The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes."
-Marcel Proust
Hello world! For those of you who are new, welcome to the Luminstruct blog! I am currently working on a "365 Word Project" where everyday I will be posting a reflection on a word and today's word is "discovery".
So I might be going into this post being a little biased due to my undergrad degree in Biology, but let me be the first to say that science is cool! We are currently living in a world where it is okay to question our previous knowledge and gain a better understand of the world that we live in! I feel like a lot of people take this aspect for granted. Even if you just look back to the times of Galileo, you see scientists being silenced for their thinking because it might have challenged the beliefs of the church. Also in history, you still see women who had progressive ideas burned at the stake and tried as witches because women were not supposed to be smarter than their male counterparts. Today, we live in a time where technology and science has come together and is accepted on many levels of society. It is actually going so fast that scientists fear we might not be able to keep up with our progress because it is growing at an exponential rate. Although this is true, I also feel as if our pace will eventually reach a carrying capacity and level off due to limited resources, as well as limitations of time. Even today though, you still see some resistance when it comes to new discoveries. Science sometimes hits obstacles of morality when it comes to stem cell research or cloning attempts and in a world that is currently designed for pushing the limits and advancing the principles of mankind, we quickly learn that the world around us is more gray than black and white. It might even be a whole different color all-together which we never even considered!
With all of this being said, it is still important to keep people involved and well educated when it comes to the sciences. Based on a study from February, 2014, four out of every five Americans are interested in "new scientific discoveries." Although this is true, I have found that most individuals do not go out of their way to observe new scientific findings! It is very easy to fall back into our comfort zones and not challenge the world around us, but if this is not done, we will never grow!
To illustrate my point, only 48% of Americans think that humans evolved from another species! I have had this conversation with some of my very close friends, and it amazes me that they believe there was actually a single man named Adam and a single woman named Eve who were the only two humans on this planet. The last thing I want to do is to start a science vs. religion fight, but I really wish more people could see the world through my eyes where understanding science and all of nature's complexities only makes the belief of religion all the more amazing and awesome. There are so many scientific discoveries that have solidified the ideas of evolution and although I believe there is still so much that is yet to understand about the concept, I also believe that for someone to turn a blind eye toward these studies is simply being irresponsible and ignorant of the world around them. It is our responsibility as humans to "boldly go where no man has gone before!" Sure it might be a bit cheesy to quote a sci-fi show when discussing the advances of the human race, but maybe it's not such a bad idea to take a page from our friends in Hollywood and bring it into our own personal life's motto. Who knows, you might find something new about yourself :) Goodnight all!
Question Time: What piece of science do you wish was explored more thoroughly? Personally the idea of space travel has always fascinated me. I remember a science article I was reading which discussed how possible it could be to establish a moon base where a recycling system could be created using urine from the base's passengers. By filtering and purifying the substance through the use of microorganisms to transform the liquid into water again, we would create a cycle which could last for a long while. Sure that might be a pretty gross idea, but maybe this is one of the moral and social stigmas which should be broken down for science! Just based off my environmental classes, I know we are quickly running out of space and resources. Unless we take action to become more environmentally continuous or discover a new source of resources in outer space or in the deep oceans, we will be facing some major complications over the next few generations. Sure it might not be our problem, but it will certainly be our grandchildren's problem. Why create a mess when you have the tools to keep it clean?
About the Video: In honor of going to the dentist in the next few days, I found this video off the Discovery Channel's D-News YouTube video series. Recently I've really enjoyed DNews because it has some of my favorite YouTube personalities such as Anthony and Tara from Hard Science (I've shown some of their videos before) as well as Laci Green who has a very good educational YouTube channel about sexuality. I found this episode particularly interesting because studies have shown that flossing may not have a significant impact on our dental hygiene. Although the video ended on a good note stating that we might just not be aware how to properly take care of our teeth with floss and how more research is needed, I still found the topic very interesting to share! Interested in learning more about DNews? Check out their welcome video here!
