Please Appreciate

     People in first world countries have it extremely easy compared to the rest of the world, especially when compared to third world countries. People in first world countries complain about the dumbest things when compared to the problems of less fortunate people. The worst part is many people in first world problems actually think that their problems are equivalent to those of third world countries. This isn't to say that people from first world countries have no problems, its just that their problems are not that big of a deal.
     First world problems:

• Not liking a certain food.
• Not having trending clothes.
• Not having the newest iPhone or Galaxy phone.
• Not getting enough sleep.
• Having to much homework.
• Having parents that seem overprotective.
• Not having a snack at the exact moment that one is hungry.
• Not having hot water for a shower one or two times.
• Not being able to fast forward passed commercials cause the show isn't a recording. 
• Not being able to find the car in a crowded parking lot.

     Third world problems:

• Having to eat foods regardless of taste.
• Not having a single good, clean pair of clothes.
• Not having a phone at all.
• Not knowing where one is going to sleep tonight.
• Not having an education.
• Not having parents at all, and if there are parents the parents can't feed or protect their children all the time.
• Trying to find food after not eating anything all day.
• Not being able to take a shower a majority of the time, with hot water being out of the question.
• Not having a television at all.
• Not being able to even afford a bike.

     This  post is not meant to be depressing, it is meant to get people who are reading this to think. Most likely everyone, or almost everyone, who reads this post is in a first world or second world country. The problems that are mentioned in this post are slightly extreme because not everyone in a third world country is starving, without clothes, without an education, etc. On the other hand, these examples are problems that many unfortunate people in third world countries have to deal with on a daily bases. This isn't saying that no one in first world countries has problems like the ones listed above, but they are more common in the third world countries. However, these examples were meant to make the audience appreciate everything that they have, because no matter how difficult your life may seem, someone out there has a harder life than you. Always remember that.

A World Without Writing

          In today's society, people write things everywhere and about almost everything. People write books on paper and on the computer, people write notes on index cards and post-its, and people write on buildings when they want to express themselves. However, a world without writing would be a completely different world. We would lack technology, we would have a lot less music, we would have nearly no stories relative to what we have today, and we would have to remember things a lot more. Keep in mind that writing does not include all kinds of communication or passing on ideas, oral tradition would still be practiced.
          Without writing, people would not be able to write down ideas and these ideas would be soon forgotten. With the ideas forgotten many great inventions would not have been created, or would have taken many more centuries to create. This delay in technology would have increased exponentially with the time between each invention being greater than the last. In fact, many inventions would not have been important without writing, like paper, pencils, pens, erasers, and many other school supply items.
          Without writing, we would have nearly no music, and if we did, it would have very few if any words. In order to memorize songs without writing is almost impossible when compared to memorizing it by reading it over and over again. The same goes for stories and poems. Oral traditions would successfully pass down certain stories and songs, but very few people would take the time to memorize them, and eventually they would be forgotten. So nearly all of the books and songs we listen to today would never existed. Also, books and songs that were created would have needed to have some significance or else people would not take the time to memorize them for very long.
          Lastly, everything that we know today would have needed to be memorized by those before us. All of the mathematical equations, the scientific breakthroughs, the historical discoveries, and everything else, people would have needed to memorize. There would be no Quizlet, no Google, no Blogger, and no books. School would be harder for students, if there was school, and the teachers would have to memorize so much information and devote so much of their life to memorizing so many things that there would be nearly no teachers to teach the students.
          All in all, our life today would be worse without writing. There are nearly no benefits for humans to not having writing. Without writing, our culture would be totally different, it would lack thousands of things we take for granted today. Without writing students would have to actually study for tests and exams, there would be nearly no tests, and there would be a lack of teachers in the school system. However, after all of this, there is one benefit that I can think of to not have writing, but it doesn't benefit humans directly. The benefit is the earth would be healthier, we would have no cars, no man made toxins, a lot less trash, and a lot less waste in general. All in all, the world would be a better place without writing, just not for humans.

The Northern White Rhino can be Saved

          One of the last surviving northern white rhinos died last month which leaves the entire species at a population of five. However, with the help of modern technology, we may be able to bring this species back to its former glory. Scientists have been experimenting on a potential way of cloning an animal, or come close to cloning, by reprogramming skin cells of the surviving rhinos to function as a sperm and an egg cell and then put in a host until it is ready to be born.
          There are five northern white rhinos left on the planet all of which are scattered across the globe, one being in San Diego, another being in the Czech Republic, and the last three being in Kenya. Sadly, they are impossible to reproduce because the only surviving male of the species is 43 years old, and since they only live to be 40 to 50 years old he is far to old to reproduce. On the other hand, cloning is a recent option that may be able to save this species, but since it is still in development, it may be unsuccessful as well. The process is quite simple in theory, but much more complex in the lab.

