Critical Thinking Assignment #9

My thinking about science amd humanities has definitely changed. I know what science is, but I have never seen it illustrated like this before, whether it be in the graphic novels or on the youtube videos. I never realized how far into the future we really are. I think about science and technology extremely differently now. I look at the incredible iphone and ipads that are manufactured and can't believe how far we have come. It truly is remarkable. I look at the story in the graphic novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" When reading that, and especially watching the clips from that, it truly is amazing how far science and technology has come. The way the female robot had human emotions, it was extremely difficult to tell whether she was human or machine. Even as we knew she was a robot, perhaps we might have been thinking that she was human. Incredible science and technology involved. And it can only get better. At the start of the course, I thought I was more of a humanities person, but now I do believe I am more of a science person. I am much more optimistic about science and technology as we finish the semester. It is the future of this planet. There are so many different sciences in the world. Whether it be with robots, the assembly of the atomic bomb, or the ipad2 and they are even coming out with the iphone5 shortly. It doesn't matter how long ago science has been around or how far in the future science will take us, it is to be admired from every angle possible. Everything we do in life is a science. Not to the extreme of Albert Einstein or Robert Oppeneheimer. Oppeneheimer's science is more scarier than anything because the atomic bomb can destroy thousands of people, and to think there are bombs out there that can end the world at any given moment. But, when you look at how brilliant these men were, there is hope for all of us because hopefully we can follow in their footsteps. The 'critical thinking blog' assignments have better helped me with understanding the readings in the class because when you get a chance to write about it, it gives you a better understanding of what the stories are about.

Critical Thinking assignment #8

The responsibilities of scientists are to basically see what the future holds for humanity. Whether the outcome is good or bad, scientists should always go forward with progress even if the consequences are disasterous for most of us. We need to explore our technology and see where it will take us. Oppenheimer's atomic bomb did nearly start a cold war, but a cold war is a lot of heated talking. The diplomats are able to sort the odds and ends out. The atomic bomb is extreme. But, if we do not explore science, other countries, possibily terrorists, can discover things that we would have no defense against because we might be afraid of the consequences. That was the reasoning for the atomic bomb, so the U.S. would be able to protect itself against anyone who threatened them. Another example of how science has made progress is the story in the graphic novel "Androids Dream of Electric Sheep", written by Philip K. Dick. Amazingly, the robot that was constructed, was made to look like exactly like a real woman. She even had human emotions, and fooled so many people. She was a robot, but it took close to one hundred questions to figure it out. With the other robots, it took only thirty questions. When watching the movie, it was next to impossible with the naked eye to determine whether or not she was a human. There is no telling how far science can go. We need to know, for our own good. And for the future of our planet. Science can come up with cures for diseases and give us the best technology. It can give put fear into us as well, with the atomic bomb, as an example. Or even robots that will hurt humans instead of helping them. But, just because the consequences may be awful, we still must figure out where science can take us. It will lead us into the next generation.

Critical Thinking assignment #7

The scientist I have chosen is Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer. And only one word comes to mind when describing him and that would be determination. Oppenheimer was the founder of the atomic bomb, which we was in charge of creating in the early 1940's. And we used the atomic bomb successfully against Japan in 1945. The significance on the way we live now is not to give up on any project that is given to any one of us. The atomic bomb was the most difficult bomb to create, but Oppenheimer, through all of his frustrations and difficulty, was able to build it. The challenges that Oppenheimer had to overcome were criticism from many people about him. He was arrested in the the late 1930's for giving donations to communist countries, and he also married a communist woman. The United States does not support communism at all. The achievements of Oppenheimer were recognized from everyone in politics around the world and every scientist around the world as well. He is an icon. He is the mastermind behind the atomic bomb. Oppenheimer's work definitely inspires us because he was able to create this bomb with the help of other scientists. A lot of scientists had doubts. It also threatens us because the atomic bomb is the most dangerous bomb in the world. What if one of our enemies were able to use it against us? Most likely, our enemies are trying to build weapons that could destroy us. It is terrifying. Oppenheimer was able to bridge the divide of science and humanities. In the graphic novel "Fallout", he had many scientists working with him on this project. But, when they were talking to him, they didn't appear to be talking as scientists. They had second thoughts about the atomic bomb. They were talking to him very gingerly. They didn't want to make any mistakes. But, they were also showing fear. They were scared. The scientists did eventually get the weapon built under Oppenheimer's brilliant mind. Oppenheimer will forever be remembered as the man who built the first atomic bomb and it was used successfully.

Critical Thinking assignment #6

The topic of my research paper is popular science: Bridging the two cultures. What I am going to show is how science can assist human beings, instead of human beings being paranoid about the future of technology. I would like to show how we can use popular science to our advantage.
"Bridging The Two Cultures" is the title of my first source and the author is Anthony Storr. I found this source using JSTOR. This article tells us how artists and scientists don't really think they need each other and that they have no use for each other. The article shows how wrong they are. The 'spin' that Storr is using is that art and science are hundreds of years old, and they both feel they don't need each other and can make the world a better place by themselves. But, in the article, it shows how much they both use each other to make themselves look better. This adds a tremendous amount of perspective because art and science are both extremely important in our culture, and as much as the artist and scientist feel they can get along without each other, they don't realize how better they make our culture when they work together. "Briding The Two Cultures" fits my research paper topic because I am hoping to show how powerful the world becomes when art, science, and humans all bond together and use these things to our advantage instead of being afraid of them or wanting nothing to do with each other.
The second article I am using is titled "Bridging Research and Practice in the Family and Human Sciences". The author is Stephen A. Small. And again, this comes from JSTOR. This again is showing how science and humans fo not believe they have a need for each other. In this article, science doesn't feel it needs psychology, and psycholgists feel they have no need for science. Small is trying to show how incorrect that is. It adds a lot of perpective because humans in nearly all fields do not want anything to do with science, when in fact, science helps us in all aspects possible, including the internet. Science is made to help our entire planet. That is why this will fit my research paper. And I hope to show how popular science has become, and will be the future of our planet. And humans should embrace this. This will only help us, not endanger us.