michelle's blog

I’m watching a show about the 750 pound man.  I have mixed feelings.  My dad has been classified as morbidly obese, he is over 300 pounds.  I have never seen him as being very large though.  When I see cases like this I feel very sad for the individual.  Here is a man that had led a normal life but has kept putting on weight.   Read More »

When I signed up with progressiveu I never thought about all of the postings that would include religion. It has been really helpful to read the blogs and comments that discuss different reasons for believing.  As I have said, I have been through difficult times trying to understand all of the different ideas.  It is really hard to sort out views, figure out what you believe and think about how family will react.  Anyway, just thought I would comment on how I am glad we can post about these kinds of issues in a thoughtful and respectful manner.   Read More »

American Priority and Responsibility

            According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the average person living in a first world country can spend $114 daily, whereas one in a third world country can barely spend a single dollar.  Of the six billion people who populate the world; half of them live in poverty (World Factbook). With the amount of money and resources that
America has, do Americans have a responsibility to assist those in third world countries?  Read More »

Today in Bioethics.... Hypothesis are can always be disproved.
Much like the greeks of their day believed that the earth was made completely of air or water or fire... James wants us to find new ways to think about things.  He tells us that we don't have to completely seperate the mind and body. Forget gravity for a moment.  The Earth Sucks Theory. Some force lays within the dirt. some force beneath us that pulls us toward the Earth.  All of us are pulled in. The moon and all, just sucked in.  Read More »

With all of the blogs surrounding religion I thought I would add my own.  However, this one surrounds YOU and how and when YOU decided to follow a certain faith or philosophy.  How did it happen?

For me it happened gradually. I grew up in a Christian home, my grandparents were ministers and I attended church regularily.  I am a naturally curious person, and I didn't understand too well that the things I did were "sinful".  I would do things that the church/god/bible said were sinful, feel incredibly guilty and repent. I would say that I wouldn't ever go back to whatever I had done.  I was obsessed with my actions and the thought that I had let down God. This way of life was really stressful and unhealthy for me personally.  I am in college now and have learned so much about people and all of the different faiths. Unfortunately, I hadn't heard of philosophies and ways of thinking that included morals that didn't revolve around god until my bioethics course this year.  Now, I am not saying that idealogies and faiths that include God are harmful, I just believe that for me learning about Utilitarianism, Kant, and Aristotlean beliefs have really opened my eyes and have made me view issues in a whole new light.  It has also made me look at various religions with a new perspective.  I am agnostic now.  I have a hard time on deciding on what faith is "the way", there seems to be so many ways and I don't know how one can find the true way. I'll admit that sometimes I wish I truly believed in god, many people who do seem happy and secure.  However, I can't continue to follow a religion that I do not truly believe and feel satisfied within.  I'm a whole lot happier now and feel that I am actually a better person now that I am not living with constant guilt.  I think that living without an outside influence has also made me more accepting to other people and ideas.   Read More »

I go to the University of Idaho and it is really known for its parties and alcohol use.  Here, Wednesday,Friday,Saturday nights are big nights to go out.  Everything revolves around drinking.  There are so many fraternities and sororities that I can't count them all. I was wondering what other schools are like this. 

I just read a really great blog about how there are many students that do not really take the time to help out others or give a second thought to what is happening around them.  This led me to think about two major things that have been bugging me.  ipods and the most popular interaction among students.

First,  just about everyone on campus that walks past me has headphones on.  This is fine, I do this too but I wonder if anyone else ever feels that ipods have interfered with human interaction.  Say someone yells at you from across the street to get your attention. Will you hear them? Probably not.  If you don't feel like being social, fine, it is okay because you are busy listening to music.  Maybe if I am having a bad day I will just put on my headphones sans ipod.  What an easy way to evade an individual.   Read More »

I would appreciate student feedback regarding this bioethics essay, what do you think the main issue is? How would you respond?

            The advances of DNA sequencing and mapping will provide those in the scientific community with the tools to understand disease in humans better.  This advancement relates to the lecture explaining that hypothesis cannot be proven, only disproved. Currently, scientists believe that finding variations in human genotypes will further treatment for a variety of diseases. Many new advances will occur as the human genome is studied and the ethical implications must be assessed.  Read More »