots anymore, so we could save a lot of space. Since our population grows more every day, there are more issues about where to build things. There are issues about tearing down old buildings and using their lots for parking, or renewing them. So we could be more spatially secure. In the way way future, our population is still going to grow to where even if we got rid of parking lots, people would run out of space again. But for the future, this would be good.
Another good thing about folding cars would be carjacking wouldn’t happen so much. People wouldn’t be able to steal cars if the folded car is with the owner. People would still probably steal cars if the owner put it down for a minute, but the number would definitely go down.
Also, there wouldn’t be a need for garages anymore. People could still use their garages if they wanted to as a workshop or hangout, but people wouldn’t need to worry about cleaning their garages to make room for cars anymore.
I think the reason why this would be another paradigm shift is because folding cars would give the automotive industry more reason to design new futuristic eco friendly cars. Perhaps GM would hire people instead of firing them, and the eco friendly cars would help pollution go down.
Loren 4th hour
One of the things that I think will eventually change everything will be teleporting. I don’t know if it could actually happen but with all of the new stuff that has been happening with everything in technology im pretty sure you would be able to figure it out.
ReplyDeleteJust think about it with teleporting you wouldn’t have to go on those 24 hour long car rides to get to places. You would be there in a matter of seconds. I would love that there would not be any point in having cars. The environment would be so much better no more pollution. If your just sitting there and all of a sudden you’re like dangit I forgot my binder at school or something like that. You could be at school and back in no time at all.
Teenagers would love this because then they wouldn’t always have to worry about having gas to go places you could just be there. Actually I think that everyone would love that. It would save so much money for everyone and there is so much money that you could do other things with like pay billa and things like that. There are a couple downsides though you could end up somewhere you don’t want to be if something went wrong. I think that they would be able to figure all of that stuff out though just to make sure it doesn’t go wrong. If it had a chance of going wrong I don’t think anyone would use it.
Overall I think teleporting would be sweet if we could figure out how to work it, and the upsides to it way over power the downsides
Josh Williams
3rd hour
So many things could change the way we live forever. There are so many things that we live by today that could change and life as we know it would be completely turned around, for example, Aliens landing on our planet, and telling us that their people created our planet. That could change every religion, and even change life for people who don't believe in a god, knowing that we have creators and they have their own civilization. This would be such a disappointment to so many people and religions. The trillions of dollars and wars over religion, churches, the bombing in Gaza as I type this comment. It would change the way we look at good and evil, because there really are no 10 commandments, and what if evil isn't even really a bad thing to aliens? And, what if there’s an alien book of commandments and we haven't been following them, what happens to us then? This paradigm shift would probably scare so many people change so much that our planet would become completely unstable, and even a scary place for us to live. It would create complete chaos because a lot of rules we live from today are based off of the 10 commandments, such as thou shall not kill. Maybe to the Aliens killing wouldn’t be a sin, what if we have it all backwards. The theory of evolution would also be diminished, because we didn’t evolve from somewhere, we’re just a experiment put here to see what will come of us. There are many possible things that would cause a paradigm shift that I can think of off the top of my head, but I feel that this would be the most striking one, that would leave the human race completely turned inside out and upside down.
ReplyDeleteKatie Rothenberg, 3rd hour
One technological advancement that would shake up our lives would be some type of invention that would be able to scan us somehow at a store and would be able to detect who we are. For example, with credit cards or shopping rewards cards. I know I have a lot of little plastic cards that say I am a member of some store rewards club or members of other stores. Where I work, one of the biggest complaints I hear is that there are too many cards for everything. You have your credit cards, your Kroger or grocery shopping cards, your Macys card- every single store now has some type of card that people sign up for, put in their wallet, and then forget about them or lose them. If we had some way to scan ourselves, we wouldnt have to have all those cards anymore. Take a retinal scan for example. No two scans would be the same, so whenever you would want to put something onto your account, they would just scan your eye and make sure you're you and youre done. It would be just like finger printing. For a scientific breakthrough, I think that finding a way to cure some of the most common diseases and be able to say proudly that nothing bad will come of this. I think that there is a whole bunch of new adventures we could take with medicine and even things we can learn from nonliving things that would help our doctors and most importantly our patients. I definitely think a terrorist attach or unforeseen event can change the world. September 11th has changed the way we look at people and made us want protection from everyone at every cost possible. We are in a war right now that has changed the world. We lost a lot of men and women and even children in the war and 9/11 and now we are suffering from it.
ReplyDeleteNicole M
3rd Hour
A paradigm shift that would forever change the way people get from place to place is teleportation. I think most people would love it if they could think of a place to go and be there in an instant. We wouldn’t even need cars, unless maybe if there’s a lot of cargo you’re trying to move. That could potentially cut down on the pollution that millions of cars produce. There are some negatives though; people in America at least are living their lives way too fast. It seems that people are always busy and in a rush to get places. This would further spoil people with instant gratification. Not to mention most people would seriously be lacking physical exercise if teleportation existed. Aside from these negatives it would be great because we wouldn’t have to wait in traffic jams or pay for gas.
ReplyDeleteAlso, if there was some way to make artificial organs then there wouldn’t be as many people waiting for a liver transplant or something along those lines. I know that they can make things like the valve of a heart, but what if it was possible to create a whole heart. That would be something! No more lives lost over having to wait too long or over not having the right match.
Although those paradigm shifts would definitely change the way that we all live, there are some that would change the way we see everything. If we found that there was life on another planet somewhere out there I have no idea what would happen. Personally I would be pretty freaked out. If we were to make contact and get along with the aliens we could potentially benefit from it by gaining all sorts of knowledge. Or we could possibly get into a crazy war with them. Who knows!
