There
are only two ways to live your life.
One
is as though nothing is a miracle.
The
other is as though everything is a miracle.
- Albert Einstein -
The way we view things affects our actions. By taking the things in our lives as granted, we see things as it is and do not seek to change the status quo. By seeing the things around as a miracle, we consider the reasons behind how things happen, and the factors leading to their creation, and hence the potential in otherwise everyday objects. No doubt people of the past would have viewed events like how an apple drops from the tree as obvious and demanded no explanation while people like isaac newton viewed that as a miracle (or at least mildly fascinating) and it was this curiosity and fascination that has led to many of the inventions and technologies we see today. Had the wright brothers not been amazed by the flight of birds and pondered about what made it possible, we would not have airplanes today. The eagerness to learn and explore what we do not know has been the driving force of the human population.
An interesting point during class was that america spent much more on healthcare (1588.2 bil) compared to other regions such as south asia (33.5) and east asia (108.6). It is a saddening fact, because despite all our medical advancements, only a small portion of us are able to enjoy most of the benefits of it. Its a frightening thought that as the lesser developed countries catch up, the demand for healthcare will rise substatially, which may drive prices of healthcare higher and higher. Thinking about this, it dawns upon me the importance having innovations such as banana's with vaccines contained in them. I think the main problem with healthcare nowadays is not about how advanced the medical technology is, but with the available and ease of access. (In a sense, the field of making medicine and healthcare more easily accessible is a part of sustainable technology, so as to accommodate the increase in the population's demand for healthcare as countries get more developed.) However one of the problems of increasing ease of access such as through food, is that only vaccines can be transferred this way. While prevention is better than cure, a large number of diseases cannot be vaccined against and treatment through drugs is the only way.
As such, using food as a source of drug transport is not a viable option as drug resistance would occur. I then thought about the video prof showed us later, about the innovations in disease management. Most of the class thought the technologies mentioned could happen within 10 years time, and it is an encouraging fact because of how useful it would be! Imagine how much travelling time and cost it would save, as well as being to provide medical advice to the lesser developed countries and rural areas. This also makes medical advice to be able to be disseminated to more patients as doctors do not have to be in their office to meet patients. Such a technology has much potential, especially since much of the services and jobs in today's industry are knowledge and service based hence do not actually require the person to be physically present. By bringing medical consultation into the virtual world, it opens a wealth of opportunities which would make healthcare more accessible to more people, such as having people with common ailments be immediately matched to any registered general practitioner who is available. Going back to the topic at hand, the fact that no transport is needed to see the doctor means that medical emergencies requiring immediate attention can be addressed right on the spot. I am certain the commercialising of such a technology would save many lives.
There was a video about the future medical revolution whereby there would be drugs tailored to be more effective for patients belonging to certain groups of genetic makeup. It is interesting to note that research in genes and research in medicine are now being used in combination. It shows how technology is multi-faceted and each branch of technology may be used for other purposes in the future. Technologies which we may find to be useless at the moment could be applied for other more novel purposes in the future.
In rebekah's presentation about genetic sequencing in babies, the viability of such tests being a reality, and also the ethics of it was discussed. I feel that having such tests being made available to us beings about a tremendous advantage. Her presentation covered only about the defects we could find using genetic test, but what about the special physical or mental abilities that it may show too? Just like how people take online personality tests so as to find out which jobs and activities are more suited for them, such tests would be a useful guideline for people in setting goals and directions in their life! Such information would also be useful for insurance companies. While there may be problems caused by such testing such as discrimination by employers based on genetic testing results, i feel that it is a problem which has to be tackled and should not prevent such a technology from being a reality.
