Ideas, thoughts, rantings, musings.

Titles:

Je Suis Une Masse Complexe de Moi (I am a Complex Mass of Me)

Human Cloning: Is It Worth It? 

 Pride Goes Before a Fall

Sisa La Mujer Loca

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Je Suis Une Masse Complexe de Moi

(I am a Complex Mass of Me)

If asked to sum myself up in a word, I would gasp and sputter. Even a sentence is inadequate to define me. According to my best friend, I am a very complex, complicated person. On some days, I could agree with that statement, while on the other days, I would flat-out be in denial about it.

But for me, the complexity of a human being is beside the point. For me, a human being is to be celebrated, no matter what. May he be the possessor of a simple mind, or may he be of Einstein’s caliber, a human being is to be celebrated for who and what he is.

Suffice it to say that I would like me to be celebrated. And I do. I celebrate me daily by appreciating myself for my strengths, and forgiving myself for my weaknesses. Yes, I must admit that I self-flagellate, but I also make up for it by resolving to get up from the selfpityparty and move on.

I believe that life is a learning process. I believe that it’s a constant evolution of the self. I believe that to get through it, we must always keep a positive outlook. Not only that, we must also strive to be people who nurture each other. Negativity and ego have no place in a richly-lived life.

And yet we must balance our optimism with realism, too. But not to the point that we sap our own capacity for faith and hope by too much pessimism.

Oh, did I neglect to talk about myself? Well, the basics are: precocious kid goes to conquer nursery up to elementary, gets burned out and slacks off in high school, then realizes her folly and does much better in college, finally gets out of college, and is now ready to take the world by storm.

I like dreaming big, and will go through great lengths to get to my dreams. But when I do, I take care not to burn bridges. Even when I decide to sever business relationships, I take care not to let the other party feel enmity towards me. I go by the Latin, more capitalistic version of the Golden Rule: “quid pro quo”.

To sum me up in a word? Impossible. But let me give you this instead: I’m 60% Geek, and 40% Cartoon Character. :p

Human Cloning: Is It Worth It?

Human cloning: the future of human reproductive science, the hope of the infertile, the farthest humans can go in their forays into exploring life’s possibilities. I disapprove of it.

There are a myriad of reasons why tentative efforts on human cloning shouldn’t even be considered.

First is that there is no guarantee that the first cloned human will be normal. The fetus might suffer from some disorder that is not detectable by ultrasound. It may be born disabled. Or, disorders may materialize later in life. Such problems have been seen in other cloned mammals. There is no reason to assume that they will not happen in humans.

Dolly the world-renowned sheep died last February 14, 2003, put to sleep because she was developing progressive lung disease. She was only 7 years old, dying too young for a sheep; sheep are supposed to live up to 11 years. This could happen to humans: dying before one’s prime.

Biologically, large-scale cloning could deplete genetic diversity. With certain genes preferred over others, people may want to clone from a certain superior family and have more clones bred for these traits. Lessening the genetic diversity brings us back to the problem of genetic defects.

Most cloned creatures happen to be infertile. Cloning could create infertile humans. There would be no use for selecting the traits if the genetic strains cannot be perpetuated anyway.

Another thing is that the cloning process is costly. In creating Dolly, there were 276 zygotes wasted in the scientists’ attempts. Translated to human cloning, this would mean wasted possible lives, as each zygote is already a life.

Dolly was conceived using a ewe's egg and a cell from another ewe's body. It is noteworthy that no semen from a ram was involved. If the technique were perfected in humans, and came into general usage, then there would be no genetic need for men. All of the human males could be allowed to die off.

Viewing things from the psychosocial perspective, cloning could complicate family lives. For example, a child born from an adult DNA cloning from his father would be, in effect, a delayed twin of one of his parents. This could prove confusing to the people involved, and create difficulties in the relationships.

Another thing to consider is the misery in this world. A large number of people are not given enough opportunities to live satisfying lives. There is a chance that the cloned souls will live lives wrought with misery: lack and dissatisfaction. There are a lot of people who wish that they were never born. The clones could be some of these people.

Seeing things from the economic perspective: overpopulation. With less resources and opportunities per person in the poor countries, each newborn born in a country like ours faces a bleak life. With cloning, scientists would bring out lives that are forced to live with less.

A country might finance a program similar to that of Nazi Germany whereby humans were bred to maximize certain traits. Once the "perfect human" was developed, embryo cloning could be used to replicate that individual and conceivably produce unlimited numbers of clones. The same approach could be used to create a genetic underclass for exploitation: e.g. individuals with sub-normal intelligence and above normal strength for hard labor.