Lauren Lounsbery
3rd hour
I think that not a scientific or tragic paradigm shift is going to be the most important shift to happen in the near future but a shift in the way politics is run in our country. After listening to Barack Obama’s speech I am hopeful for a paradigm shift in the way that modern American culture functions. Today Obama spoke about how we as a country must collectively work to build a better tomorrow. I think that for over the past decade American culture has become fixated on consumerism. The mentality has been to get a large amount of things quickly and easily. Credit has been easy to get and people have been getting bad loans that wind up drowning them in debt because they have no abilty to pay them back. But into day’s speech Obama spoke of the ground shifting beneth us. I truly hope this will happen. That we will enter into an era where the true American ethic of hard work is restored. The corrupt government that we have endured for the past 8 years will truly be revolutionized. Obama spoke today about cutting away the acess of government and putting more money into the programs that work. I know that it might seem idealistic but I truly think the way that the American government functions will shift drastically in my lifetime. We have seen large shifts in the government in past presidencies. Like when FDR instituted new deal policies and drastically expanded the government. The next biggest paradigm shift will be with the way the government and American culture functions.
ReplyDeleteLeah Firestone
4th Hour
Nowhere in the near future would this major technology be invented, but if brain chips or instantly educating software were ever a reality, the daily life of all citizens would undergo drastic changes. First of all, if the brain chip (that transported information instantly to a person) was accessible to all people, a new level of equality would be established, since the percentage of educated persons would drastically soar. Social equality would erupt as a result because everyone would have the means to receive the same education, and thus there would not be any superior, more intelligent citizens that dominate the wealthy occupations. Of course, these intelligence capsules would have to be cheap so they could be affordable to people of all financial statuses. But if their invention were to occur one day, the entire American society would be transformed. If everyone had the same information in their brain and the same educational background, the need for schools or prestigious universities would be eliminated. Competition for high paying jobs would increase drastically, but because everyone would be (somewhat) equally qualified, the criteria would have to be altered and different standards would have to be evaluated. More jobs would be created by the influx of technology and the increase in demand of high paying jobs, so our economy would be boosted and American citizens, on average, have a higher socio-economic status. The entire mentality of Americans would be altered, because education would no longer be a goal we strive for, it would be a basic trait we all possess. We would be forced to develop our reasoning and logical skills instead of wasting time and energy learning facts, memorizing dates of wars, math equations, or scientific properties because these facts would instantly be transmitted into our brains using this chip. We would eventually take all of this knowledge for granted and not appreciate how easy it is to acquire, just like my generation takes the Internet and the incredible instant information we can access with it for granted. Humanity would forever be changed because if everyone was smarter and more educated, more inventions will arise and our civilization will become even more modern and high tech. The cycle of modernizing and how it molds society into lessening the value of old fashion “work” and strife to achieve education would continue. (For example, my generation knows nothing of how difficult researching was without computers, and future generations will not be able to fathom how life was before information loaded brain disks were accessible).
ReplyDeleteLaura Dietrich 4th
Cancer is a pervasive part of our society. People are dying from cancer every day. Scientists and medical researchers have tried to find a cure for cancer for decades without success. They can treat the symptoms with chemotherapy or radiation, but the cancer may always reappear. Certain types of cancer, like pancreatic, are almost without doubt a death sentence. A future paradigm shift that could affect society would be for someone to discover a cure for all types of cancer. Not only would millions of people be able to live longer, but the cost of health care would be reduced substantially. On a personal level, families would be much more stable because their members would all live together longer. Workers would become more productive because they would be healthier and in better shape to fulfill their tasks. It would cause a total change in the way we view medicine in the future, because it is so far from any conceivable solution to the current treatments that are available.
ReplyDeleteAnother paradigm shift which would have the opposite effect would be if terrorists were able to infect society with cancer cells. There have been discussions in the past, especially in some of the recent wars the United States has fought with terrorist regimes, of the dangers of the terrorists using chemical warfare. The introduction of cancer cells to a huge population by terrorists would totally change the ability of the nation to continue. It would cause immediate chaos in society. Even though it is not likely that such a disastrous thing would happen now, technology is such that it could theoretically occur, just as a cure could be found.
Carter Freeman
4th Hour
After deep thought of what could change the course of our life forever is human/organ cloning. This is not so we can send our clone to school or to do the things we do not care for. For example if our parents told us to clean the basement but instead you send your clone. This would not help change the world. What I was thinking of was how cloning could extend the lives of humans in so many ways. The first one that comes to mind is what is a beautiful baby girl is born but within days her kidneys begin to fail and there is no exact match for her. If she does not get the transplant within a few days she would die. This is where cloning would come in; they would be able to clone her kidney (but a healthy one) and she could become healthy and live a normal life. If there was no cloning then she would have never seen the age of two. Cloning could lengthen our lives because when there is an unhealthy organ in an elderly body but other than that they are healthy then a replacement with the cloned organ could extend her life for many years. Now the extreme would be to clone the entire body in order to give blood transfusions or bone marrow transplants for the rest of some ones life. The only thing that I do not like is what if this human gains emotions or feelings and does not want to give up his or her organs. I read a book recently called “My Sister’s Keeper” which is about a young girl whose parents picked her genetic make up to match her sisters so that she could be a donor for her. She was not a clone but close enough. I still believe cloning could change our lives for the better but we must be careful.
