We, as humans, live in a world today where the dust of improvement never completely settles in the air. With every year that goes by, some new piece of technology emerges that will seem to make our lives easier and thus making our lives ultimately seem perfect. Every blackberry, laptop, iPod, High Definition television and convertible has been proclaimed by the media as necessities; therefore, items one cannot live without and must own. The more technologically advanced one is, the more perfect his or her life becomes. This factor, this need for perfection, has evolved rapidly over the course of human history and may be in for a head-on collision course for disaster and confusion. Lauren Slater’s, “Dr. Daedalus” and David Brooks’s, “Our Sprawling, Supersize Utopia”, share this aesthetic notion of perfection in action. No matter how “unnatural” or over-the-top these changes may be, it seems impossible now to turn back to how we once lived: horse driven carriages instead of Ferrari’s, live classical music instead of hip hop and R&B blasting in our headphones, children playing outside instead of gluing their eyes to the television for hours at a time, and going over to visit a friend instead of sending a two worded text consisting of “what’s up?” Perfection has consumed the lives of many and has caused Americans to make drastic changes in order to keep up with the vision of perfection even though it hasn’t come into existence.
Americans have been so blind-sided by all the shiny gadgets and the commercialization of “necessities” around them that they have confused the idea of what they want with what they need. This need for perfection is a want—a secret desire in disguise. We trick our minds into thinking we need that $50,000 brand...
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...en one goes as far as spending all their money in order to attain this vision of perfection. What appears to be a want for one individual can end up being interpreted as a need for another but confusing one’s wants with one’s needs may come at a high cost and one must take precaution when watching commercials that tell one otherwise. America has come a long way in the subject of technology but has also grown too dependent on it as well. We, as Americans, can never go back to how we once lived with horse drawn carriages or going out to see the world if technology were to cease to exist. This vision of perfection that Americans have can spiral out of control to changes that don’t need to be changed and irreversible surgery that scars us for life, but we continue in pursuit of our perfection because it is the only way we know how to live—to live for a perfect future.
Michael Sandel is a distinguished political philosopher and a professor at Harvard University. Sandel is best known for his best known for his critique of John Rawls's A Theory of Justice. While he is an acclaimed professor if government, he has also delved deeply into the ethics of biotechnology. At Harvard, Sandel has taught a course called "Ethics, Biotechnology, and the Future of Human Nature" and from 2002 to 2005 he served on the President’s Council on Bioethics (Harvard University Department of Government, 2013). In 2007, Sandel published his book, The Case Against Perfection: Ethics in the Age of Genetic Engineering, in which he explains unethical implications biotechnology has and may have in the near future regarding genetic engineering.
Mankind must fight the urge to be blinded by technology’s benefits and to consider what must be lost to gain these conveniences.
would enjoy his or her work because he or she was "made" or trained for it when
Recent breakthroughs in the field of genetics and biotechnology have brought attention to the ethical issues surrounding human enhancement. While these breakthroughs have many positive aspects, such as the treatment and prevention of many debilitating diseases and extending human life expectancy well beyond its current limits, there are profound moral implications associated with the ability to manipulate our own nature. Michael Sandel’s “The Case Against Perfection” examines the ethical and moral issues associated with human enhancement while Nick Bostrom’s paper, “In Defense of Posthuman Dignity” compares the positions that transhumanists and bioconservatists take on the topic of human enhancement. The author’s opinions on the issue of human genetic enhancement stand in contrast to one another even though those opinions are based on very similar topics. The author’s views on human enhancement, the effect enhancement has on human nature, and the importance of dignity are the main issues discussed by Sandel and Bostrom and are the focus of this essay.
Technology has improved drastically in the past few years, improving society a large amount, but what if these new electronics are not actually improving it but instead making it worse? What if all of these advances are only taking away humanities? Bradbury’s short stories “The Pedestrian” and “The Veldt” tell about technology in the future and what it will do to humans. Bradbury’s views on technology’s growth predict that technology takes away what makes humans, human.
In 1980, Arlene Skolnick’s “The Paradox of Perfection” was published in Wilson Quarterly around the time when the “ideal family” was highly regarded. The article expresses the idea that the perfect family dose not exist. This essay is a prime example of how society views on what a family should be, subconsciously affects the behavior and attitude of the average family. As a psychologist from University of California, Skolnick presents her views through a series of historical contexts and statistics.
McKevitt starts the essay explaining how we are now living in a time of instant, 24/7 access to almost anything we want. Our needs are met and now our economy focuses on getting what we want as fast as possible. He then asks “…why aren’t we happier or, at the very least, worrying less and enjoying life more?” (144). The author
Society contradicts itself. Perfection is a fantasy that is often compared to reality, however everyone is expected to be perfect even though it simply cannot happen. Everyone reaches a point in their life when they are no longer a child and the true pressure of society begins to weigh down on their shoulders. Some individuals can handle the pressure, however others break under the pressure. Bullying, harassing, tyrannizing, and tormenting someone can be caused by anyone. These actions are caused by people who are usually delusional and think they are superior. “Kids who bully use their power—such as physical strength, access to embarrassing information, or popularity—to control or harm others.” (Bullying Definition). Just because someone is different physically or because they have a different sexuality they would be at the risk of being bullied. For example, Tyler Clementi was publically humiliated because he was suspected of being a homosexual. Just as society and bullies has an effect on people, family does as well. There are many ways a child can grow up in an abusive or unhealthy environment caused by their parents. When someone does not feel safe in their home the scar it leaves lasts forever. Because of self-esteem issues caused by societal pressure, bullying, and dysfunctional families individuals will often commit suicide.
Even though, the arguments put forth by the author are relevant to the central theme, they lack clarity. He tends to go off on tangents and loses the flow of the article. It seems that the author has a slight bias against our generation’s obsession with technology, but that can be attributed to him being a quinquagenarian. I feel that the author has not covered the topic thoroughly enough. He has not quite explained the topic in depth or covered it from various perspectives.
While the slogan “The pursuit of perfection” might be an effective way to market luxury automobiles, it is not a way to live one’s life. In Anna Quindlen 's speech, “Being Perfect,” she discusses the price of perfection, not in dollars or cents, but in its impact on one 's life. Through powerful anecdotes, symbols, and analogies, she creates a strong connection with her audience and utilizes it to convince them that there is a very high price of pursuing perfection- the loss of oneself.
As a result, the society of this scary inhumane, Brave New World is full with technology that is destroying humanity form us. Yes it is a perfect world and there no war, disease, crisis but also there is no emotions, feeling, love and especially any hope which are some of the necessary part of human nature. As a conclusion, technology controls the life of everyday people from the day they were born till the day they die in this Brave New World.
In summary, both the article and the novel critique the public’s reliance on technology. This topic is relevant today because Feed because it may be how frightening the future society may look like.
is hotter or colder, but never actually tell what the absolutes are. This is a
In life, especially in American culture, our existence revolves around the physical, materialistic possessions and goals. Every commercial, ad and salesman caters to those who need more “stuff”
We often think that our main goals are linked to perfection, however, we are unaware of the devastating effect this unattainable concept has on our outlook on life when we cannot achieve it. Though the textbook definition of perfection is, “the quality or condition of being perfect and without flaws”, it is a vice that harbors many doubts and insecurities and holds us back from things we want to do for fear of not being good. Perfection is a concept that cannot be achieved as it does not exist.