Reading this article I completely disagree towards the author's insight on this topic. The article,"Will the Aliens Be Nice? Don't Bet On it" by Gary Gutting, basically analyzes the possibility of life beyond Earth and the dangers entitled with it. Gutting bases his argument off a recent study by researchers at Penn State and NASA which details the "..most chilling possibilities: ETI might "eat us, enslave us, attack us," inadvertently infect us with horrible diseases or just decide to eliminate us for the greater good of the universe." This statement is a bit ridiculous in my opinion, if any civilization beyond Earth possessed the technology to come to Earth to destroy us, they would've done it already. The author bases his argument on a statement that seems blatant, not well thought, and pessimistic. If a invasive civilization in our universe had the capability to destroy us they already would've because our civilization is by no means advanced and has no incredible defense against an interstellar civilization's technology.
Although I disagree with this author's entire thesis, I can give him credit for persuading reader's who are merely interested in this subject. Gutting delivers facts and a little opinion and leaves it to the reader to decide what he/she thinks about the topic. Gutting both considers the benefits and dangers of communicating with ETI's but clearly is bias towards the dangers of it. He does a good job expressing his opinion to the reader towards this program.
Article By: Gary Gutting
Published: October 5, 2011
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/05/will-the-aliens-be-nice-dont-bet-on-it/
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Thursday, October 6, 2011
38 People who Saw Murder and Didn't call the police
In a similar situation, wold you have called the police? Would you have gone out side help, What factors do you think might have influenced your decision?
Well, anyone who listened to this story would obviously boast "Of course i'd help and call the police!", but actions speak louder than words. Not to mention the time period in which this happened, there was fear in the cities; violence was growing, crime rates were rising, and the Civil rights movement created unrest in Southern and Northern inner cities. If I were in this scenario I would atleast call the Police, but who knows? I could easily cower in fear if the pressure of situation frightened me. But Id liked to think that I possessed the courage to help the women in need and call for help. The factors that'd determined this would be if I thought I was the only one who could hear her call for helps, hopefully I would be one of many people that heard her and the process of helping the women in need would be a collaborative effort.
Well, anyone who listened to this story would obviously boast "Of course i'd help and call the police!", but actions speak louder than words. Not to mention the time period in which this happened, there was fear in the cities; violence was growing, crime rates were rising, and the Civil rights movement created unrest in Southern and Northern inner cities. If I were in this scenario I would atleast call the Police, but who knows? I could easily cower in fear if the pressure of situation frightened me. But Id liked to think that I possessed the courage to help the women in need and call for help. The factors that'd determined this would be if I thought I was the only one who could hear her call for helps, hopefully I would be one of many people that heard her and the process of helping the women in need would be a collaborative effort.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
The Postal Service
Sending and receiving mail can be exciting and is part of our daily lives. We receive bills, advertisements, college admission letters, letters and even birthday invitations. First it was the Pony Express and now its the Postal Service, whats next? This article questions the efficiency and the necessity of the postal service as the impending growth of the internet is seen as a more sustainable and logical alternative. I agree with the author because it seems more logical and efficient to use the internet where as we use natural resources to enable the Postal Service. However, the Postal Service is the second largest employer of citizens in America and is a huge contributor for jobs. In an economy just coming out of a recession, does it seem practical to eliminate all these jobs and replace it with the internet? So although its seems like a smart idea to utilize the internet as an alternative to the Postal Service, its impractical because it has become such a huge part of our society and is a big part of our nations workforce.
The author of this article,Randall Stross, is bias towards the use of the internet and doesn't take into account the effect of eliminating the Postal Service. Ignoring this, Randall does however give a good argument to why we should change to the internet. Along with evidence and persuasive diction, Randall criticizes the inefficiency of the Postal Service; how "...vehicles traverse 1.25 billion miles annually and consume 399 million gallons of fuel." Stross also points out how the Postall Service hasnt been profitable and actually has multi-billion dollar deficits. Stross gives strong evidence that supports his argument and allows the reader to believe that Stross' argument is relevant and factual.
SPACE:The Final Frontier
Calling myself a fan of Star Wars is an understatement to say the least. Space and the "unknown" are thrilling marvels that every human being thinks about. In this article "Planets in the Sky With Diamonds" author Diane Ackerman discusses possible planets harboring life such as "HD85512b" and "Kepler-16b". These planets are in what's called the "Goldilocks" which is the habitable zone at which life can flourish. The idea that life may exist somewhere else boggles my mind and the author does an excellent job keeping the reader interested. For example Ackerman uses the fictional "Star Wars" planet "Tatooine" as a reference for possible world harboring life. Tatooine orbits twin suns, which seems impossible but further explores the imagination and wonder of whats out there. I agree with what the author is trying to get at, a humans we explore, we quest, and are curious of the unknown. It's part of our nature to explore and evolve, Ackerman poses the question to why NASA is currently obsolete when this natural curiosity of exploring the unknown fuels our technology and our imagination. I feel that it's a true shame that people think that space exploration isn't needed in this day of age when throughout history exploration and wonder fueled our ancestors progress and success. Space is truly the final frontier and by exploring space we are challenging the labyrinth of our imagination and further pushing the boundary of our reality and I agree with Ackerman in how in order to go forward, we need to explore.
Ackerman does an excellent job in persuading the reader about space and how exploration is something we thrive on. Ackerman clearly understood her audience because she thrives on her readers imagination by referring to "Star Wars" in her article. Everyone knows "Star Wars" and by referring to it Ackerman causes the readers to paint an almost perfect picture of what these possible life-harboring planets look like and this connection allows the reader to understand further what Ackerman basis of the article is: Why wouldn't you want to explore the universe in search of these wondrous and unfathomable planets? Ackerman's persuasion is aimed towards the human imagination and the pioneer spirit we all have and in doing so, Ackerman creates a good argument against the current situation of the NASA space program.
Article by: Diane Ackerman
Published: October 1, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/02/opinion/sunday/planets-in-the-sky-with-diamonds.html?_r=1
Ackerman does an excellent job in persuading the reader about space and how exploration is something we thrive on. Ackerman clearly understood her audience because she thrives on her readers imagination by referring to "Star Wars" in her article. Everyone knows "Star Wars" and by referring to it Ackerman causes the readers to paint an almost perfect picture of what these possible life-harboring planets look like and this connection allows the reader to understand further what Ackerman basis of the article is: Why wouldn't you want to explore the universe in search of these wondrous and unfathomable planets? Ackerman's persuasion is aimed towards the human imagination and the pioneer spirit we all have and in doing so, Ackerman creates a good argument against the current situation of the NASA space program.
Article by: Diane Ackerman
Published: October 1, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/02/opinion/sunday/planets-in-the-sky-with-diamonds.html?_r=1
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