ReplyDeleteAnna Beaufore
3rd hour
When posed with this question, the first thing that came to mind was a result of the recent panic over the worldwide energy crisis. As I thought even more, I realized that if we as a human race do not figure out all the health issues that we face daily, nobody will be around to experience this “renewable energy.” This led me to my decision that a cure for cancer would revolutionize our lives in the near and far future. If doctors and scientists could come up with something as simple as a pill that clears up your allergies to cure cancer, the world would undoubtedly be changed. The thousands of Americans that suffer or are defeated by cancer, could impact the world greatly with their extended existence. Imagine if everyone in the world could beat the disease. Methods like radiation, surgery, and chemotherapy have been great contributions towards the fight, but if the disease could be eliminated completely, the time and energy could go on to try and cure diabetes, heart disease and other major illnesses plaguing out world and nation. Unfortunately I have heard the idea that there is so much money invested into cancer research and treatment centers, that if a cure were to arise, the employees would be out of jobs. I hate to sound harsh, but I think that would be one time when I would be happy find out that the jobs were lost. They could easily go into work with the production of the cure. I think that a cure for cancer would cross a line in science and medical research that we as a people have been nearing for decades. There would be so much less pain and suffering experienced by the patients and their loves ones, and the government and health agencies could put their attention towards “the next big thing.” I realize that there will always be a number one cause of death, but I feel that we have been trying to conquer this major killer for far too long. The United States and the world as we know it would be forever changed for the better. (On a side note: I also thought of a cure for AIDS. I feel that either one of these advancements would have exponentially positive effects on the world and its people.)
ReplyDeleteJordan H
4th Hour
I think that in the relatively soon future we will have flying cars. By relatively soon I mean in the next hundred years or sooner we have already come out with a few flying cars. If I remember correctly Ferrari is supposed to have the first production car on the market in 2011, but I’m not sure about that. So I think that defiantly we will have production flying cars for the average consumer within the next hundred years. Another thing is that either the economy will spiral down into a depression that will obviously change a lot of things very soon. Or the economy will begin to get better and this will also change a lot of things. Another thing that I think will change a lot of things is robots. Although when we think about how robots could improve our quality of life. They could cook and clean and maybe even drive for us, go into the store so we don’t have to go into the cold. Although they look like great things I think that it is a bad idea and it scares me I think more than I am looking forward to it. All we really have right now for the average consumer that I can think of is the GPS that everyone has in their car nowadays. Just looking at the bad things that GPS has done for us like the fact that future generations have lost their sense of direction. It’s scary to think for me what other skills we will lose because we do not have to do anything for ourselves anymore.
ReplyDeleteChris 3rd hour
A scientific breakthrough that would alter the course of many people's lives would be a cure for cancer. Cancer is a leading cause of death in the United States, and people all over the country are petrified now more than ever of the damage they do to their body in their everyday lifestyles that may casue or lead to a form of cancer. This would be a paradigm because it would shift the course of everyone's everyday lifestyle so they would not be scared everyday that something they do or may encounter will give them cancer. You hear on the news all the time that something new may be the cause of some type of cancer. It feels like we are restricting ourselves so much in our lifestyles because we are so afraid of getting cancer. If there was a cure to all forms of cancer, then I think that it would definately have a big effect on revolutionizing our lives. The paradigm shifts in the early years were all so dramatic because of their effects on mankind. Discovering that Jupiter had four moons led us to a lot more discoveries about our universe. It also impacted the human race because we realized that there is something out there that is bigger than all of us. There are other universes out there that we have not yet had the oppurtunity to explore, but yet we still know they exist. Overall, the cure for cancer is a scientific discovery that will alter millions of peoples' lives. It will give people that may already have cancer a longer and more fullfilling life to live. It will give people that may not have cancer a sense of safety that if they ever did get it, there was a way to cure it.
ReplyDeleteAshley Connelly 4th hour
The next paradigm shift I would think would something in the advances of technologies. Something like the understanding of dark matter or figuring out if there is other intelligent life. Another thing might be the advances of computer technology to make a computer have a personality. The last thing I would think is genetic engineering.
ReplyDeleteThe next paradigm shift is going to be something that someone has thought of first. I don’t think that there are that many possibilities that can be with out having already something similar being featured in a science fiction film. Like the past paradigm shift was something that people were so convinced that the earth was the center of the universe that they would even think of us revolving around the sun, but when people thought of this they didn’t have really any science to back it up. Now that we are trying to explore our universe and much is know about many things in the universe and other scientific advances have been made we have things to back up what we say. So what I am trying to get at is that the next paradigm shift is not going to change what we know that much.
Some possibilities I think is the advancements of computers so that they can learn and think on their own. Like all the science movies have portrayed the super computer with a personality that goes bad and tries to take over the world. I think that this could really change life as we know it. People would not be needed if computers could think on their own. It is project that in 2013 that the first super computer that has more computing power than a human brain with be built. I still remember at school assemblies people saying that if you take a table spoon of brain matter that it is more powerful that any computer in existence. In 2049 they expect a computer to be built that can compute more than the whole human race. This is not out of a science fiction film experts predicted these numbers. This is just giving you some examples at the possibilities of computer in the next fifty years.
Another possibility is genetic engineering. If you have ever seen the movie GATTCA you will know what I am talking about. The advancements in genetic engineering could create a super race that is strong faster and better in every way. People there would not even need to be a competition for t job opportunities there would only need to be a test of your DNA. Like in the movie his interview was just a sample of his blood to make sure his it who is say he is. This could really change life for people all over.
So no one knows what the future holds for us weather it is super computers or genetic engineering we will just have to wait and see.
