1) What are the most valuable things you learned in ARW winter?
ARW winter made me to think a lot!! I often thought "I don't want to think anymore!!!" However, looking back now, it was good practice for me to think about complex issue while expressing own position. I tend to evade my position when I have to consider complex issues, especially bioethical issues. I always avoid having responsibility of showing own position. So, it was good opportunity for me to overcome such tendency.
Before the winter term, I had thought that I was impossible for me to study such complex issues in English. Actually, I had a lot of difficulty to express own opinion. I often thought I wanted to use Japanese. lol There were a lot of things that I couldn't explain. However, it was not impossible, and this term was very valuable for me to improve English.
I think I also should mentioned about essay. I had never written essay such deeply. My argument was pointed out many times about not being persuasive. I had hard time to find out which evidences are effective and make argument reasonable. Also, still, I was not used to the format of essay.
Moreover, I had many things that I wanted to mention about, and I have hard time organizing and selecting content. However, Mark never gave up giving advices to me. lol So I think I could make effort to respond to expectation ;)
Anyway, this term was very valuable, because it gave a opportunity to think deeply in English and to work hard.
2) How do you want to continue to improve your reading, writing, and speaking skills?
About reading, I will try to read English books which I am interested in the content. About speaking skill, I would like to make opportunity to touch and think in English. For example, I love watching movies, so I can use them to be more used to hearing English. I want to hear English relaxed. I tend to construct sentences in my head and get into panic when I can't express in English, so I want to reduce tension of hearing and speaking English.
Also, I want to learn more idioms and phrases. They will be helpful for both writing and speaking. In essay, it will reduce to use same words many times and to make variety of sentence. Moreover, when I can't come up with the vocabulary of English (when I don't know how to say the particular word in English), variety of expression will helpful to explain that word in other words.
I think the best thing is not giving up expressing in English! ;)
2011年2月23日水曜日
2011年2月21日月曜日
20X20
There are many difficulties of making 20X20.
First, it was hard for me to put the content of my essay into only 20 slides. I had a lot of things that I want to talk about, and it took me long time to select the main points and shrink the content. Therefore, I learned the skill to sift through the content to find out the main points.
Moreover, I had to memorize the speech , because I didn't have time to look note in 20 seconds. The time limit made me very nervous. I'm very weak to pressure. Thus, I had to practice many times to gain confidence as much as I can.
However, I really enjoyed making visuals. I learned how to make effective visuals. (ex. Use of photos, letters, etc...)
I wrote essay for us (outsiders of FGM culture), not just for me. So, I am happy that I had opportunities to give my argument and suggestions to other people! The essay was not just one of the measures to develop my writing skill. It was able to get more significance by being presented by 20X20.
Thank you ;) !!
First, it was hard for me to put the content of my essay into only 20 slides. I had a lot of things that I want to talk about, and it took me long time to select the main points and shrink the content. Therefore, I learned the skill to sift through the content to find out the main points.
Moreover, I had to memorize the speech , because I didn't have time to look note in 20 seconds. The time limit made me very nervous. I'm very weak to pressure. Thus, I had to practice many times to gain confidence as much as I can.
However, I really enjoyed making visuals. I learned how to make effective visuals. (ex. Use of photos, letters, etc...)
I wrote essay for us (outsiders of FGM culture), not just for me. So, I am happy that I had opportunities to give my argument and suggestions to other people! The essay was not just one of the measures to develop my writing skill. It was able to get more significance by being presented by 20X20.
Thank you ;) !!
2011年2月12日土曜日
Socialism
It's not related to ARW, but we studied little bit about Socialism (actually, democratic socialism). Therefore, I would like to introduce the movies that are related to Socialism! (You know, I loooooove movies;))
1. 1900 Novecento "Twentieth Century"
This film was made in 1976. It is directed by Bernardo Bertolucci and it is more than 5 hours long!!
Robert De Niro (my favorite actor), Gérard Depardieu (my father's favorite actor) , Dominique Sanda, and Donald Sutherland are in this film.
Plot
Set in Italy, the film follows the lives and interactions of two boys/men, one born a bastard of peasant stock (Depardieu), the other born to a land owner (de Niro). The drama spans from 1900 to about 1945, and focuses mainly on the rise of Fascism and the peasants' eventual reaction by supporting Communism, and how these events shape the destinies of the two main characters. Written by Ed Sutton
It's is pretty long movie, but worth seeing ;)
The one of the best things I like about this movie is music which was composed by a famous Italian composer, Ennio Morricone.