1. Isolate skin cells from a northern white rhino.
2.  Add special genes to this isolated skin cell to reprogram the cells.
3.  After a few weeks, pluripotent stem cells will form.
4. These stem cells can then be changed into sperm.
5. The sperm is then  fertilizes a harvested egg or to an egg that was created by using the same process that was used to create the sperm.
6. Lastly, the egg that has been fertilized turns into an embryo if all the following steps work properly. It would then be implanted into another rhinoceros of a different, but related species, preferably the southern white rhino.

          Another option is a frozen zoo, which is something the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research is in the process of making. The frozen zoo, or what has been built so far, is made up of a bank of genetic material of thousands of animals that can be used to later save a species. The plan is to artificially inseminate one of the surviving females of the species, which is possible because two females are still young enough to give birth at ages 25 and 14. Then we just wait for the magic to happen and about 2 to 2.5 years later a new northern white rhino will be born into this world. However, if we wait to long and the 2 remaining females die or get to old, then this method will become obsolete for this certain situation.
          Modern technology is at the point where we can now artificially save endangered species, or at least close to being able to save endangered species. There are two possible methods of doing this as well, so if one doesn't work there is a plan B. One of the methods is a frozen zoo, which is most likely the plan A because it is simpler but must be done soon or else it will be ineffective. The other is cloning, which is probably the plan B because it is a lot more complex and will take longer to develop that a frozen zoo. This new technology could potentially save thousands of species, which makes it that much more remarkable as well as that much more important to develop.

New Year's Resolutions are Annoying

          New year's resolutions are annoying and pointless because so few people follow through with them. This may be a bit dramatic, but it is true, very few people follow through with their new year's resolutions which makes the idea of them to be quite pointless. For example, my resolution was to read for my AP World History class, and I didn't even last a day. However if people were to pull through with their resolutions more, I would not be making this point right now.
          People start the new year by promising to themselves that they will be a better person to others, to themselves, to the earth, and just a better person in general. However, this is hypocritical because if people want to be a better person, honesty is an important characteristic. However, if people can't be honest to themselves about staying true to their new years resolution, then they are no better than they were all of the previous years. It is not just being honest to themselves either, if they told friends and family about their new year's resolution, then their piers will comment when they see that you broke your new years resolution. This leads to the people who want to improve themselves feel even worse about themselves because they couldn't do the one thing that they promised to themselves that they would do, whether it be losing weight, getting a certain job, raising grades, etc.
          The most frustrating part is that what people try to improve is not that hard to achieve, so it is even more infuriating when they are unable to achieve their goal. According to the article "New Years Resolution Statistics" on the Statistic Brain website, the top ten resolutions for the passed few years have been: losing weight, getting organized, spending less and saving more, enjoying life to the fullest, staying fit, learning something exciting, quitting smoking, helping others, helping others achieve their dreams, falling in love, and spending more time with family. Only one or two of these are difficult to achieve, so why is it that eight percent of the people who making successfully achieve their resolution? In cases like quitting smoking, the task may be to difficult for someone to achieve, which is understandable, but goals like helping others or enjoying life are relatively easy to accomplish and usually fail due to laziness.
          People who make new year's resolutions need to do them or else the resolution itself is pointless. The majority of cases where people fail to achieve their goals are a result of laziness, rather than someones inability to do something. It is true some resolutions people have no control over, like finding love, but it is frustrating when people can't commit to staying organized, eating healthier, or even reading and taking better notes for an AP History class. Everyone is guilty for not completing a new years resolution at some point, which makes us all guilty, not just a select few. If someone makes a resolution it should probably be to be less lazy, because if you can't stop being lazy you will never achieve anything in life, whether it be a resolution or an ordinary challenge you come across in your everyday life.

Why Time Travel Should not be used in Movies

          Time travel is a concept that is nearly impossible if not entirely impossible to accurately depict in movies, and will most likely be impossible to achieve in real life. Movie time travel is depicted in a way where it looks interesting and it causes people to think, but it is filled with several plot holes, which can ruin a movie if you think to much about them. Similarly, future real life time travel will have similar problems to that of movie time travel theoretically, but we have no way of knowing for sure whether or not it will work in the future.
          In movies, time travel is usually portrayed poorly, which causes most time travel movies to be filled with plot holes. This does not mean that movies that portray time travel well have no plot holes, they just have less or try to explain the plot holes in the movie somehow. In time travel movies people go back in time to alter the future, and this is the start of the problem. First, the future can change drastically with one slight modification because one disturbance will grow exponentially worse as time passes. Secondly, changing the future makes no sense because if you go back in time to change something, nothing will happen. Nothing will happen because what you going back in time to modify has already happened, because its in the past and everything done in the past has led to the moment of you going back in time and alter the future, even you in the past trying to adjust the future. Lastly, time travel will never work because people will have needed to make the time machine without going back in time in the first place. Therefore, going back in time with a time machine and telling your past self how to make a time machine is impossible because of the same reason why changing the future in general is impossible. If you tell your past self how to build a time machine, it means it will have already happened, but this is impossible because the very first time machine you made came without the help of a future self, so it could not have already happened.
          There are a few theories that could explain time travel, but I only believe one of them to be true because it is somewhat logical and easy to explain and understand. One, if we do invent a time machine and go back in time, we will not be changing our own future, because it has already happened, we are actually creating a new timeline. This new time line is much like a fork in the road, the road is a single road for a long period of time, but at some point it splits and creates two roads which  grow increasingly distant from one another, never connecting again. The reason why simplicity plays a part in these theories is because if someone comes up with a unique theory with several complex components, that makes several more components that could potentially be false. On the other hand, the one I told you is simple and has few components with potential problems.
          Time travel in both movies and real life is a complicated topic with several problems. The problems of time travel are based on two possible theories. First, what you go back in the past to change has already happened. Second, if someone manages to adjust the past the outcome will cause the future to change exponentially and cause for a future so different that the person who altered the future would not recognize where he was once he went back to his time. There is only one theory for explaining time travel that is reasonable and that is, every time someone changes the past they create a new timeline. However, no one understands time travel fully and even the best theories have there problems. The only way to understand the impacts of time travel is to do it ourselves and learn through experience, and who knows, maybe someone born today will someday invent a time machine and explain to the world how time travel actually works.
   