Michael B
3rd hour
One innovation that could be considered a paradigm shift would be the ability to teleport. This breakthrough would be a great help to the way our nation is run and solve many of the problems we are faced with today. Teleporters would eliminate the need for motor vehicles and other methods of transportation. Most cars use gasoline, a fossil fuel that will eventually run out. By cutting cars from our lives we would be taking a giant leap towards solving the energy crisis. Teleporters would also satisfy our nation's obsession with having everything instantly. Today we receive our news, mail, and entertainment instantly via the internet. With teleporters we could travel to far off places (even other planets), receive packages and other physical mail, and even have pizza on demand, all instantly. Imagine ordering something like a pizza or coffee online, then instantly having it next to the computer. It is likely teleportation would be very costly in it's first years. But as technology advances the cost of older technology goes down. The first cell phone cost $4,000. Today cell phones can be purchased for around $40. Teleporters would follow the same path and eventually become a normal part of our society. Like all great ideas, the teleporter would initially be met with skepticism. It would be seen as dangerous and pushed away. The plane was met with a similar reaction, but after its design was stabilized people began to accept its usefulness and eventually integrated it into society. The teleporter would be the ultimate technological paradigm shift and change the world for the better.
ReplyDeleteStefan Rush
4th Hour
I sense we're in the process of becoming a new species, homo sapien sapien sapien, is a macro view of a paradigm shift, but more specifically a paradigm is our "window" into the world. A paradigm is our way of looking at and thinking about ourselves and the world as a whole. A paradigm is a frame of mind out of which we operate!
ReplyDeleteEvery religion is a paradigm, a group of people’s view of God. Chrsitainty, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism are all different views of God and how we as humans fit into the world. Religion generally is a basic and foundational way of thinking, seeing, and valuing that which has created everything. This Creator is called God, Allah, Yahweh, and dozens of names, but it's still just ONE!
As a senior in high school I am experiencing the new age of technology. I think the next big paradigm shift will have to do with technology. Whether it’s the internet or cellular phones, One day I believe we wont need cell phones, some weird device will be built into ourselves. Everybody will actually be a computer in some sort of way.
Communications, the internet, and the digital world within which we find ourselves has much to do with what it all about and that's not a denial of the spiritual earthquake that is at our doorstep.
Rocky Shattuck
3rd hour H. Philosophy
Mr. W
The ability to control how your child turns out would completely change the world. People would be able to decide if you wanted to have a boy or girl, and if you wanted them to be intelligent, athletic or beautiful. Of course if it came out it would be insanely expensive so it would only be available to the rich. I think that being able to control how your child turns out is completely wrong, but some may disagree. Life has become a competition and everyone wants to be the best in whatever they do. Parents want to see their child succeed and I think that many would do whatever they could to see that happen. If a sport runs in the family, and the parents might want to have an all star football player and they could make it happen. Humans would become robots and before you know it we will all be programmed with microchips in bedded in our brains. The world would be insane, and soon enough people wouldn’t have anything to do because they would already know everything and wouldn’t need to attend school. Soon after, being smart wouldn’t be a big deal anymore because many people would carry that characteristic. I think if this came out it would be a huge hit at first and then simmer down, but people would still control a few things about their child. Once the price went down everyone would control the outcome of their child. Being a perfect human is what many want and some may go to great lengths to achieve that. With this technological advancement it would open many doors for humans and we would probably be able to make many more discoveries and more technological advancements.
ReplyDeleteNicole S.
3rd hour
Lou DiVizio
ReplyDelete3rd Hour
1/20/09
In class today we briefly discussed the possibility of life on other planets. If there was ever any life more advanced than humanity it would be, without precedence, the most important life and reality changing occurrences of time and humanity as we know it. It would spark questions as to our origins and cause reevaluation of all known religions. Who we are and where we came from would be debated as we have never seen it. Our life would be put in a strange perspective. The religion of scientology already believes in this idea, and this change the earth and life as we know it
Also there are other massive changes that would come with a discovery such as this. We could advance our technology in astonishing new ways, and unfortunately, we would most likely enhance our military technology, whether for use on our own planet, or against others. A discovery of this type and magnitude would also unite humanity more than anything else would. But then the question of how to great these new beings would be most important. Having taken Sci Fi first trimester I have a bias towards the subject, and I have to say it really does interest me. Many of our people would greet any alien life as threatening, as the movies portray. We must greet visitors to our planet with caution, as well as generosity.
The two biggest changes that would take place would be the debate over our origins and the fact that we would grow so much stronger as one. Imagine, having foreign policy issues between the president of the world and the president of Mars. That’s crazy.
Ben Despard
ReplyDeleteI think the discovery of an alien or even a single celled organism on another planet could open even more people’s minds to the endless possibilities the universe has to offer us all. Since the dawn of man, our ancestors have stared up at the night sky, feeling like there must be more then what we see and know here on earth, that we’re not alone in the universe. To take a quote from the science fiction movie Contact “if there isn’t life on other planets, then its an awful lot of wasted space.” Contact with another civilization could bring new technologies, the like of which we have only dreamed of. Cleaner energy, better medicines, military technology, , perhaps even intergalactic trade!!! That would really boost our nation’s economy, ha-ha. On the other side, if we where discovered by a hostile extraterrestrial, like so many science fiction stories have spoken of, humanity could be doomed to a life of slavery or even annihilation. Closer to home, we don’t necessarily need blood thirsty aliens of the space variety to cause trouble. We have many enemies, some of them enemies to us all, and not just the United States. Further conflict in the unstable and frayed Middle East could lead to drastic measures, and once more we could enter a period of Cold War fear of a nuclear holocaust. This too, has been written many times by science fiction writers. We can only to do the best we can to work things out peacefully to avoid the horrific consequences of all out global war. along these same lines, though its very unlikely at this point, but if President Obama instituted a Draft, that would certainly effect my life, and the lives of my friends, and not in a good way. Though I think its relatively safe to say we are safe from aliens or nuclear annihilation, the thought does cross my mind, the later, not the aliens…
Humanity is where it is because of opposable thumbs and mainly brains. No other species on Earth has near brain capacity to create civilization on the scale that Humanity has. Humanity has essential colonized the entire planet.
