Overview: In Anthem, we witness a society in which the government wishes to control its population by training its citizens from birth. What if they could control us before birth? The novel is science fiction, but the following documentary is not.
Directions: View the brief documentary Designer DNA from Explained. Compose a blog response where you discuss: 1) Direct parallels to Anthem and 2) Do you feel the benefits are worth the risks? Why or why not? Please feel free to explore this issue. I look forward to your responses.
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Jillian Boyer
ReplyDeleteIn Anthem, one of the major points is that Equality is actually chastised for being smarter than the other people. In our world, being about to change that, I believe it will end up that here is a cap, or an unspoken rule that people should find an average intelligence. Think that because of how much our world currently enforces equality (Not that that is a bad thing right now) but people will probably try to make everyone the same smartness not more smart, just like in anthem. I really don't think that this is worth it. Being able to change any living organism to do almost anything is where this is headed, and that's just not how the world is supposed to be. I think there are extreme cases that we can fix, such as if a plague breaks out or if there are rare diseases that are nothing but deadly that can be fixed. Other than that, the ability to play god, to remove all inconvenience, it’s just not right.
The term "playing God" is a good way to describe on hat there doing
DeleteDowol Lee
ReplyDeleteOne good thing about controlling us before birth is that we can have humans that are more superior than others and could advance the world as a whole. But, I think that it is not worth it. The government is basically "playing god". They are messing with something that should be meddled with. Even if it can make people more physically and mentally capable. We are animals too. No other species does this. We are just another species of mammals. Nature should not be messed with
Griffin Littlewood
ReplyDeleteAnthem and Designer DNA both talk about how everyone can be equal with zero hatred about people's appearances. I don't think DNA Designing benefits are worth it. I think this because it would just take away the uniqueness of humanity. Everyone would just be the same and so bland. This is basically what Hitler tried to do back during WW2. Hitler attempted to make everyone the same. Not many people exactly agreed with him causing a war. So I believe genetic modification is not worth the benefits because it would take away our humanity.
I agree bro
DeleteI agree I think there are a lot of drawbacks to the change of DNA and if we are not careful it can get out of hand.
DeleteMichael DiCenzo
ReplyDeleteA direct parrell is in anthem the government wanted everyone to be the same and they didn't want anyone to be to tall or to smart In the doumentry they could use Crispr to make the people not to tall or to smart. They could use Crispr to change the probability of them being better than other people. I feel that the benefits are crispr are both good and bad. They are good because we could prevent diseases and disabilities and make people stronger. But it's also bad because people might not want to prevent such things and they don't want to feel like they are being pushed out of society. We could also get out of hand with the use of crispr. In the end I think people could both benefit and I think there are also drawbacks to crispr.
Sean Curtis-
ReplyDeleteI think Designer DNA was parallel to Anthem in many ways. In Anthem everyone was the same and there was no difference in personality. This connects to the documentary because it talked about how people could change babies at birth to be the same as other people whether that be taller, faster, or even smarter. I feel like the benefits are not worth the issues. First if this technology is released it would be extremely expensive and only the rich would be able to afford it. Second this would cause many people to lash out in protest against the unfair prices of genetically modifying people. And third this would make school, sports, and other activities unfair due to the advantage genetically modified people.
Luke Newton
ReplyDeleteDesigner Dna and Anthem are similar because in Anthem the government wants everyone to be equal and they punish those who are smarter or taller than others. With designer DNA you could potentially control someones Intelligence or height or other characteristics of people. I feel the benefits of genetic modification are worth the risks, you could cure genetic diseases and make sure no one ever gets them again. People could use the power for bad things but the good outweighs the bad by a landslide.
Shruthi Saravanan
ReplyDeleteOne of the main ideas in the documentary Designer DNA was very similar to an idea in Anthem. In the documentary, they mentioned how this could bring us closer to making everyone more similar to each other and minimize our differences. This is what mainly happens in the Anthem, they make sure everyone is as similar as they could be and they try to take away all the difference they have or could get. People talked about altering their DNA could lead to us not having any identity which was a problem we saw in the book. The people there barely had any differences compared to each other and so they saw them a group of people and not an individual.