So I might be going into this post being a little biased due to my undergrad degree in Biology, but let me be the first to say that science is cool! We are currently living in a world where it is okay to question our previous knowledge and gain a better understand of the world that we live in! I feel like a lot of people take this aspect for granted. Even if you just look back to the times of Galileo, you see scientists being silenced for their thinking because it might have challenged the beliefs of the church. Also in history, you still see women who had progressive ideas burned at the stake and tried as witches because women were not supposed to be smarter than their male counterparts. Today, we live in a time where technology and science has come together and is accepted on many levels of society. It is actually going so fast that scientists fear we might not be able to keep up with our progress because it is growing at an exponential rate. Although this is true, I also feel as if our pace will eventually reach a carrying capacity and level off due to limited resources, as well as limitations of time. Even today though, you still see some resistance when it comes to new discoveries. Science sometimes hits obstacles of morality when it comes to stem cell research or cloning attempts and in a world that is currently designed for pushing the limits and advancing the principles of mankind, we quickly learn that the world around us is more gray than black and white. It might even be a whole different color all-together which we never even considered!
With all of this being said, it is still important to keep people involved and well educated when it comes to the sciences. Based on a study from February, 2014, four out of every five Americans are interested in "new scientific discoveries." Although this is true, I have found that most individuals do not go out of their way to observe new scientific findings! It is very easy to fall back into our comfort zones and not challenge the world around us, but if this is not done, we will never grow!
To illustrate my point, only 48% of Americans think that humans evolved from another species! I have had this conversation with some of my very close friends, and it amazes me that they believe there was actually a single man named Adam and a single woman named Eve who were the only two humans on this planet. The last thing I want to do is to start a science vs. religion fight, but I really wish more people could see the world through my eyes where understanding science and all of nature's complexities only makes the belief of religion all the more amazing and awesome. There are so many scientific discoveries that have solidified the ideas of evolution and although I believe there is still so much that is yet to understand about the concept, I also believe that for someone to turn a blind eye toward these studies is simply being irresponsible and ignorant of the world around them. It is our responsibility as humans to "boldly go where no man has gone before!" Sure it might be a bit cheesy to quote a sci-fi show when discussing the advances of the human race, but maybe it's not such a bad idea to take a page from our friends in Hollywood and bring it into our own personal life's motto. Who knows, you might find something new about yourself :) Goodnight all!
Question Time: What piece of science do you wish was explored more thoroughly? Personally the idea of space travel has always fascinated me. I remember a science article I was reading which discussed how possible it could be to establish a moon base where a recycling system could be created using urine from the base's passengers. By filtering and purifying the substance through the use of microorganisms to transform the liquid into water again, we would create a cycle which could last for a long while. Sure that might be a pretty gross idea, but maybe this is one of the moral and social stigmas which should be broken down for science! Just based off my environmental classes, I know we are quickly running out of space and resources. Unless we take action to become more environmentally continuous or discover a new source of resources in outer space or in the deep oceans, we will be facing some major complications over the next few generations. Sure it might not be our problem, but it will certainly be our grandchildren's problem. Why create a mess when you have the tools to keep it clean?
About the Video: In honor of going to the dentist in the next few days, I found this video off the Discovery Channel's D-News YouTube video series. Recently I've really enjoyed DNews because it has some of my favorite YouTube personalities such as Anthony and Tara from Hard Science (I've shown some of their videos before) as well as Laci Green who has a very good educational YouTube channel about sexuality. I found this episode particularly interesting because studies have shown that flossing may not have a significant impact on our dental hygiene. Although the video ended on a good note stating that we might just not be aware how to properly take care of our teeth with floss and how more research is needed, I still found the topic very interesting to share! Interested in learning more about DNews? Check out their welcome video here!
Take Away:
Tomorrow's Topic: "Mind"