ReplyDeleteAs fast as technology has been evolving, we could see other intelligent life forms in computers, known as Artificial Intelligence. Computers today are mainly limited to specific functions that need to be installed, but A.I. has the capacity to make its own decisions, a very scary prospect.
The movie, I, Robot illustrates the dangers of computers with independent agendas. The A.I. life form in the film deems it necessary to deprive the human race of freedom, in the interest of protecting themselves from themselves.
Assuming any A.I. creations wouldn’t turn on humanity, they would be able to fight wars, run factories, drive taxi’s; the possibilities are limitless. With proper tuning, anything one of these thinking computers touched would be perfect. In I, Robot, the protagonist robot creates a very detailed drawing on a canvas style paper in seconds.
I think the creation of A.I. would really change our lives, seemingly removing many jobs, unfortunately. A.I. robots could scan a legal document for cheats, could scan the horizon for signs of hostiles. In both these instances an A.I. would be superior to a human performing the same job because human are humans. Being tired or overworked could cause a human in either of above positions to lose attention for an instant, just enough time for a disaster either legal or combat (sometimes one in the same).
Humans and robots are likely never to coexist, especially within fifty or so years, but the potential is certainly there and almost to much to handle (would humans really give power to something capable of surpassing them? Probably not). In the end, an A.I. robot is only a computer, not capable of love or nostalgia or emotion, still perhaps unpredictable, but that’s as close to humanity and life as an A.I. entity would get.
Sean Turner, 4th hour
A paradigm shift that would shake up the world as we know it would be travel to different solar systems. If we could travel far our into the galaxy we could find unimaginable things. We are uncertain about the amount of solar systems in our galaxy and what may be living on them. It is possible that other life forms exist and if we coils travel deep into space we could examine these things. I also think that the Internet is going to change and it could be the new form of teaching. Instead of going to school we could watch an instructor on the Internet and obtain information that way. I know that when I have a question or want to learn more about a subject I simply type in the topic on google and read about it. Another paradigm shift in technology would be robots. Robots could do so many things for us that we would have time to do what we want. They could cook, clean, and do any household chore. If we had sophisticated robots we could have them learn information and answer any questions we may have. There are so many times that I wish I could have a robot do the things that I don't have time to do or just don't want to do. I think the world could end up relying on other things instead if their own minds and bodies which is really scary to think about. - Hilary Burns 3rd hr
ReplyDeleteAn event so radical that it alters the life of every single human being world wide happens rarely and with great infrequency, but with the rapid progression of technology and information, many have begun to wonder if the world is nearing another one of these paradigm shifts. To fully answer this question, we must evaluate what can create such a shift, and how it can snowball from a singular event into a global one.
ReplyDeleteThe first, and most likely cause for a full scale paradigm shift would be a global nuclear war, where every nation released all it had at every nation it could. This major war would put the human race at jeopardy. This event could be brought on by a number of causes, from a technical error which resulted in an accidental launch, to a terrorist strike which collapsed the global economy. Such an event would trigger a string of events which would kill the majority of the earth’s biosphere and put the survivors at grave risk, ruin technology and push human kind back to the stone age.
A second cause of a paradigm shift would be the creation of a fusion energy lab. Free electricity, with zero emissions or pollutant would restart the American, if not the world economy, and restore American scientific superiority. The follow up technological advancements would radically alter the way we used and perceived resources and drastically change consumerism.
A third possible paradigm shift would be direct and usable contact with an alien species. This would prove man was not the only creature in the galaxy and alter the foundation of religion, though and medical understanding around the world. We would loose our self centered, earth centered nature which has shaped our perceived reality and the basis for resource management in the world and solar system. The technology which they could give us would expand this paradigm shift in un calculatedly ways.
Daniel Zamler
ReplyDeleteBlog #13
Q: What kind of FUTURE paradigm shift do you envision shaking up life as we know it? (cue R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World As We Know It"). What kind of technological innovation could revolutionize our lives in the near future? What kind of scientific breakthrough or discovery could alter the course of our lives? Could an accident or a terrorist attack or unforeseen event forever change the world?
A: A technological paradigm shift that I can see revolutionizing our world is if someone were to truly create a virtual reality. Looking at how many peoples lives are already consumed by video games and with new technologies emerging, like the new Nintendo Wii, that allow players to become more Immersed in their fantasy worlds I do not think that we are too far away from an actual virtual reality being developed. With something like this introduced to the masses it would potentially lead to a matrix-esque society. There are some gamers who already spend more time interacting with people in games than they do in real life, The only real barrier between the masses being so involved in gaming is that it lacks in personability and physical interaction. If these two elements were to be introduced via a virtual reality many, many, many, more people would quickly become involved in the gaming world.
As far as scientific breakthroughs go I believe that deep space travel would revolutionize our perspective on life, think about how such a relatively small discovery of the new world opened peoples minds and eyes to completely new forms of life. An interesting philosophical aspect of this paradigm shift can be demonstrated in a book called watchmen. In this book a Man creates an alien life form in order to end all war on earth. Would this be the final outcome if we discovered extraterrestrial life? I believe that it is definitely a possibility and could have huge benefits.