I personally feel that these benefits in this idea are worth the risks that might come to some extent. This is because one of the main purposes of trying to make this DNA altering possible for living things were to stop and try to prevent diseases and genetic problems for the later generations. This could be worth the risks due to the dangerous and harmful diseases that are out there. Though as this discussion went on not only were people getting out of hand with their reasons. They started seeing things such as disabilities as diseases and they also wanted to use the DNA altering for things which weren’t that serious as preventing diseases from continuing
Robbie Mahebjian
ReplyDeleteAnthem and Explained show many positives and negatives of equality.One example is that if everyone is the same there would be no diversity. In the book Anthem they take everyone they think is smart and put them in simple jobs. In Explained they talk about if everyone is special the ones that are slightly different are frowned upon also everyone would be the same. I feel like the benefits are not worth the risks because everyone would be the same and there would be no more brilliant minds. Through out history the ones that were brilliant were the ones that were different like Newton and Beethoven.
I agree with out these disabilities many of these great things that happen would not happen.
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Deletethis is why dyslexia is a good thing
DeleteAnthony Dimuzio
ReplyDeleteIn anthem when they tell Equality that he is too tall and to smart and he is not like the other kids. "There is evil in your bones, Equality 7-2521 for your body has grown beyond the bodies of your brothers. If they could modify everybody to be the same everybody would be equal in anthem and there would be no problem. I think that genetically modifying people would be bad because it could cause a new form a racism. Fights could happen between the genetically modified kids and the normal ones. They could bully each other and wars could happen because of this.
Anthony i totes like this statement stay woke OwO
DeleteVery interesting Robbie where did you find your back up info.-Griffin L
ReplyDeleteMyalee R.
ReplyDelete1)Designer DNA and Anthem are similar because in Anthem everyone has to be the same and if you're different, you're treated like you're a disgrace to society. If designer DNA takes off everyone's going to want to remove any disease that their child might have, which will eventually lead to everyone being the same.
2) I think designer DNA is good and bad. It's good because you could prevent people from having certain diseases like diabetes or a heart disease. It's a bad idea because why would you want child who's been genetically modified? I personally think that children who were made naturally are better than a child who has been genetically modified because you wouldn't know what to expect from a natural child unlike a modified child. This idea would just lead to even more racism. kids would be bullying each other for being either modified or natural. I think that Designer DNA is a terrible idea and people should not modify their kids
Jacob Moore
DeleteI would most definitely agree that children who were made naturally are better than a child who has been genetically modified. I think it very important to have individuality and not know what to expect when having a child because it more human.
These benefits are not worth risk because only the people in the one percent might be the only people who have access to this. People who have dwarfism or have down syndrome or any disability will feel segregated.
ReplyDeletePeople can have disagreements of it from being an enhancement or a Medical solution. Either way this Designer DNA will probably be band in the near future because the advancements. Even though this is band in the UK. But the united states will be using CRISPR for food to produce more for cheap. But when we grow as a society people who can't afford CRISPR will become outcasts in society. Pets could be affected, we can now use this in pets.
-Hanna Saad
Dylan Brenner
ReplyDeleteDesigner DNA and Anthem connect in many different ways. For example, Designer DNA explains designer babies, which is basically changing babies at birth. This connects to the book Anthem because there society wants everyone to be equal whether it’s intelligence or athleticism. I do not think these benefits are worth the risk because then there will not be as much diversity and people won’t be able to show their true self as much. Nobody will be different or stand out.
Celia Hoffman
ReplyDeleteI think Designer DNA and Anthem have some direct parallels. The main concepts of Anthem are sameness and equality and Designer DNA is a way to have absolute sameness and equality. I think the problem with Designer DNA is being able to "play God" and I think that is very disturbing. I think a parent picking facial features and qualities means that their child isn't really coming from them but a computer and I feel it could create weirdness in a way between the parent and child. There are also other problems like money and that we don't know all the risks. If one trait is enhanced, would another one lessen? For example, a person who is deaf has better sight, so would making someone less likely to get one disease, make them more likely to get another?
Suhani Karki
ReplyDeleteSome direct parallels to Anthem are that you are getting controlled and everyone is becoming more similar. A direct resemblance to Anthem is CRISPR idea’s proximity to the Nazi idea. The Nazi intended to only have “Germanic’s peoples” in Germany. CRISPR’s approach is that you can control what your kid(s) look like, and in Anthem everyone has to be equal so there cannot be anybody different from you. The recurring theme in all of this is that everyone getting controlled, whether you're controlled before birth or after birth.
