8 Sentence Summary:
Tenzin Gyatso was declared to fourteenth Dalai Lama who coauthored fifty books and was awarded the Nobel peace prize. In Dalai Lama’s essay “Ethics and the New Genetics” he writes about the speed of scientific progress and the consequences it could have on the future. Over the years there have been many scientific breakthroughs that test our society’s ethics. These scientific breakthroughs include genetically modifying produce to altering the genetic makeup of humans. These breakthroughs have brought up many opinions and speculations on our moral compass. How far is too far? It is important to look into people’s motives behind these new findings. The fine line between scientific breakthroughs and our society’s long standing ethics is becoming blurred more and more everyday.
4 of Dalai’s Claims:
“The most urgent questions that arise have to do more with ethics than with science per se, with correctly applying our knowledge and power in relation to the new possibilities opened by cloning, by unlocking the genetic code and other advances.” I agree with this claim because I think that people are quick to jump at this new and cool idea of cloning without looking at the potential risks for the future. If we completely go away from the ethical side of science this could have catastrophic effects.
“It is the unprecedented acquisition of knowledge and power that places us in a critical position at this time.” I agree with this claim because we have never been exposed to such knowledge before which although could have potential dangers, it is also something that is new and exciting.
“This knowledge could radically alter our definitions of health and sickness.” I agree with this claim because our knowledge of specific genes that one person may have raise more questions than can be answered. What do we do with this knowledge? Who specifically should be cued in on the knowledge? There are so many unanswered questions that are being overlooked.
“It is not adequate to adopt the position that our responsibility as a society is simply to further scientific knowledge and enhance out technological power.” I agree with this claim because if we only look at advancing our technological standing we overlook all of the risks and possible dangers that this knowledge could put on our society.
My Claim:
Before we dive into the unknown, we must step back and look at the bigger picture.
