Global Warming Positives

This article feels very nice to read considering a green movement debate just recently took place in our classroom. This article actually did not surprise me at all. I was aware that Global Warming is a very controversial topic and a positive side was bound to exist. The author brings up many points that usually surround political benefits. I suppose many of us only think on the scientific part of this argument. The author, Matt Ridley, states that this phenomenon is causing countries to generally become richer. He even states that the rise of the overall richness will strongly benefit poorer families,"for some people, this means the difference between survival and starvation." I really liked that the author wasn't an ignorant individual that only finds positive attributes to his side. He clearly stated that in the future Global Warming can become very harmful and that we currently do really know the truth about what's going on. I found that this article was one of the better reads compared to the other articles.

Oreo Addiction

When I initially read the title, I was honestly not surprised. I have learned that in this world just about anything can be as addictive as well known drugs. The article did a fantastic job in making the article easy to read and follow. Never did I once feel it was pain to read. The way the scientists discovered how Oreos are so addictive appears to be a bit too inhumane for my tastes. Injecting the lab rats with drugs and all sort of bodily destructive products for a pointless reason is mind boggling. Is it really that necessary for us humans to know if Oreos are more addictive than Cocaine? The author explains, "high-sugar foods may present...danger because of their accessibility and affordability." Honestly this discovery won't really help man kind that much. Oreos wont disappear after this discovery and people wont stop consuming them. So was there really a formidable point for this experiment?

Pills

It seems that with each blog I read form these assignments it never ceases to surprise me. I never thought making useful medical pills out of human waste was even possible. I believe that the science and money that is being invested in this study is well worth it. It would seem that this tactic is much more accessible and cost efficient than using the fecal transplant system. Personally if I were presented with the option to get the transplantation or the pills, I would simply chose the pills. I believe that avoiding any sort of transplantation is better in the long run. I believe that a lot of people would decline the offer of consuming these pills just because of their seeming unethical nature. I feel that people should show no shame for something that can potentially safe one's life. The author of the article even states, "these people are not eating poop." This clearly shows that the general public sees this as unethical or even gross, but then again I feel one should complete the necessary tasks for one's safety.

SAT essay surprise

I was definitely not aware that the SAT required you to take an unethical essay. In fact, I have little knowledge when comes to the SAT in general. It came to me in quite a surprise that the SAT essay graders don't really spend a lot of time on grading each individual paper. I honestly can't blame them since they have a crazy policy,"readers get a bonus if they read 30 essays an hour." I was bewildered to see how corrupt our grading system actually is. The article does a phenomenal job at exploiting and explaining all the holes in the grading system.

The article also explained how the strategies to get a good grade on the SAT essay were practically not applicable to any other form of writing. The way to ace the essay has no way in any correlation on how good of a writer one actually is. This in turn unleashes bad writers in the world. See if one takes a class on how to be successful on the writing portion of the SAT. The graduates of that class will continue to use the writing habits learned beyond the SAT. This in my personal opinion is horrifying. I believe that such a major test should be providing you with an experience that can help you throughout life, not hinder it.

Another interesting and surprising point from the article, is that teachers are actually becoming bad teachers because of the SAT essay. Since their pay relies on how high the SAT score is, they will only teach their students methods on how to succeed only in the SAT essay. I find this quite corrupt as well. I cannot believe that teachers actually get more money if their students score higher on such a poorly created test. This definitely should not be the case. It is plain obvious that these types of work incentives are prone to quickly become unethical and corrupt in due time.

Overall, I learn quite a lot from reading this article. Never before have I pondered on how the SAT essay was graded. I hope that in the near future, the SAT essay will be revamped into a more positive piece of work.