I feel that the benefits are not worth the risk. If CRISPR’s idea continues, it could benefit people by getting rid of diseases, but could also cause much harm. When you have kids, your kids can resemble you, and it makes you happy thinking about the similar things you used to do when you were younger and how your kid does them now. Removing and altering some DNA creates a fake baby. Your child is not really “your child” in a sense that you can control everything your kid looks like or even intelligence.
I agree that the risk is higher than the reward. I also agree that there would be no similarities between generations.
DeleteNick Entner
ReplyDeleteThere are many parallels that between Anthem and Designer DNA including the fact that they are trying to make everyone that is below average and has a disability the same as everyone. They are trying to make it so that these genes do not affect the next generation. This gets rid of inequality and difference between people. This is a very bad thing that is happening to people.
I think that this is not worth the risk. We have no idea what this thing could do. This thing could backfire and make people have new diseases. This could make you have things that have never been seen. This could make something really bad. The benefits aren't worth it because many people are angry and many bad things could come out of this.
Jacob Moore
ReplyDeleteIn the novel “Anthem” by Ayn Rand and the documentary Designer DNA there are some parallels. In Anthem it talks about how everybody is the same and perfect for example “we are one in all and all in one. There are no men but only the great WE, One, Indivisible and forever”Pg 19. I can easily see how this can relate to the documentary Designer DNA because it talks about how you can genetically modify your childrens DNA before they are born. I think that by genetically modifying your childs DNA before they are born takes away their idividuality because they arent truely themselves which ties along with anthem because everyone is suppose to be the same.
I think that the benifits of genetically modifying your childs DNA is that you could make it so that your child will not have any illness but there are quite a few risks as well. Later in life if it becomes so common it could almost divide people up into groups one being the people who are genetically modified and the other people who are natuarally born. Also I personally think it takes away from individuality becuase if everybody is so perfect than you would really not have much diversity.
Suhani Karki
DeleteI understand your point of view Jacob! I do think that it takes away your individuality. I think the CRIPR idea will take away your own sense of identity, because you are not truly yourself.
Evan Lin
ReplyDeleteLike in Anthem, modifying DNA and creating perfect babies will mean that everyone will be the same and no one will be unique. If we genetically modified babies, then birth defects, diseases, and other disorders will no longer exist, killing off the idea of individuality and uniqueness. In Anthem, Equality is considered cursed because he thinks too much. Because "it is evil to be superior to our brothers", Equality is forced to be as smart as his brothers, and cannot be smarter than them.
Viruses are always changing and evolving, so we have to make our treatments stronger just to fight them off. If we genetically modify our bodies to be immune to a certain virus, it will only protect us for a short amount of time. It may be worth it for other things though.
Olivia Dionisio
ReplyDeleteIn the book, Anthem and the documentary, Modifying DNA there are a few similarities. In the book, Anthem the government wants everyone to be the same. For example they want everyone to look the same (weight, height). They also want everyone to act and think the same way. In the documentary Modifying DNA they use a took called the In the documentary they could use Crispr. People could use this device to change the probability of them being better than other people. The benefits of the Crispr is that is could stop disabilities and diseases, but no one would ever standout or be independent. Also if everyone was the same certain allergies and illnesses could kill everyone.
Jacqueline-
ReplyDeleteThe similarities are that they want people to become more similar. Similar in the way that we won't have imperfections like diseases or disabilities.The benefits are not worth the consequences. Having a disease or disability makes you who you are. And this system can easily get out of hand. Such as mutations or more diseases caused from trying to get rid of a flaw.
Yasmiin Ali
ReplyDeleteAnthem and this documentary both talk about the same topic and that is individualism. In Anthem, the author Ayn Rand talks about this world where everyone is equal, no one says the word I, me, or my, and no one is allowed to think. She talks about how Equality has so many rules and is really not an individual but in a group. The documentary, however, talks about how scientists are now figuring out how to change someone's DNA/ modify it. It also talks about how some people think it’s not a good idea to change someone's individuality and one's own self. Both topics are opposite to each other in a way that if we genetically modifying a person, it might become the world that Ayn Rand wrote about.
I personally think that the benefits are not worth the risk because it might change the world's differences. However, they are worth it because if they can find a way to get rid of some deathly diseases then that's a good thing to have. I think the scientist that is working on this project should focus on more important things like creating cures for people who have diseases instead of worrying about the future. Not that we should be aware of what comes next; I just think that they should help the people that are alive today. Overall, I think that the people working on this project should use this as therapy and not enhancement because if they choose enhancement then they might stubble into more problems.