Terrorist attacks already have changed the world via racial profiling with people of Arabic descent. They have also caused a huge spike in the fear of flying and a huge downward spiral in airlines business.
An unforeseen event could not change the world for us cognitively because it is unforeseen. We would be none the wiser.
Now, Abbie, what does all this gamer-geek talk have to do with anything? To make it as simple as I can: Artificial Intelligence (AI). You see, people like myself like to sit for hours and code things, programming games. AI is about the hardest thing to code, because you're basically telling something that doesn't exist to have a mind of it's own and act on it's own accord in this virtual place. Usually, AI in games is limited to "if something gets too close to you, attack it until you or the player dies, and follow it if it runs away." And simply, that's all most games need. Now, consider this one boss: he dodged out of a field that did not allow him to attack us, and then managed to pick the one person unprotected and basically kill him. That's not just random bad luck... that's a fake made up character, in a non-existent world, that knows exactly what's going on and can instantly solve it's own problems and pick out the weakest link. Do I honestly need to make this any more simple? (More over, there's 10 different classes, 10 different races, and over 6000 different spells and abilities in one game, with thousands of ways to complete the same task.)
ReplyDeleteNow, how it really applies: if we can code something that does not exist to have complete battle intelligence, and how to react in any scenario to try to come up on top, how unrealistic is it to say that we can through that same programming into say, a robot? Cant you just think of how much that would change life as we know it?!? There's an endless amount of possibilities there...
Anyways, I shall end my rant here.
-Abbie
Of course some unexpected development or unforeseen tragedy could seriously alter our perception of life, but these events are, by name, unpredictable. Therefore, it’s better to make predictions about things that will likely occur. Thus, the question is, of all of the expected changes coming to human life, which has a chance of creating a “paradigm shift.” This, undoubtedly, seems to be the rise of genomic technology and knowledge. With the recent invention of gene sequencing technology that scientists say in five years will be able to sequence a person’s entire genome in 15 minutes, a project that took over a decade (1990-2003) at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars the first time it was attempted, we will be flooded with a massive amount of new genetic data.
ReplyDeleteFirst, new computer algorithms will be developed to analyze this data. Within a very short time, we will gain knowledge of the mutations that cause all varieties of diseases, including the most common, but most complicated ones, such as heart disease and diabetes. The obvious implications of this on the human attitude towards life are a difference in the way we view health, disease, as well the way our body works, ages, and gives out (or whether this is necessary at all). But, as is true with most new technologies, the real change comes from the added observations we gain. These changes will come, though their exact nature will be apparent only when we see them for real. The pattern will follow that of other new tools of observation. When the telescope was invented, it was not intended for Galileo’s eventual purpose. Yet, as he turned it to the skies, he made discoveries that would have been impossible without its advancement. The instrument was later used for a vast range of other discoveries even he could not have expected. When telescopes were invented to probe infrared and ultraviolet light, in addition to radio waves, the widening of the spectrum beyond visible light allowed for multitudes of new observations. The same occurred with the launch of space telescopes such as the Hubble, which bypassed the interference of our atmosphere. Elsewhere, particle accelerators have revolutionized physics by introducing a host of new particles which explain the universe. Gene sequencing technology promises to be the biological analogue to these astronomical and physical inventions. As biology is the science of life, the revolution will extend to our view of human existence.
Kate Goforth
ReplyDeleteBlog # 13
The world has been changed a few times recently by discoveries which were very original and unique, but what if the discovery was something which many people had already believed but had doubts about? I think that a future paradigm shift which would change the world could be the verification of God’s existence.
I know for me that I have difficulty believing. Sometimes I want to believe, but doubts and reasoning cause me to falter. If someone, someway, found solid evidence of God’s existence, then there would be no way for those who believed only the scientific perspective to not believe. This discovery could cause the entire world to question scientific discoveries of early history.
What if this verification didn’t stop with just the existence of God? What if this discovery also could show that the major moments in the bible were in fact true? This could change the idea of evolution. May scientists would be thrown for an absolute loop.
This would be so ground breaking that it would cause major bickering and a few “I told you soes.” Many scientists who were proved wrong would be pretty miffed. Their basis for things such as evolution or the big bang theory would be proved absolutely wrong. Churches would have a boom in the amount of their members. They could now without a doubt tell their laymen that what they were preaching was the truth. If a discovery were to happen like this, The world would be forever
The next paradigm shift that I see greatly affecting the world, would have to be in the transportation area. For a long time I thought it would be a pretty amazing thing if teleportation was invented. This seems to be on the back burner in inventors minds. What is more commonly worked on would have to electric cars or at least cars that need no fuel, seeing as we will be running out of gasoline apparently very soon. I think that the entire world could be completely changed for the better (I think) if cars were more like you see them in futuristic movies such as I ROBOT. In the movie, the cars are more or less hover cars, and they are not actually driven, unless manually tuned to do so. To get to your destination, you input the destination you are looking to go to, and the car takes you at high speeds to that place, the roads, cars and intersections are all electronically tuned to work in sync with each other. There are no accidents, no gasoline crisis, and no problems. This could absolutely shake up the entire world if it was to be created. It will not be easy, and even when it is thought out, and put into production it will cost the governments, as well as individual people great sums of money to enact this as the common use of travel. However, I think this would be a great paradigm shift, that could make planet earth a more perfectly functioning place.
