Enhanced Heroism

Kern, Douglas. "Our Asterisked Heroes." The New Atlantis: A Journal of Technology and Society. A New Atlantis, June 2004. Web. 23 January 2010.

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Has improved technology and genetic engineering experiments enhanced the world of sports, or completely eliminated the humanistic element of heroism that was key in its origin? In his feature article entitled “Our asterisked heroes,” Douglas Kern analyzes and discusses this preeminent question. Throughout the intriguing article, Kern explains the disturbing roles in which performance enhancing drugs and the twenty-first century’s cornucopia of medicine play on sports. According to the author, baseball’s pastime was solely based on individual talent and hard work and the success that was achieved from it. Instead of hard work, he states that today’s athletes and future athletes have the convenient option of using performance enhancing drugs and other medical practices to reach greatness. However, should modern-day greatness truly be compared with that of the legends? Should today’s achievements and ground-breaking records really be included with those of the all time legends? According to Kern, every athlete that took supplements at some point in their career should have an asterisk by any record that he/she breaks. By using the asterisk, every devoted fan can clearly see where these twenty first century imposters rank amongst the natural born greats. True heroism can easily be viewed by this technique and the legends can earn the respect they truly deserve.

After analyzing the article and dwelling on the topic, Douglas Kern’s overall purpose, message, and values are easily perceptible. The author is a clearly a devoted sports fan that enjoys viewing and commending feats of human excellence. He gives credit where credit is due and doesn’t mind discussing where it is not due. The author’s purpose and point of view are unquestionably important seeing that he is considering both the sport’s world and the entire world in his discussion. If today’s “heroes” significantly overpass yesterday’s greats, then they will simply be forgotten about and thrown under the bus. If in the near future a supplemented athlete hits two hundred homeruns in a single season, or someone uses the numerous twenty first century technology to develop the world’s fastest computer, no one will ever stop and wonder who did it first. Kern’s effective writing skills, detailed examples, and intriguing sub-titles assists in conveying the message to the reader to question where true heroism lies. True heroism is found in the greats of our pastime that achieved greatness first and based on the talent they were born with, and they deserve the respect they rightfully earned.

Modern-day Mindset: The Path to Destruction

Berry, Wendell. “Faustian Economics: Hell Hath No Limits.” Harper’s Magazine. The Harper's Magazine Foundation, May 2008. Web. 31 Dec. 2009.

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In May of 2008, Wendell Berry published his feature article entitled, “Faustian Economics: Hell Hath No Limits” in Harper's Magazine. Throughout the controversial, yet influential article, Berry disproves the fallacy that the sky is the limit. He states that the majority of today’s society lives in a limitless, indestructible, and delusional world. According to Berry, the Industrial Revolution instituted the outlook that all of the world’s problems will be answered by advanced technology, scientific breakthroughs, and improved knowledge. However influential this time period may have been, he believes that this mindset should be completely eliminated from today’s society. His primary example used in the article is the case of the declining natural resources available for us to live off of. The limitless selfishness is clearly portrayed in this manner, because we continue to use up the resources at a steady pace. Instead of slowing down the use, we put our fate in technology’s hands to discover a new source of energy. Berry relates the current economic struggles to Christopher Marlowe’s play entitled Tragical History of Doctor Faustus. He relates society’s limitless mentality to the play’s primary theme of a limitless hell. If we continue to live selfishly and not consider the future the world that we call home will eventually become hell.

After reading and analyzing the article, the author’s point of view, purpose, and values are clearly evident. Berry is passionately worried about the future of man-kind and dedicated to making it very clear that society needs a dramatic change. His point of view is undoubtedly important seeing that he is considering the overall well-being of all of humanity. In order to illustrate his seriousness about the matter, he speaks in first person plural throughout the essay. This emphasizes that everyone is a part of the problem and everyone is affected by it. Berry’s effective use of detailed examples and word repetition challenges even the most defiantly opinionated person to analyze the manner in which they are living. He challenges the reader to consider whether or not they are truly one of the selfish individuals he speaks of. If so, he attempts to get them to see that the world does have limits and boundaries should be set. By the conclusion of the article, Berry hopes to have influenced the reader to see the change, make the change, and spread the change that is necessary for the survival of both us as individuals and us as a whole.

A Little Insight

Sergey Brin, the creator of Google, said, “As we go forward, I hope we’re going to continue to use technology to make really big differences in how people live and work.” Over the past century, nearly every aspect of life has been positively affected by advanced technology and new inventions. Correspondingly, the culture and overall way of life has greatly benefited from these innovations. Along with the majority of society, I am extremely grateful for the numerous advances, and I am incredibly interested in the progress and the future. There are various topics in which I am interested, ranging from the sports world to the diverse world of medicine. Over the past few decades, every major league sport has been bombarded by the use of technology and changed the manner in which each game is played. Whether it is a negative or positive effect, each sport has altered nearly every aspect of the game due to this substantial technological progress. Seeing that health is one of the primary issues of the modern world, I am also interested in the updated vaccines, cures, and medicines that are continually being discovered. The aspect of innovation that intrigues me the most is the junction at which sports, technology, and medicine intertwine.

Since my plan is to major in exercise science and to later become a physical therapist, I enjoy researching and reporting technological issues in this genre and plan to design my blog around these ideals. I have been involved in sports my entire life and my most predominant hobby is watching and researching athletic activities. Over the years, I have witnessed first-hand the takeover of technology in sports and I am extremely excited about researching the matter in more detail. Advanced technology plays a vital role in modern day sports and has both positive and negative effects on the game. Every sport, besides baseball, now incorporates a high definition instant replay system that takes the responsibility of getting nearly every call correct. Also, athletes have become so fascinated with technology that taking steroids and growth supplements have become the normal way of reaching a higher level of success. However, does technology such as instant replay and supplements truly assist the manner in which sports are plays, or does it completely eliminate the humanistic element that sports were originally designed around? Another aspect of advanced technology that intrigues me is the intersection of sports and medicine. I am truly excited about researching and reporting concussions, broken bones, torn ligaments, and other major injuries, as well as the advanced manner of treating the injuries.