Viruses which can replace a part of the DNA with their own.
Erica: Some of the examples from the past include, the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant which releases large amounts of radioactive contamination affecting almost all of Europe. Everyone is affected, both animals and humans alike.
Jacqueline: Examples from the novel include Sophie Wender, Gordon Storm and other deviations. Sophie wender, a young girl, was discriminated for being mutated because of the presence of an extra toe on each foot. Gordon Storm, has elongated limbs which had made him look like a half-spider and lastly, other deviations which has flaws physically such as the presence of an extra leg or the absence of a tail.
Alicia: Moving on to eugenics and evolution. What is eugenics? Eugenics is the study of methods to improve the mental and physical abilities to the human race by choosing their parents. On the other hand, evolution refers to the scientific idea that plants and animals develop and change gradually over a long period of time.
Akshaya: Why do people practise eugenics? It is for the development of the society, improvement of human hereditary traits and promoting the breeding of species with the desirable traits and characteristics. So how is eugenics practised? Reproduction by flawed people was discouraged and reproduction by people presumed to have inheritable desirable traits was encouraged.
RJ: Example from the past was the practice of eugenics after the Civil War where eugenicists strived to create an America free from genetic defects. Some of these undesirable traits are poverty and alcoholism. Thus, a sterilization law and a marriage law were introduced. Hitler, was another example. He, himself, is a big supporter of Eugenics and thus, “useless” people were killed and forced sterilization was introduced.
Subiksha: Examples from the novel include the examination of newborn babies by the inspector to eliminate the imperfect beings and the great horses which are created to increase the society’s profit.
Erica: Why is evolution practised? It is so because people believed in survival of the fittest. How is it practiced? Over the years, the being's of a specific species that are considered to be the “fittest” will live to reproduce and pass their genes on to the next generation thus, these survivors would have the desirable traits. After millions of years, most of the creatures of this species would have gained these traits thus, the species as a whole would have evolved.
Alicia: Examples from the past include the evolution of humans from apes. However, it has not been proven to be true and is just considered as a theory.
Examples from the novel include the evolution in telepathy where uncle Axel told David that his ability was an evolution from normal people.
Jacqueline: What is telepathy? It is a way of communicating in thoughts sent by one person to another. Groups of people, speculated the use of telepathy in the future as a form of communication.
Akshaya: Why do people want to learn telepathy? It is so because, people can reduce the chances of miscommunications and conflict as people cannot lie through it and their feelings are wide open. Also, it is convenient, cost free as many people can communicate with each other at the same moment through a distance and with no language barrier.
Jacqueline: How is telepathy practiced? Although this method has proved only to be 63% effective, the most important aspect of telepathy is concentration, calmness and determination. The process and important notes such as the need to belief in the concept of telepathy can be seen in the slide.
Subiksha: Although telepathy has been studied for many years, many speculations are still theories without enough proof or scientific reasoning.Some examples from history are the experimental findings such as the sudden thought or uneasy feeling a person gets when their loved one is in danger. A person’s emotional state and their conscious level, can also affect how easily someone is able to use telepathy.
Deborah: Some of the theories over the ages is a theory by a greek philosopher, Democritus, a belief by a British chemist and physicist William Crookes, a theory by the soviet scientist L.L. Vasilies and most recently a belief by an American psychologist, Lawrence LeShan.
Examples from the novel include David and the other few people who can talk through their minds.
Everyone: thank you ☺ we hope that you enjoy our presentation. ☺