Veeerrry beautiful melody and it makes me feel history.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfJcUX23c3A
2. Good Bye, Lenin!
This is a German film in 2003.
Plot
East Germany, the year 1989: A young man protests against the regime. His mother watches the police arresting him and suffers a heart attack and falls into a coma. Some months later, the GDR does not exist anymore and the mother awakes. Since she has to avoid every excitement, the son tries to set up the GDR again for her in their flat. But the world has changed a lot. Written by Benjamin Stello
It is a little funny and heartwarming film.
My younger sister love this movie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIjSaHUKD5I
3. The Lives of Others
This is also German film which was taken in 2006.
I really loooooovvvveeee this film!!!
It takes place in East German, which is just before the collapse.
Plot
The last scene is nothing but stunning.
I really recommend! So please watch!
3. Kaniko-sen
Kaniko-sen is a very famous Japanese novel, which is written by Takiji Kobayashi. And it made into film in 1953.
I saw revival one which is in 2009.
The content is serious and harsh.
However, this movie explains Socialism very clearly and easy to understand.
Ryuhei Matsuda and Toshiaki Nishijima are my favorite actors ;)
1. 1900 Novecento "Twentieth Century"
This film was made in 1976. It is directed by Bernardo Bertolucci and it is more than 5 hours long!!
Robert De Niro (my favorite actor), Gérard Depardieu (my father's favorite actor) , Dominique Sanda, and Donald Sutherland are in this film.
Plot
Set in Italy, the film follows the lives and interactions of two boys/men, one born a bastard of peasant stock (Depardieu), the other born to a land owner (de Niro). The drama spans from 1900 to about 1945, and focuses mainly on the rise of Fascism and the peasants' eventual reaction by supporting Communism, and how these events shape the destinies of the two main characters. Written by Ed Sutton
It's is pretty long movie, but worth seeing ;)
The one of the best things I like about this movie is music which was composed by a famous Italian composer, Ennio Morricone.
Veeerrry beautiful melody and it makes me feel history.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfJcUX23c3A
2. Good Bye, Lenin!
This is a German film in 2003.
Plot
East Germany, the year 1989: A young man protests against the regime. His mother watches the police arresting him and suffers a heart attack and falls into a coma. Some months later, the GDR does not exist anymore and the mother awakes. Since she has to avoid every excitement, the son tries to set up the GDR again for her in their flat. But the world has changed a lot. Written by Benjamin Stello
It is a little funny and heartwarming film.
My younger sister love this movie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIjSaHUKD5I
3. The Lives of Others
This is also German film which was taken in 2006.
I really loooooovvvveeee this film!!!
It takes place in East German, which is just before the collapse.
Plot
The last scene is nothing but stunning.
I really recommend! So please watch!
3. Kaniko-sen
Kaniko-sen is a very famous Japanese novel, which is written by Takiji Kobayashi. And it made into film in 1953.
I saw revival one which is in 2009.
The content is serious and harsh.
However, this movie explains Socialism very clearly and easy to understand.
Ryuhei Matsuda and Toshiaki Nishijima are my favorite actors ;)
2011年1月23日日曜日
Arianna Huffington: How to succeed? Get more sleep
I selected another speech which is very different from last one and related to ICU students! ;)
When I saw this video, I thought "I know! But I really don't have time!!"
I suppose every ICU students will think same as what I thought.
This presentation is short and funny. So please watch with easy feeling.
When I saw this video, I thought "I know! But I really don't have time!!"
I suppose every ICU students will think same as what I thought.
This presentation is short and funny. So please watch with easy feeling.
Jody Williams: A realistic vision for world peace | Video on TED.com
Jody thinks the peace has to be sustainable with justice and equality. To achieve this, in the speech, she tries to encourage people to take action for peace and reclaim what the peace means. She emphasize the importance of "taking action. " There are a lot of people who consider about the world issues. However, there are few people who try to do something for them. I sometime feel very powerless when I am writing essay or reading articles about issues.
I love to watch movies so I have watched many movies which is based on the controvertial issues. I feel very complcated. I always think I have to do something, but I do nothig, because I don't know what to do. After watching this speech, I thought just bewailing own powerless is meaningless. In ICU, I have to study more and learn various actual measures to deal with issues. And I thought what I can do for now is to learn and absorb a lot of information and it is time for preparation.
The terms and idea in this presentation related to "Vision of the Future", for example human security. So it will be a source to study ARW and RCA :)
The presentation is powerful and I felt her enthusiasm. Her eyes are very serious and most of people will feel they should do something after watching this presentation.
