Switched-On :: Blog

photo courtesy flickr user lynn

You may or may not have heard of the movie Splice but most of us should be aware of the presence of genetically modified foods and the whole idea of genetic engineering. So the movie Splice is about the creation of hybrid animals and eventually experimentation with human DNA in these hybrid animals. Currently science is messing with mostly plant DNA and sometimes slightly alterations of animal DNA, but who knows, maybe one day what happened in Splice will be an area of study with the current advances in technology. But aren’t we going too far? Of course, technology has made our lives much easier and if genetically modified foods are proven to be safe and stable, it could potentially provide a new food source allowing us to feed more people. However, the dangers definitely could exist. Maybe some deadly monster won’t result from the experimentation like in Splice, but we could be creating new animals that may disrupt natural food chains or introducing new genetic makeups that could increase vulnerability to disease. Personally, I have mixed feelings toward the advancements in technology especially in the field of genetics; how about the rest of you?

- Vivian

I have a general beef with Facebook mostly because it is an overall waste of time and really has no significant purpose in anything (except getting Betty White to host SNL, which was great). It’s biggest plug is that it helps people stay connected, which is a problem. Every minor acquaintance, friend of a friend, classmate from grade school, and that cutie-patootie that is in your 3rd period class is of no real importance in any aspect of one’s life. These people don’t matter, in a general bigger picture way maybe, but not in everyday occurrences. Facebook has now created a generation that intertwines people to each other for an unnecessary purpose. Pseudo-Facebook friends aren’t real people. They are just strangers that have a window to your life for no reason. Liking a person’s status from your third grade class once every 3 years doesn’t mean anything, especially that you are still friends in any traditional definition of the word. Keeping this false sense of friendship is dumb, and that is basically my whole argument against Facebook and keeping a ridiculously large amount of friends that you would never invite home to meet mom and dad.

- Ruben

A survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project found that the number of teenagers with cell phones and that the amount of text messages sent by teenagers has increased. Well, duh. They might as well have saved themselves some money and just looked out a window or visited any high school in the country. Every adult has a cell phone so it’s only natural for teenagers to desire him or her. Texting is practically a compulsion for some people and while it may bother me when people text all the time; it has now become unavoidable in the world. People are connected at all times to each other and that isn’t always a bad thing. Family, friends, and enemies are just a send button away. There are dislikes towards texting and cell phones amongst teens, but what exactly is the difference between a 17-year-old using a cell phone compared to a 26-year-old. The answer: nothing, but a need to monitor and control everything a minor does. Never before have teens been so reliant on words to express their though and feelings. Sending 3,000 text messages seem like a lot but imagine the amount of words used by that one person. Texting isn’t a bad thing, but a new outlet for sending written messages.

- Ruben