Today we're looking at.... ANOTHER problem! That has to do with being inhumane or not! Sort of. This time, we’re going to talk a little bit about artificial selection! How fun! So basically in artificial selection, you pick out the traits and characteristics of a plant or animal. Not as in a catalogue like you’re shopping, but it is the selective breeding of organisms for a desired trait. So say you wanted a dog that didn’t shed as much, you’d cross breed two dogs that don’t shed that much and voila, a dog that doesn’t shed as much! Though it may never come out as planned, there would be a higher possibility than if you were just randomly going to breed two random dogs and just hope for one that didn’t shed as much.

It’s kind of ridiculous how we’re doing these things. Like, it’s good that we’re finding new scientific discoveries every day, but think about it. The more that we know the more complicated things get and the more questions we have. Think 50 years back, around when our parents were born, things were so much different! Everything was much more simple and not as complicated as today. I know as we move forward, so should the things we do. But really, some things are unnecessary for everyday life.

I know that it can be a lot easier, but for every action there is a reaction. There are a lot of things in our life that we go to the extremities for. Say, watching tv. We watch it, your friends watch it, your parents watch it, maybe even your dogs watch it. Watching a little bit of television is okay, it relieves yourself of stress, but some people (like me) like to watch it SOOOO much that it sometimes feel like it’s a chore! See, that’s too much, and we know it, but we don’t really care for it. Everything starts out as a very small thing, just looking for a little relief or to help out a little, but then it turns into something so big, we have to question it. For instance, farmers started making their crops disease resistant by genetically modifying their plants. They were thinking of their families, people they had to feed, and if their crops somehow became disease infested, what would happen to their income? They would get nil, zilch, nada. So I can understand that. Then there are natural selections for dogs? Like…. Wow, do you really care that your dog is a pure bred? If you want a dog, you shouldn’t need to search for a pure bred just because they would be good at certain things or have certain characteristics. You should love them for who they are!

Everything in our lives are all tweaked. Maybe in a little way, or a huge way. Our food is not organic, unless you’re SEPCIFICALLY buying organic things. But honestly…. We shouldn’t have the choice of organic or inorganic. Our groceries should be all organic, because it’s a healthier choice. The thing is, though, is that not many people knew there was such a difference between organic and inorganic. Take me for instance, OF COURSE I knew there were two different types, but I never really realized that we were eating inorganic foods from the stores and I didn’t know that there could be something even healthier than vegetables from the grocery store, it’s ORGANIC vegetables.

We’re making things easier for us, sure. Featherless chickens? Sure, no problem… NOT! Seriously. We’re always looking at a perspective, OUR perspective. How is this going to benefit us, how is this going to affect us? Well, let’s look at those featherless chickens. Just so we don’t have to go through the nuisance of plucking them, their nakedness makes them more vulnerable to sunburn, such parasites and mosquitoes. The roosters are unable to mate because they can’t flap their wings as the mating ritual. And as people say, if it’s not broken then don’t try to fix it. We need to learn that sometimes the harder way is worth it and that the harder way could be easier. You might end up with something mutated from artificial selection, so just stop and make things normal.

Sources:
http://www.answers.com/topic/artificial-selection
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evosite/evo101/IIIE4Evochange.shtml
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_advantages_and_disadvantages_of_artificial_selection

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Tammy Nguyen
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