2011年1月15日土曜日
ARW Pre-PWT
Human cloning should not be allowed in Japan for two reasons: mental harm and violation of human right.
Even if the risk of physical is 100% sure, it harms mental of cloned humans. For example, people support human cloning often say that it can help people who lost their children. It can save parents sorrow, however, the cloned child will be lived as a "substitute." It means the cloned child is not respected as a single individual. It is not the only case of harming a clone child. Whatever is the situation, in the background of a cloned human, there is always existence of another person who has same gene. And it will be a obstacle in the process of forming individual and identity.
Second, human cloning have a danger of violating human right. The word "clone" divides who is a clone and who is not a clone. This classification will lead to discrimination even if people are not intend to. And human clones are not treated same as other "normal human" when a discrimination happens. In the Constitution of Japan, the right to live is assured. Even human clones have same gene as others. However, they are a human. They have a right to live as a single human and right to be treated as other people. However, human perception can't be changed easily. And unfortunately, there are not only good men. There are people who discriminates other people. In fact, even the notion of equality of human has been prevailed in Japan, there are a lot of human who discriminate Korean residents. Therefore, human cloning will lead to discriminate human clones and violating their rights.
Human cloning has a risk of harming mental of people who are cloned. Cloned people will suffer own identity and the meaning of own existence. In addition, human cloning has the possibility to violate the right to live of cloned human, because they will be discriminated by people who are not cloned. For this two reasons, the human cloning shoul not be allowed in Japan.
It is hard to make persuasive: (
It is easy to say "it violates human right", but it is hard to explain how violating right.
Bioethic is very complex issue so I'm afraid whether I can write a short essay without using dictionary...!
Even if the risk of physical is 100% sure, it harms mental of cloned humans. For example, people support human cloning often say that it can help people who lost their children. It can save parents sorrow, however, the cloned child will be lived as a "substitute." It means the cloned child is not respected as a single individual. It is not the only case of harming a clone child. Whatever is the situation, in the background of a cloned human, there is always existence of another person who has same gene. And it will be a obstacle in the process of forming individual and identity.
Second, human cloning have a danger of violating human right. The word "clone" divides who is a clone and who is not a clone. This classification will lead to discrimination even if people are not intend to. And human clones are not treated same as other "normal human" when a discrimination happens. In the Constitution of Japan, the right to live is assured. Even human clones have same gene as others. However, they are a human. They have a right to live as a single human and right to be treated as other people. However, human perception can't be changed easily. And unfortunately, there are not only good men. There are people who discriminates other people. In fact, even the notion of equality of human has been prevailed in Japan, there are a lot of human who discriminate Korean residents. Therefore, human cloning will lead to discriminate human clones and violating their rights.
Human cloning has a risk of harming mental of people who are cloned. Cloned people will suffer own identity and the meaning of own existence. In addition, human cloning has the possibility to violate the right to live of cloned human, because they will be discriminated by people who are not cloned. For this two reasons, the human cloning shoul not be allowed in Japan.
It is hard to make persuasive: (
It is easy to say "it violates human right", but it is hard to explain how violating right.
Bioethic is very complex issue so I'm afraid whether I can write a short essay without using dictionary...!
2011年1月13日木曜日
ARW Fukuyama's issue
a)
According to Fukuyama, genetic engineering has a lot of difficulties and it seems it is not likely to be in real. However, the development of techonology is so rapid that no body can't know what will happen. Therefore, he can't say it is impossible. In fact, selection of sex is possible now and the doctor in the movies we saw said it is possible to select physical traits such as eye or hair color.
There are mailny 3 obstacles.
First, the mechanism of genes are very complex. A single gene has mutiple roles and function. It influences many other genes or functions. Therefore, if the genetic engineering is practiced, unexpected effects will be occured. The correlations of genes are unknown. However, the genetic engineering can be succeeded before the achievement of whole clarification of gene. These days, technology have been making rapid progress and there is no proof that the genetic engineering can't be suceeded because of complexity of gene.
Second, there is an ethical problem: human experimentation. As mentioned before, a single has not only one function and genes have very complex interactions. Therefore, it is impossible to anticipate every effects which come from arrangement of gene. The only way to know is to practice genetic engineering. The cases of eperimental stage is inevitable. It means there will be embryos or babies which are used as laboratory materials. However, embryo or babies can't tell their will. Their parents can give consent but babies or embryos can't. Hence, it will be problem of rights or other ethical problem. Using consequentialism idea, those experiments are worthy if genetic engineering finally suceeded and helped many people. Same as drugs, there are many helpful and valid drugs which have been helped many people's life. However, those achievements can exist because of accumulation of experimentations.