It is my opinion that governments should not aim to prohibit any sort of developing technology they feel is immoral or could have possible drawbacks. As mentioned in class, it is very hard to stop people from innovating, and such innovation would then proceed incognito. Governments should instead monitor the development closely to as to better cater and address any of the problems that may arise from it. There was also discussion on whether research in any areas was should be outright banned. Human experimentation was mentioned, but as said by one of the classmates, the discoveries stemming from the human experimentations in the japanese occupation brought about significant medical advancement. I think the issue with human experimentation was that it was done against the will of the victim; as long as it is done with consent it should be allowed given the vast advantages it can bring to the medical field.
I am of the opinion that ethics holds back the development and technology and should be ignored as such opinions, i feel, merely stems from the fear of change and the unknown.
Key takeaway points from this lesson was about how as society develops and urbanisation becomes widespread, new trends of diseases emerge and new problems such as obesity develops. As such the healthcare sector has to be aware of such changes in demand and modify its training and resources to cope with it. There is also a healthcare revolution whereby drugs are becoming more disease specific and individual specific. While this increases the effectiveness of drugs such costs are inevitably passed onto consumers and marginalise them. We would have we weigh the benefits of such research and re-evaluate the research priority given to them. Innovations in virtual reality can help to make medical aid more easily available and contribute to solving problems of inequality by being able to provide instant quality medical help to rural or poorer areas (but with internet access).
Issues for further discussion would be about the application of the various bio-business industries with each other such as the genetic modification of animals (examples of rats modified to grow human ears) and their implications on health, environment and ethical concerns.
Today's twc lesson was pretty interesting, i rate it 7/10
There was a video about the future medical revolution whereby there would be drugs tailored to be more effective for patients belonging to certain groups of genetic makeup. It is interesting to note that research in genes and research in medicine are now being used in combination. It shows how technology is multi-faceted and each branch of technology may be used for other purposes in the future. Technologies which we may find to be useless at the moment could be applied for other more novel purposes in the future.
In rebekah's presentation about genetic sequencing in babies, the viability of such tests being a reality, and also the ethics of it was discussed. I feel that having such tests being made available to us beings about a tremendous advantage. Her presentation covered only about the defects we could find using genetic test, but what about the special physical or mental abilities that it may show too? Just like how people take online personality tests so as to find out which jobs and activities are more suited for them, such tests would be a useful guideline for people in setting goals and directions in their life! Such information would also be useful for insurance companies. While there may be problems caused by such testing such as discrimination by employers based on genetic testing results, i feel that it is a problem which has to be tackled and should not prevent such a technology from being a reality.
It is my opinion that governments should not aim to prohibit any sort of developing technology they feel is immoral or could have possible drawbacks. As mentioned in class, it is very hard to stop people from innovating, and such innovation would then proceed incognito. Governments should instead monitor the development closely to as to better cater and address any of the problems that may arise from it. There was also discussion on whether research in any areas was should be outright banned. Human experimentation was mentioned, but as said by one of the classmates, the discoveries stemming from the human experimentations in the japanese occupation brought about significant medical advancement. I think the issue with human experimentation was that it was done against the will of the victim; as long as it is done with consent it should be allowed given the vast advantages it can bring to the medical field.
I am of the opinion that ethics holds back the development and technology and should be ignored as such opinions, i feel, merely stems from the fear of change and the unknown.
Key takeaway points from this lesson was about how as society develops and urbanisation becomes widespread, new trends of diseases emerge and new problems such as obesity develops. As such the healthcare sector has to be aware of such changes in demand and modify its training and resources to cope with it. There is also a healthcare revolution whereby drugs are becoming more disease specific and individual specific. While this increases the effectiveness of drugs such costs are inevitably passed onto consumers and marginalise them. We would have we weigh the benefits of such research and re-evaluate the research priority given to them. Innovations in virtual reality can help to make medical aid more easily available and contribute to solving problems of inequality by being able to provide instant quality medical help to rural or poorer areas (but with internet access).
Issues for further discussion would be about the application of the various bio-business industries with each other such as the genetic modification of animals (examples of rats modified to grow human ears) and their implications on health, environment and ethical concerns.
Today's twc lesson was pretty interesting, i rate it 7/10
