Two Contrasting Pieces
This topic deeply applied to me and involved newspaper writing. I had a word count for each article so it was a tad limiting.
Churro Mar
5/2/11
Period 3
AICE Essay
Write two contrasting newspaper articles (between 300-450 words each), one called ‘Only Science Can Save Us’ and the other called ‘Faith Is What the World Needs’. In the article you should develop reasons and examples for both points of view.
Only Science Can Save Us
Evidence and logic has shown that only science can rescue the human race and all of its developments.
Naturally, all good things must come to an end and that includes planet Earth. Due to this fact; the same question is always brought to light: what about the human race? With technology and scientific knowledge the human race does not have to end along with the planet.
All living things have generally the same necessities; oxygen, water, a resource of energy, and a place of homestead. The only known place that contains all of these requirements is planet Earth. With such a wide universe there must be something out there that has most of these requirements, or could house all these necessities. If humans could find some way to take these necessities and somehow start their supply elsewhere then they will have a Plan B if Earth was close to becoming nonexistent.
The only planet that resembles Earth (so far) seems to be Mars. The two planets have similar orbits and tilts on their axes, meaning that a day on Earth is identical to a day on Mars. Mars too has volcanoes, dust storms, oxidized surfaces, and traces of a magnetic field. Although they are not similar to Earth’s they are still characteristics that are found on both planets. With this information, who’s to say these characteristics can’t be identical to Earth’s and found in another galaxy?
Another option that scientists are exploring is the possibility of settling on the moon. With astro-architects and using the knowledge that NASA’s astronauts have collected, a new world can be constructed. It’s been seen in a countless number of Sci-Fi movies, the thought obviously has been passed along for years. Now the issue would be coming up with every detail. “Living on the moon isn’t an issue,” said Mark E. Kelly, Commanding Astronaut at NASA, “it’s surviving there that seems to be the problem.”
A new location seems unlikely at this point; at least until space exploration reaches new heights, but what about a change in biology? Scientists have been toying with mutations and genetics for generations and have accomplished so much. In one study experimenters were able to take a protein of luminescence from a specific species of jellyfish and successfully transfer it to an ordinary rabbit in which the protein functioned the same way. There have been no side effects and both animals are still living.
If scientists can figure out how to come up with a mutation that allows humans to live without one, or a few, of the necessities and use genetic engineering to come up with a new generation that could live to such adaptations- then the human race has hope.
There are many options that can save the human race, but it is not quite endangered yet. It is important to keep in mind though; the only thing that can save us all is the advancement in science.
Faith Is What the World Needs
Science and technology may be adding factors in what has kept the human race afloat, but one key factor has been overlooked, faith.
Some of the oldest stories in history speak of a higher being curing disease, bringing people back from the dead, and surviving unlikely situations. There is one common factor in every story though, there were people that believed; faith was a factor.
This is what the world needs. With the lack of faith and the repression of religion violence has been a reoccurring behavior in society. If societies continue this way then the human race will destroy itself, if another force doesn’t.
If the end of the world were to occur, as predicted in variation in monotheistic religions and in the neopagan faiths, the only way one would save themselves or ‘survive’ (for lack of a better word) is if they had faith. By having faith one would either continue walking the earth or move on to a ‘paradise’ or ‘heaven’ to join whichever higher being they believe in.
What the public fails to understand that the end of the world is specific. As said in the Book of Revelations, Judgment Day will arrive and those who didn’t believe will suffer and face judgment along with a terrible fate while those who did believe, will bask in the glorification of Christ or the Messiah.
Those who are sacrilegious will argue that there is no higher being, that there is no apocalypse or Armageddon. Those are the historically ignorant. The Mayan calendar has predicted the apocalypse for centuries, and claim that the end of the world has occurred before; the Romans have saved documents describing it, the Assyrians even mention it in tablets. The most common piece of evidence though seems to be dinosaurs.
Dinosaurs, although extinct, have been providing a peephole into the Earth’s past for decades. With over a hundred different species walking the earth they become extinct in just a few days. Asteroids killed them off, and then, a new generation of biotic organisms flourished. Reading the Mahabharata, and old Indian poem, one realizes how strangely identical the scenes and settings resemble Earth in that time and the time after, especially the Eastern side of the world. It, in a way, predicts the future which at that time consisted of nuclear weapons, world wars, and natural disasters, in great detail. To not take into consideration what societies have predicted before would just be a form of ignorance.
All predictions and stories have that one common factor though, those who did not believe suffered. If history has taught the human race anything, it’s to have some sort of faith. Faith is the only way to save the mankind from total extinction. Faith is what the world needs.