ReplyDeleteYes, I do think that a terrorist attack or unforeseen event could change the world forever. Right now, all over the United States, there are dormant missile sites from pervious wars. Each missile has enough blast power to wipe out about one fourth of the United States. In the wrong hands, the large amount of missiles that the U.S possesses could literally kill everyone and everything all across the entire world. And that is only one example, may be extreme, but there are many different things that could happen that could change life as we know it.
I believe that someday there will be a teleporter. Our world is so environmentally conscious that they will create this so there will be no pollution. This way no cars are being used and you can get from place to place in a matter of seconds. This would make life a lot easier and people would be able to experience all different types of life because they can go wherever in the world that they wish. Also people that believe that there is life on another planet, they will be able to see if such a thing is true. This could also create troubles such as people leaving body parts behind, also you could be sent to places that you didn’t wish to go to. This just seems like something’s very scary because you never know what you will get with it, but I think its worth a try.
ReplyDeleteErin D
TJ Hyland
ReplyDelete3rd Hour
I believe that a future paradigm shift that would shake up human’s lives would be the development of a new computer that was as strong and fast as the human beings mind. Not only could this computer realize its own importance in our society, but it would show emotion and feelings. This computer would probably realize that it is better than everyone else, and most likely destroy humanity.
A different paradigm shift that could revolutionize human lives would be the development of a new hybrid car, one that could use a different fuel source than gasoline. This car could run on a food source, like corn. Not only would this car encourage humans to grow more sources of food, this car would also cut down on pollution. Global warming would decrease dramatically, and our environment would begin to revert to better stages.
A believe that a terrorist attack, or another unforeseen event could very well change the course of human history. If for example aliens landed on Earth, and they claimed to be God, I can guarantee that loads of people would believe them. Religious wars would ensue, and the Earth could eventually be destroyed. As for a terrorist attack, look at how the people of New York reacted to the twin towers falling on September 11. Everyone grew scared of flying, and it seems to me that there was a huge spike in racist attitudes toward Muslims. So yes, a paradigm shift of technology, or an unseen event could easily change the future of humanity.
The future paradigm shift that would shake up life as I know it would be the invention of a Teleportation machine. We would no longer spend money on gas or waste precious time with unimportant travel. Instead of air flights lasting hours we would be able to travel around the globe in minutes or seconds. All of the wasteful minutes involving travel would be eliminated. One negative side effect from this would be the loss of jobs. A lot of jobs are involved in the travel business and, with the invention of the teleportation machine, gas companies would cease to exist. This would also decrease our dependency on other countries for oil and thus most of the wars between us and the Middle East would cease to exist. This would change so much in how the United States operates and change the direction of our nation as a whole.
ReplyDeleteA scientific breakthrough that could alter our lives would be finding the cure for cancer. So many suffer from this deadly disease and by finding a cure we would save lives and keep people around that could have a huge impact on the world. This would forever change the world because by finding the cure for cancer as a whole, so many diseases would be eliminated. (Breast cancer, Lung Cancer, Melanoma, etc).
An accident or terrorist attack could also have a great impact on the world. In my opinion the world is going to end by mankind destructing it himself. I believe that the world will end with World War Three by a lot of countries using nuclear weapons against each other. I hope this doesn’t happen, but if it did it would forever change the world and its existence.
I think all of these paradigm shifts would alter the lives of everyone on earth. The impacts would be huge, some for the better and some for the worse.
Samantha Paul
4th hour
I know I’m not the first person to say that a cure for cancer or AIDS would create the next paradigm shift, but I think that’s because we all know how huge that would really be for our world. Every year there are more and more people who either die from cancer or AIDS or find out that they have one of the two. And when that day comes there is absolutely nothing left for them to do except hope. For the most part if you are told that you have one of the two diseases it is like being told, “I’m sorry but you most likely will die from this disease.” Even our top notch doctors or crazy, genius experimenters have not yet had the brain power to put an end to this madness. People have tried many times and are still trying, but trying doesn’t mean anything if no results are produced. No one wants to be told, “You have cancer. We tried to find medicine to stop the spread and get rid of it, but we failed. Sorry.” That is why if someone were to ever find a cure there would be a huge shift in our society. I don’t even know how people would react to it because right now it seems too impossible to ever actually happen. Although I’m almost positive that it would be a very much appreciated finding and would create a good paradigm shift for the world.
ReplyDelete-Elizabeth O’Donnell 4th.
The most revolutionary invention of our time would be the ability to process thoughts into words that can be accessed for private or public use. There would be no more verbal exchange, only “thinking” to one another. Scientists are already working on ways to read and identify certain brain waves as certain thoughts. Each part of the brain that’s activated sends a different wave.
ReplyDeleteImagine being able to convey exactly what you mean without having to struggle for a loss of words. Everyone would be able to understand each other. Every thought and feeling would be accessible to all. Suppose there was one language, one language that the deaf, Chinese, French, Indian, and English could understand. No matter what background you come from, everyone could interpret what you say. There would be no cultural boundaries in terms of language.
Not only would this be revolutionary in communication, it will also be a huge step when it comes to privacy. Where do we draw the line? The government already taps into every form of communication we already have. Who’s to say they won’t take advantage of this new technology?
Other questions may be raised, like what about thoughts in images? Many times, our thoughts consist of images instead of words. How can this machine interpret these thoughts into a coherent sentence? Perhaps it would show exactly what you see in your head.
Now, I’m not endorsing this kind of invention. Personally, I believe a machine like this is both intrusive and a step too far. Regardless, it still magnifies the idea that anything is possible.
