Need essay topic for anthropology of science and technology course. any ideas?

Question

i have my term paper due next week but i dont know what to write it about! To give you guys an idea of the kind of topic im looking for, we have gone over issues in organ transplantation, cyborgs, etc. I want a unique topic that also has plenty of relevant literature that i can use. Another example is some guy in my class is doing a paper about ethics in using mind enhancing drugs. Ideas would be appreciated!

Answer 1

In terms of writing an essay you want to really narrow down your question... a topic that has always interested me is how the internet and computers have changed social relations through e-mail communication, people who will never meet in rl communicating from opposite sides of the globe simultaneously in chat rooms, the imagined sense of community (like on this message board) when all individuals are doing is sitting in front of a faceless computer monitor etc..... there should be loads online on this topic too.. the anthropology of cyberspace etc...

You could also look at the impact of genetics on society.. how those affluent enough can get their genome mapped and hence combat potential illness, creating an even wider gap between rich and poor etc.... there is the possibility in the future of there being discrimination based on genome type much like employers today use psychological testing etc.. like the earlier contributor mentioned Gattaca.. which is an excellent movie.

Good luck

Answer 2

How bout genetic enhancements?  Have you seen a movie called Gattaca?  Excellent future study on a society that engineers it's citizens and looks down on people who are 'god born' or just created by of s*x as inferior instead of perfected and implanted.  Ethics, implications, social impacts, discrimination, cultural acceptance of genetic manipulation as the norm and not the exception.

You should be able to find plenty of websites and books for both sides of the argument out there.

Answer 3

Anything to do with DNA Is relevant. The argument matching Chimps and humans has just been turned up a notch as DNA research is being fine tuned. We stand >95% similar in DNA. I heard something pretty contraversal, about chimps having an extra chromosome and people will downs syndrome having a missing one. Maybe you could discuss ethics regarding the matter of manipulating DNA?. ANd then theres all that work to do with embryos.

Im not sure if this can be included but you can talk about birth control as a means of easing the pressure of starvation in 3rd world countries? Or young girls being given birth control no questions asked in remote communties, some as young as 12. Abortions a huge one but its been done before.