Third, if above two obstacles are solved and the genetic engineering generlized, the human nature can be changed. So far, it seems impossible to change, because the large amount and range of genetic engineerings have to be carried out. The number of birth is enormous, so it is impossible the number of genetic engineerings to exceed the birth number.
There are dangers of the genetic engineering. If people consider about the dangers which come from genetic engineering, unbalance of sex ratios, alteration of human nature, or ethical problem will be raised. However, the problems are not only what we anticipate. There may be many problems we are not expecting.
In the last, Fukuyama mentions that the genetic engineering can influence politics of countries. Moreover, if the genetic enginerring generlized among all human, the fundamental notion of human such as molartiy, justice, meaning of good life, or personality can alter. The fixed idea or notion which we think obvious now will be not obvious.
b)
I want to know what is the difference between eugenics and the genetic engineering. I think the concept and goals are similar.
Also, I want to talk about human cloning. I did debate of it when I was in high school and it was veeerrry controvertial. I was in the side of anti-human cloning. Therefore, I could points out a lot of ethical problem of human cloning. But the other side of people have to talk about benefits of human cloning and they said very scary and radical opinions. (Actually there are persuasive benefits) However, I though it can be treated as scary and unhuman opinion. The reserch of human cloning has been progressing. Fukuyama said that the human cloning suceeds before genetic enginerring. Therefore, the discussion of human cloning have to be developed before it suceeds.
According to Fukuyama, genetic engineering has a lot of difficulties and it seems it is not likely to be in real. However, the development of techonology is so rapid that no body can't know what will happen. Therefore, he can't say it is impossible. In fact, selection of sex is possible now and the doctor in the movies we saw said it is possible to select physical traits such as eye or hair color.
There are mailny 3 obstacles.
First, the mechanism of genes are very complex. A single gene has mutiple roles and function. It influences many other genes or functions. Therefore, if the genetic engineering is practiced, unexpected effects will be occured. The correlations of genes are unknown. However, the genetic engineering can be succeeded before the achievement of whole clarification of gene. These days, technology have been making rapid progress and there is no proof that the genetic engineering can't be suceeded because of complexity of gene.
Second, there is an ethical problem: human experimentation. As mentioned before, a single has not only one function and genes have very complex interactions. Therefore, it is impossible to anticipate every effects which come from arrangement of gene. The only way to know is to practice genetic engineering. The cases of eperimental stage is inevitable. It means there will be embryos or babies which are used as laboratory materials. However, embryo or babies can't tell their will. Their parents can give consent but babies or embryos can't. Hence, it will be problem of rights or other ethical problem. Using consequentialism idea, those experiments are worthy if genetic engineering finally suceeded and helped many people. Same as drugs, there are many helpful and valid drugs which have been helped many people's life. However, those achievements can exist because of accumulation of experimentations.
Third, if above two obstacles are solved and the genetic engineering generlized, the human nature can be changed. So far, it seems impossible to change, because the large amount and range of genetic engineerings have to be carried out. The number of birth is enormous, so it is impossible the number of genetic engineerings to exceed the birth number.
There are dangers of the genetic engineering. If people consider about the dangers which come from genetic engineering, unbalance of sex ratios, alteration of human nature, or ethical problem will be raised. However, the problems are not only what we anticipate. There may be many problems we are not expecting.
In the last, Fukuyama mentions that the genetic engineering can influence politics of countries. Moreover, if the genetic enginerring generlized among all human, the fundamental notion of human such as molartiy, justice, meaning of good life, or personality can alter. The fixed idea or notion which we think obvious now will be not obvious.
b)
I want to know what is the difference between eugenics and the genetic engineering. I think the concept and goals are similar.
Also, I want to talk about human cloning. I did debate of it when I was in high school and it was veeerrry controvertial. I was in the side of anti-human cloning. Therefore, I could points out a lot of ethical problem of human cloning. But the other side of people have to talk about benefits of human cloning and they said very scary and radical opinions. (Actually there are persuasive benefits) However, I though it can be treated as scary and unhuman opinion. The reserch of human cloning has been progressing. Fukuyama said that the human cloning suceeds before genetic enginerring. Therefore, the discussion of human cloning have to be developed before it suceeds.
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