Chelsea R 3rd Hour
The technological innovation that I believe could revolutionize our lives would have to be alternative fuel. We spend billions of dollars each year on gasoline to fill our cars. If we had alternative fuel we wouldn’t have to spend billions of dollars each year to fuel our cars and airplanes and could use that money towards something else that would be more beneficial to economy. Another benefit of alternative fuel would be the environment. Each year the environment takes a beating due to the amount of fossil fuel we burn or use. A major negative side effect of burning fossil fuel is global warming. Throughout the whole world evidence of global warming takes place every year, from increasing temperature averages to the melting ice caps in the north and South Pole. These are serious problems because it is causing the ice caps to melt which is endangering many animals such as polar bears and penguins. Another big problem is the rising of ocean sea levels. If the ice caps keep melting at the same rate that there melting, within hundreds years the sea level with be so high that many low lying areas with be under water such as New Orleans, Florida Everglades, and parts of Rhode Island. A scientific breakthrough or discovery that could alter the course of our lives would have to be the ability to travel the speed of light. If we could travel at the speed of light then we could study far away galaxies and learn about their perks and cons that could make our galaxy better. We could also travel around the universe and find other plants with life on it that we could learn from which we could benefit from greatly. Humans being able to travel at the speed of light could also lead to us living in outer space. Yes I think that accident, terrorist attack or unforeseen event could change the world forever because all it takes is for a nuclear attack to take place to complete destroy earth and life as we know it.
ReplyDeleteTyler Howe 3rd hour
There are a ton of examples of paradigm shifts because our world is forever changing. One paradigm shift I see coming is the advancement of modern medicine. With illnesses being cured every day the life expectancy rate is continuing to go up people are living longer every day. It is no longer survival of the fittest, but survival of the most advanced. Doctors and researches work around the clock to find cures and different type of treatments for cancers. They are using people who have now survived cancer to study how to sure it, with this they are able to create new ways and much better way to fight cancer. This is such an advancement because it use to be millions of people were diagnosed a year and those millions died. Any illness of disease use to kill millions. People weren’t able to just go to the hospital and be treated. Modern medicine has brought use so far into understanding how the human body works. Doctors are able to examine and treat so much more, I can only imagine what they will be able to do in the future. They already can not only cure illnesses in the body but they can completely reconstruct the body if needed. They are able to move bones around, operate on every internal organ; they even can lift your face up to make you look younger. All these changes can drastically change our world forever. People are no longer worried about getting sick and dying, now they can just go to a doctor or hospital and be fine. Who knows what they will be able to do with all this research and advancements in technology. Modern medicine has and will continue to change our world.
ReplyDeleteErin Bay 4th hour
Ok so I’m split between two things. Space and the human mind. So far in life we have yet to discover how we work and yet we keep trying to reach out further and further into space. Space is so vast and all we seem to be interested in currently is what else is there? But what is there is nothing else there? We would waste quite a bit of time.
ReplyDeleteScience and the human mind, together they can accomplish anything. Right? Take the Tibetan monks for example. They have such an amazing control of the human body they can heat up their body’s so much you can put a wet towel in their backs and in an hour it will be dry. How do they do this? No one knows! It is simply amazing. The possibilities are endless. Now things like flight and what not would still be impossible but if we truly tried we could probably make super humans.
Space the final frontier! Or is it? What if we explore all of space and find that at the edge of the universe there is another universe?! What if we are not alone? Or maybe there it is a parallel universe you know just like us but backwards? Who knows maybe we are just stuck in a marble on a cats collar. (Thank you men in black) we have no idea what’s out there and whatever is out there has no idea about us. Modern medicine is trying to learn more about us while most scientists are focused on what’s not us and what might be out there.
Josh .T
4th hour
Predicting a future revolution that could change all of our lives forever isn't exactly an easy thing to do. I don't think that a new technology is going to change the way we live forever since our society is so used to rapid changes in technology.
ReplyDeleteThe only major shift that I can think of is a change in governmental power. I sort of see this cheesy V for Vendetta situation, where the government has complete control of all the citizens in it's country. However, I don't think that a forceful power would ever gain control.
The situation that I actually fear could happen is more like a Brave New World situation, where the national leaders have control of everyone through pleasure. I can see the government (in the far, far future) gaining control by giving us everything we want. I can also see us being a brainwashed so we could live in a more cohesive society where everyone is born with their in society already determined and everyone being perfectly okay with it.
The only reason I see this even possible is because it would make the government's job a lot easier. I definitely don't see a "Big Brother" situation. Americans would never let a forceful government take control, especially since there are so many of us who are paranoid, but a government controlling us through pleasure could be a potential revolution. I guess it's just something that we will all have to be on the look out for in the future.
Predicting a future revolution that could change all of our lives forever isn't exactly an easy thing to do. I don't think that a new technology is going to change the way we live forever since our society is so used to rapid changes in technology.
ReplyDeleteThe only major shift that I can think of is a change in governmental power. I sort of see this cheesy V for Vendetta situation, where the government has complete control of all the citizens in it's country. However, I don't think that a forceful power would ever gain control.
The situation that I actually fear could happen is more like a Brave New World situation, where the national leaders have control of everyone through pleasure. I can see the government (in the far, far future) gaining control by giving us everything we want. I can also see us being a brainwashed so we could live in a more cohesive society where everyone is born with their in society already determined and everyone being perfectly okay with it.
The only reason I see this even possible is because it would make the government's job a lot easier. I definitely don't see a "Big Brother" situation. Americans would never let a forceful government take control, especially since there are so many of us who are paranoid, but a government controlling us through pleasure could be a potential revolution. I guess it's just something that we will all have to be on the look out for in the future.
Lauren?