Why Using Your Cell Phone is Like Calling Death

          Cell phones have evolved from blocks the size of bricks with limited capabilities, to flat screened mini computers that can do almost anything we want, from play games to make calls to even watching funny cat videos. As the cell phone's capabilities grew, so did its popularity and the danger. Cell phones have slowly become more and more dangerous to everyone, especially in two particular ways.
         
           Cell phones are distracting. They distract us while we walk and while we drive, and both of which are very important to pay attention to. According to the article "Cell Hell: 7 Ways Your Phone Can Hurt you" talking on a cell phone while driving diverts about 37 percent of a person's brain activity away from the road, which makes it much more likely to crash. However, despite this, 80 percent of drivers admit to talking on their cell phones while driving and 40 percent of drivers claim to have been hit or almost hit by people talking on their cell phones. Granted , not all of these resulted in serious injuries or death, but it was still a dangerous situation that could have easily resulted in something more severe if the circumstances were worse. Phones are also distracting when you cross the street, especially for children. In the same article as used for the last example, 77 children ages 10 to 11 were studied in a virtual reality setting on the effects of cell phone use and danger in crossing the street. According to the study, when asked to talk on their cell phones while crossing the virtual street, the children looked left and right 20 percent less, and the odds of getting hit or almost getting hit by a car increased by 43 percent.

          Cell phones are filthy, disgusting, and covered in all sorts of bacteria. According to the article "Why Your Cell Phone Has More Bacteria Than a Toilet Seat" phones have 10 times more bacteria than a toilet. This amount of bacteria is most dangerous when you do not think about it, which causes you to touch food, your drinks, and your face without even taking into consideration the amount of bacteria. This lack of knowledge because the causes of many illnesses, some of which may be fatal, or at the very least an annoyance. However, this danger can be relatively easily fixed. It is filled with bacteria because it is never cleaned, yet we do everything with it, much like a remote. Also, when you share your phone with other people it spreads new kinds of germs your body may not be accustomed to, which  further increases risk of becoming sick.

          With the amount people who use cell phones, it is relatively easy to say the large majority of people are put in danger by cell phones. They are disgusting when looked at at the microscopic level, and are an enormous a distraction. However,if cell phones are used at the appropriate times, are cleaned regularly, and are shared less, the amount of danger is significantly reduced. Remember, Death is always available to pick up his phone, but if you don't call him you will be fine.

Human beings are a Virus to the Earth

Human beings are a virus to the Earth. We humans share many different qualities with the virus and because of this we are slowly killing the Earth. This theory of humans being a virus, a disease, or a cancer to the planet originated mostly from the film The Matrix, which is by no means a factual or scientific source, but even so, makes a very interesting point on human society.

            The quote from The Matrix that makes this point is, “I’d like to share a revelation that I’ve had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species. I realized that you’re not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area, and you multiply, and multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern: a virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You are a plague, and we are the cure.” This is said by Agent Smith, a super-computer in a human shape.   

           

            This quote states three things about humans that are similar to that of a virus, we move around, we consume all of the natural resources of a particular place, and human’s population grows exponentially. This is similar to a virus because a virus moves from host to host, is slowly drains its host of its nutrients, and it grows exponentially.

           

            We pollute the planet, we take its resources, we kill other organisms on this planet more than any other organism, and we do it to every location we chose to inhabit. This never used to be a problem when our population wasn't large, nor when we didn't pollute the environment as much as we did. As our population increases the more pollution we produce and the more resources we consume.

           

            We are a virus to the Earth. We take as much as we want and never give back, we grow exponentially without any thought on how it will affect the environment, and we move from place to place slowly destroying the environment in all of these places. The only things that we can do to stop this is by conserving resources, polluting less, finding new and cleaner ways of producing energy.  Lastly, humans need to know that if we cause the earth to die, we will die with it, and there is no way around that. Our main difference with viruses is that humans have the abilities of choice and reason, which means we can chose to stop spreading and acting like a virus, whereas a viruses only purpose is to expand a consume.