Another concern is that the embryos would be treated as a commodity to be exploited, not as a person.

Cloning is just like playing God. With cloning, one is taking life into one’s own hands, edging God out of His role as Creator.

Is Cloning Necessary?

Cloning is NOT necessary.

The basic needs of people are food, clothing and shelter. With the rapidly growing population, these resources are getting scarce. Cloning would only add to the population, creating more contenders for the scarce resources.

Having more children is not a basic need. Instead, this eats up on the availability of the basic needs.

Why would people need to clone when they can procreate naturally? The process is not only cost-less and free of the problems associated with cloning, it is also enjoyable. Why would anyone want to create babies in petri dishes when they can do it in beds?

If people are infertile, they can always have in-vitro fertilization as a last resort. It is not only cheaper compared to cloning, it is also more reliable.

The American Medical Association has come up with four reasons why they do not approve of human cloning. Reason number one is that there are unknown physical harms involved in cloning. Number two, that there are unknown psychosocial harms: violations of autonomy and privacy. Three, that the impact of cloning on familial and societal relations is yet unknown. And four, is that cloning may have potential effects on the gene pool. These perceived probable effects could lean into the negative, and great harms would befall the clones, their families, their makers, the society.

Let’s take a look at AMA’s reason number three. For example, a clone grows up knowing her mother is her genetic identical twin sister, her grandmother is her genetic mother.  Her “father” would be her brother-in-law. Every time her mother looks at her she would be seeing herself growing up.  When she grows up into a teenager, there will be unbearable emotional pressures as she tries to establish his or her identity. Who is she really? The daughter of her “parents”, the identical twin sister of her “mother”? A soulless clone?

What happens to a marriage when the "father" sees his wife's clone grow up into the exact replica (by appearance) of the beautiful 18 year old he fell in love with 35 years ago? Just think, if a sexual relationship would form, it would be with his wife's twin, no incest involved technically. But isn’t that complicated?

I assert that cloning is NOT necessary. People have lived without it for millennia, people will bear living without it for millennia more. As I have illustrated, cloning only complicates lives.

Is Cloning Beneficial?

Is cloning truly beneficial?

We have heard that human cloning could create superior human beings. More intelligent, stronger, and all the other desirable traits one could imagine as humans learn to engineer themselves. But is this really true? Let us look at the dry facts.

Many attempts at animal cloning had produced disfigured monsters with severe abnormalities. In the process, embryos were implanted and screened for abnormalities. The abnormal ones were destroyed. However, abnormalities may not manifest in the prenatal stage. In fact, they may manifest only as the clone grows into its prime. I reiterate: Dolly the sheep was put to sleep because of severe lung disease. She also suffered from arthritis at a very young age. These ills may be due to the cloning process.

Cloning may reduce genetic variability; producing many clones runs the risk of creating a population that is entirely the same. This population would be susceptible to the same diseases, and one disease could devastate the entire population. One can easily picture humans being wiped out be a single virus. We have seen how SARS and AIDS have devastated countries now, as we are just normally-created human beings. What would happen if the human population would consist of clones particularly sensitive to viral infection? The virus would spread so easily, killing scores upon scores of people, let alone clones.

Because a clone’s genes are derived from an existing adult cell, it has older genes. And I say it again: Dolly died before her prime: a relatively young 7 years, as compared to the normal life span of 11 years for sheep. If translated to human cloning, this would mean creating people to have them die at age thirty! We would be cutting down the life expectancy to half the age it is now. Instead of having progress in human life expectancy, cloning would only regress it.

Also, picture youngsters at age 10 suffering from arthritis, rheumatism, diabetes, gout. They would be suffering from illnesses their grandparents suffer. Instead of enjoying life, young clones will suffer from it.

Cloning will stop genetic improvements to a species. This is because genetic improvements usually occur through sexual reproduction, which result in a mixing of the genes of the mother and father. With natural reproduction, mankind is constantly improving because nature is always into upgrading its creatures. What creatures had survived and adapted yesterday are now better and hardier survivors today. With cloning, we will stunt the improvements made to the gene pool. We will instead be creating humans with the same genes as their parents. There would be no improvement in their gene mix at all.

This brings us back to creating humans that would be more susceptible to diseases. Genetic improvements also improve humans’ resistance to illness. Cloning would be working against this natural upgrading of the human species.

The bottom line is, cloning has some serious negative effects that we have to consider. This is the human race we are talking of tampering. We should be more careful in what we do with ourselves. If animal life is precious, then human life would require more care.

