I’ve been travelling recently and decided, as a good internet addict, to explore other sources of information in the web.
Browsing in digg’s top news I came upon this interesting article published in Arstechnica.com by the John Timmer.
Thought provoking to say the least:
Insurance based on genetics: a questionable proposition
by John Timmer
Last week, the US Senate passed a bill that would bar employers and insurance providers from considering the results of a person’s genetic tests when making hiring or coverage decisions. The House has passed a similar bill and the Bush administration has indicated it would sign legislation of this sort. In the wake of the bill’s passage, however, a number of people have questioned why it shouldn’t be an employer’s or insurer’s right to make decisions based on genetics. As a matter of policy, these questions were answered a decade ago, and the intervening progress in human genetics has only reinforced some of the reasoning of the initial decision.
(…)
There are a whole host of reasons to be leery of decisions based on genetic factors, including the fact that some factors are more prevalent within some ethnic groups, raising the specter that genetics may serve as a rationale for some forms of racism. But the most powerful argument is that any genetic policies will be extremely difficult to do well and, even if done properly, could still get things wrong. Combine that with the potential for genetic-based decision making to inhibit the use of our new-found knowledge, and there is a potential for harm that could arise from policies such as the ones that may soon be outlawed.
To read the whole article please go here.
Monthly Archive for April, 2008Page 2 of 10
San Francisco, United States
I walk through a park with my American editor, John Loudon, and his wife, Sharon. We can see the city of San Francisco in the distance, illuminated by the setting sun. Sharon wrote a book about a Benedictine monastery, and tells us that the afternoon prayers, called vespers, are songs of faith in the certainty that the night will pass.
- The vespers indicate the necessity we have to be near others at nightfall - she says. - But our society has forgotten the importance of this nearness, and pretends to greatly prize each person’s ability to deal with his own difficulties. We no longer pray together; we hide our solitude as if we were afraid to admit it exists.
Sharon pauses, before adding:
- I was like that once. Until one day I lost my fear of depending on my neighbor, because I discovered that he too needed me.
Limoges, France
A apprentice in occultism I know, hoping to impress his master, read some handbooks about magic and decided to buy the material indicated in its pages.
With great difficulty, he managed to find a certain type of incense, a few talismans, a wooden structure with sacred letters written in a certain order. Upon seeing this, the master said:
- Do you think that by rolling some computer wires around your neck, you will acquire all the machine’s knowledge? Do you believe that, by purchasing sophisticated hats and clothes, you will also acquire the good taste and sophistication of those who made them? Learn to use objects as allies, not as guides.
Kawaguchiko, Japan
I met the painter Miie Tamaki during a seminar about Feminine Energy. I asked about her religion.
- I no longer have a religion - she replied.
Noting my surprise, she explained:
- I was educated as a Buddhist. The monks taught me that the spiritual path is a constant renunciation: we must overcome our envy, our hatred, all anxieties of faith, our desires.
“I managed to free myself of all of that, until one day my heart became empty: the sins had left, and taken my human nature along with them.
“To begin with I was pleased, but I noticed that I no longer shared the joys and passions of those around me. That was when I abandoned religion: today I have my conflicts, my moments of anger and despair, but I know that I am once again close to mankind - and consequently close to God”.
Lourdes, France
When I was on the road to Rome, one of the four sacred ways of my magic tradition, I realized - after nearly twenty days of being practically alone - that I was far worse than when I set out. With the solitude, I began to have niggardly, bitter, ignoble feelings.
I sought out my guide, and told her. I said that, at the outset of the pilgrimage, I thought I would come closer to God: however, after three weeks, I was feeling much worse.
- You are better, do not worry - she said. - In fact, when we light up our inner light, the first things we see are the cobwebs and dust, our weak points. They were there all the time, only you saw nothing in the darkness. Now it will be easier to cleanse your soul.
One of your female characters in the novel “The devil and Miss Prym” says that hell for God is his love towards people. Can you explain this?
The character is quoting Nietzsche. In fact, I would not put the central question of this book into this optimistic/pessimistic views. A person must face reality as it is, and then try to work on this reality, creating a better opportunity for his life to develop. There is only one rule: dare. Dare to pay the price. Dare to be different. Dare to face the prejudices. Dare to go where your dreams lead you, and you will find the forces – and the guidance – throughout the journey.
By Paulo Coelho
It is necessary to run risks,
We only properly understand the miracle of life
when we allow the unexpected to happen.
(By the River Piedra I sat dowm and Wept)
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Today, I came upon this interview in The New York Times with Dr. Gilbert, author of “Stumbling on Happiness”. This particular part of the interview caught my eye :
Professor Happiness: The interview
by Claudia Dreifus The New York Times
(…)
Q. DO MOST OF US HARBOR UNREASONABLE NOTIONS OF WHAT HAPPINESS IS?
A. Inaccurate, flawed ideas. Few of us can accurately gauge how we will feel tomorrow or next week. That’s why when you go to the supermarket on an empty stomach, you’ll buy too much, and if you shop after a big meal, you’ll buy too little.
Another factor that makes it difficult to forecast our future happiness is that most of us are rationalizers. We expect to feel devastated if our spouse leaves us or if we get passed over for a big promotion at work.
But when things like that do happen, it’s soon, “She never was right for me,” or “I actually need more free time for my family.” People have remarkable talent for finding ways to soften the impact of negative events. Thus they mistakenly expect such blows to be much more devastating than they turn out to be.
Q. SO, IF WE DIDN’T HAVE THESE MECHANISMS, WOULD WE BE TOO DEPRESSED TO GO ON?
A. There may be something to that. People who are clinically depressed often seem to lack the ability to reframe events. That suggests that if the rest of us didn’t have this, we might be depressed as well.
(…)
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/23/healthscience/22conv.php
In your novels, events and backgrounds are “historical – mythical – cultural …” and related to far removed from Latin American reality. Did you try to escape the dominance of fantastic realism?
In my work, I try to see the world with the eyes of a Brazilian, but I do not create limits for my imagination. Therefore, as the human conflicts take place in human hearts – regardless the cultural background – I write about them, but free in time and space.
In the Lucifer Effect- a book by Philip Zimbardo - tells of an experiment conducted in the sixties in Standford University. Students were chosen to carry out an experiment in the basement of the university. A prison was recreated and by the flip of a coin 7 students were held hostage while the other 7 students were the prison guards. The guards had absolute power over the victims (except for physical violence) and the experiment was meant to last 2 weeks. Yet, at the end of the 6th day the experiment had to be ceased - victims having nervous breakdowns. The guards, that unleashed their evil, had to go under therapy for years to come. My question then is: is Man, when given absolute power, evil?
You can watch the video here
By Paulo Coelho
A threat need not provoke a response
if it is not taken up.
(The Pilgrimage)
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