Shiloh Rousseau: Final Reading Connection

Over the past semester, we have studied many different changes and revelations that have occurred over the past few hundred years. I, too, have come to certain revelations about Darwin and his theories of evolution. Based on different readings, video clips we have watched, and class mates' "What's News in Science" presentations, I have realized that evolution, from a medical and technological standpoint, is not always a good thing.

We lived in a very technologically advanced society. Thanks to technology, scientists can come up with new ways to prevent and cure diseases. Why then, are there so many new diseases being discovered every year? According to Darwin, we all descended from one common ancestor (Appleman, 23.) Because we are technically all from the same starting point, it is logical that we would share many common traits, habits, and illnesses. So where do new diseases come from?

As our technology advances and we come up with new cures and preventions for disease, we're not realizing that this may actually be bad in the long run. We are constantly sanitizing and trying to be "healthy" we aren't realizing that we are also destroying our body's ability to fight off disease by itself. Because we are trying to be so healthy, we are killing good germs and bacteria that our bodies need for certain daily functions.

Furthermore, could it be that the reason for so many "flaws" in the human body are actually because of how healthy we think we are trying to be? Maybe what seem like flaws now are actually going to be useful in the long run.

Fox News has also reported that our bodies are experiencing genetic flaws, however, a new line of vitamins may be able to prevent them in the future.



Although, if Darwin's theory is correct and natural selection (Appleman, 292) truly does play a role in how we evolve, it would seem odd that we are evolving to have flaws. Based on this fact, the flaws we are experiencing now may be useful in the future and, perhaps, should be studied more before we keep trying to cure diseases and traits that may actually have a purpose later on.

Works Cited:


Appleman, Philip, ed. Darwin. 3rd ed. New York: W.W.Norton, 2001.