Conclusion

I believe that human cloning is nothing more than an exercise in human vanity. It is not necessary, given our world’s burgeoning population and food lack, and neither is it beneficial. We better pour in our resources elsewhere. 

I end with this: is the glittery thought of cloning ourselves really worth the risks to the well-being of the human organism?        

Pride Goes Before a Fall

In life, the greatest handicap is FEAR; The hardest thing to do is to BEGIN. The most useless asset is PRIDE. The scariest thing to do is CHANGE. And the greatest mistake is GIVING UP. -ate jeanifer's friendster shoutout

Yeah. I should know that pride is the most damaging of all vices. The ego should never be fed. Self esteem and confidence are important, but they should be balanced by humility. A talented man deficient in humility is just another wasted being on earth.

Why? Remember that there will always be another man smarter than you are. You don't have the monopoly of the most convolutions in your brain. You do not have the monopoly of knowledge to put in in your excellently-convoluted brain. In this world, King Solomon was right, nothing is new anymore. Anything that has been done has been done.

Yeah, they didn't have Internet then. Yeah, they did not have these beautiful things called computers then. But in essence, everything's been done already. Human nature is the same all throughout the centuries. We are base creatures. We are basically a ball of wants. A ball of self-exaltation, or its converse, insecurity.

So really, you think you're hot stuff? Let me get a needle to burst that ballooned head of yours. YOU ARE BUT A PERMUTATION OF SOME OTHER PERSON.

Yes, God delighted in creating us, delights in our uniqueness. But i believe that He wants us to know our place in the cosmic ecosystem. He wants us to know who we are in Him.

He once told me that before Him, i am just a bonsai.

A bonsai is a beautiful tree, right? All the twists and turns in its branches, the character of its bark… The most beautiful bonsais are old trees that are less than a foot high: wear and tear, experience, character, beauty and wisdom distilled in a minuscule thing.

So why are we bonsais before God? Think of His hand molding your branches, pruning you, creating you to be a thing of beauty… On a minor scale.

Why minor scale? Because, we are not meant for exaltation. He values us, but we were not meant to be exalted. The only one worthy of exaltation is God: the Father, the Christ, and the Comforter.

And soooo… Still think you're hot stuff? Oh pooh. Someone out there is better than you. And what's way better about him is: he doesn't flaunt it.

I like being God's daughter. I know i am a worthwhile being in His sight. And i don't need to prove it to anyone. Coz i derive contentment and my esteem in the fact that i am a valued creature in His sight.

The servant is the man that Jesus values. The boastful are those He shuns. I may have my attitude, and i must admit, that i experience a lot of whipping from God, but you know, i realized that self-exaltation is futile and empty. And it never satisfies. Coz you are never assured that you really are whom you trumpet yourself to be.

But when you search for your identity in Jesus, and as He brings the gold in you to light, you'll see that you don't need to exalt yourself anymore. Coz you just radiate, as a result of the polishing by His hand.

And so, i won't apologize for bursting your bubbleheaded belief in your talents and abilities. I'm a sadist, and i revel in giving people pain. But think of it as my public service to you. Pride displeases God. So you might as well run to Him broken, and He will be the one to make you whole, and eventually to make you shine.

I just loooove bein a sadist. :p

Sisa La Mujer Loca

Sisa.. When you hear that name, what do you see in your mind’s eye? What images does that name evoke? Sisa. She used to be a loving mother. A servile wife. A human being, just like you, like everybody else.

When you look at me, what do you see? Do you see the dirty hair? The disheveled clothes? The wild gleam in my eyes? Or do you see the soul behind the nonperson in front of you? Do you wonder, through all these, if there was a human inside? A human, with a soul, who was sane, just like you?

Look at these hands. Scarred by the toil of a woman who loves her family. Look at my feet, calloused from all the walking a mother has to do to find food, to farm food, to make sure that her sons are well. Do they look different from yours?

You see my chest rise and fall. I breathe the same air you do. I eat sardines. I eat boiled rice that I farmed myself. I would have fed my children a special meal of duck leg and dried meat, but alas, my husband got there before they did. So tell me, am I different from you?

But now you see that I am nothing more than this wild gleam in my eyes. You see that I am nothing more than my disheveled hair. I am nothing more than these scarred and bloody limbs.

Perhaps I will be resigned to my fate. I will be nothing more than the mad laughter, the cries you know so well. Perhaps I will die, nothing more that a specter of the woman I once was. A hollow shell of what looks like a human being, set apart by the howls of anguish that emanate from within. Perhaps, I will die at the hands of the men I despise the most… The Guardia Sibil! And even then, I will be nothing more than… Sisa la mujer loca… Crispin? Basilio?