Reflection Assignment (respond to all questions/prompts)

What was the ethical issue you wrote about for your signature assignment? Why did you choose
this ethical issue? What did you know about the issue before doing any research? How did your
research (including the evaluation of the viewpoints, evidence, and logical fallacies) impact your
thinking?
The ethical issue I wrote about was genetic testing and I chose the topic because we had a
video on it during class one day and I immediately took an interest in what genetic testing was. I
was interested because before the video I had no ideas such science was even around. The idea
in the class video that got me so intrigued about genetic testing was that one day it would be
possible to genetically change the DNA of a living embryo. As I did research I realized that this
is a fallacy on the topic, at least for now because we dont yet have enough knowledge on how to
change DNA into what we want.
There are two viewpoints for this topic, one being that genetic testing and research on the
topic should not be legal because it would be inhumane to change the DNA of an embryo. The
second viewpoint being that it should be legal because the research could lead to curing illnesses
like tay-sachs, sickle-cell disease and cancer. Before doing research I was leaning towards
viewpoint one that states it should be illegal, but as I did more research I realized that the
viewpoint was very close minded. I believe that changing the DNA is ethically wrong, for a few
reason. One having to do with my beliefs and that humans should not be capable of controlling
human life. Two being that people would use the science for all the wrong reasons we would
create a society based on perfection. I had those beliefs before and after doing my research, but
the idea of using the information to cure illnesses slightly changed my perspective. My
perspective changed when I was introduced to the idea of only genetically testing after birth.
This would prevent the problem of altering an embryos DNA, but would help doctors prevent
illnesses in that a patient might have in their near future.

How might you apply the critical thinking and communicating about ethical issues skills in other
learning contexts (e.g. other courses, home, work, elections, Thanksgiving dinner, etc.)? Offer
and explain at least three specific examples of where and how you used or might use the critical
thinking and communicating skills (one example should be from this course).
This assignment taught me that assumption cant be made before knowing the whole
story or doing any personal research. Specifically with ethical issues it is very easy to instantly
pick a side based on: who else is picking that side, the religion you practice, where you got the
information and any source that might give misconceptions on issue. Before doing research I
made assumptions that led me to making false statement, it wasnt till I did my research that I
realized I was wrong and it completely changed my perspective on the topic. An example of
how it used the skills in this class were when I chose to do my signature assignment on genetic

testing. We spent a day or two talking about the topic in class, but we just covered the surface so
I chose the topic to answer the unanswered questions I had. Those questions led me to changing
my perspective on making assumptions on ethical issues I know little about.
During thanksgiving dinner I will be seated on one table with many family members and
I am sure that at least one ethical issue conversation will come up. Usually I would be quick to
give an opinion even if I dont know much about the topic, but now I plan on asking questions
and learning more about both sides of the topic before I make false statements. This will prevent
me from claiming to be on a side that I might not be on if I know the whole story.
An example of how I applied this to another class happened this semester in my English
1010 class. We were to choose a position on a controversial issue and write an essay on it. I
chose ISIS and the issue was whether the U.S. should get involved with the war or not. Before
doing research I was completely against the war, but after I realized that the U.S. was partly to
blame for the war and that if we dont stop ISIS now they will become a bigger threat. I
completely changed from being against war to being for taking ISIS down ourselves.

Hmm Moment: What content are you still perplexed about and why? Explain how you will
apply the skills used in the essay (e.g. research skills, writing skills, etc.) to grapple with this
content?
In my topic I had to decide between choosing the position that I found ethically correct
and the one that could possibly save living lives. I did a lot of thinking on this because I wasnt
sure what I believed anymore. Whether it was better to look at it as a good thing because it
could save lives or whether I should look at the aspect of how it could later damage society.
After nights of thinking about what I thought was ethically correct I came to the conclusion that
just because something might have good immediate outcomes it doesnt mean they will always
be good. Taking time to think about what I actually believe and not what others want me to
believe helped me take a different perspective and come up with my new viewpoint. To come up
with my personal viewpoint I first had to find reliable sources and do good research in order to
make false statements. To do so I learned to use scholarly databases like ebscohost, sirs, and
proquest.

AHA Moment: What specific AHA moment have you had in this course about human evolution
(broadly defined)? (This does not have to be the same as your Hmmmm moment).
One of my AHA moments happened when I learned about natural selection. I was very
confused to how evolution was possible and how it worked, but when I read the chapter on
natural selection everything came into perspective. The rule that impacted me most was the one

that states natural selection can act only on traits that affect reproduction. I looked at evolution
as a mysterious change that occurred when living being needed to adapt to new environments,
but this specific rule helped me realize that there was much more behind it. For example that
evolution cant occur without variation within a population and that fitness acts as a major
contribution to reproduction success. This AHA moment I had is one I will never forget because
evolution is a topic that now interests me and that is due to the new understanding I have on it.