People talk about cause and effect. I would rather talk about choices and consequences. To mi, saying cause and effect govern the chain of events in our lives is like talking in the third person. It would be like observing a scientific experiment. Human lives play out in far removed ways from scientific experiments or should I say in ways that are far more involved.
Say, I have friend who hates his job but cannot even dream of quitting because he needs the money to pay his EMIs. Or I could say; my friend chose to take a loan of 40 Lakhs and as a consequence he now pays massive EMIs which only seem to be getting more massive with each passing day, he hates his job but cannot get out of it for he chose to do this to himself.
For once let us get our hands dirty and say choices and consequences and take a little more responsibility for our lives. Maybe my friend wanted to start a family and he was unable to help the cause because his sperms were having some problems. Why? Because perhaps he has been using mobile phones for some time now and that has damaged his sperms. No am not joking, here are news articles that correlate mobile phone usage and declining sperm count / quality.
MOBILES CUT SPERM COUNT, SAYS REPORT
Men who carry mobile phones in their trouser pockets may be at risk of damaging their sperm count, according to research by Hungarian scientists.
Full details of the study will be formally presented at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology conference in Berlin tomorrow. Early reports of the Hungarian work attracted skepticism from other scientists who pointed to the contradictory results of other work on the subject.
CELL PHONES CAN AFFECT SPERM QUALITY, RESEARCHER SAYS
(CNN) -- Keeping a cell phone on talk mode in a pocket can decrease sperm quality, according to new research from the Cleveland Clinic.
"We believe that these devices are used because we consider them very safe, but it could cause harmful effects due to the proximity of the phones and the exposure that they are causing to the gonads," says lead researcher Ashok Agarwal, the Director of the Center for Reproductive Medicine.
An interesting note over here is that the first article was published from Berlin on Monday, June 28 2004. The second one is after four years from Cleveland on September 18, 2008.
In these four years we have seen in India and the world in general the exponential rise of mobile phone and other hand held electronic device usage. There are more studies of similar disturbing nature, like cell phones and cell phone towers causing brain tumors, heart problems, etc. The other day there was a front-page news article on Pune Mirror stating that cell phone towers are radiating way past healthy levels. The companies retorted saying blasphemy and since then there has been no coverage of this issue.
I am quite sure that even after knowing that cell phones can have adverse health benefits most people will consider it a birthright of every citizen of this world, even if it decreases the number of births. People will love to have a working cell phone in their pockets or strapped to their bicep or head or whichever particular part they feel they have no use for, because anyways very soon that part will be of no use.
What other adverse effects could cell phones be having on us beyond its physical limits of frying my sperms or brain cells? I know of loss of oxygen for one and biodiversity for two. Don’t get it? Heard of Coltan? I mentioned the ‘Web of Life’ earlier and will dedicate a post to it later but here is a glimpse of it.
COLTAN MINING IN THE CONGO RIVER BASIN
As your cell phone rings and you bring it up to your ear, a tiny mineral piece from Africa is making this call possible: coltan. This commodity, along with other mining products from the Congo River Basin, is contributing to forest loss and unrest in the region.
Largely untouched, but slowly gnawed away by a growing population and logging interests, the Congo River Basin forests form the second largest block of rainforest in the world after the Amazon.
As the world slowly heads towards a more polluted atmosphere and the vanishing act of another old forest, my poor friend unaware of these looming disasters in the world, perhaps too involved with his personal situation leads a very stressed out life. Eventually though since they wanted to have a child of their own they went for artificial methods.
All hail the Lord of Technology and Swami Swami, the blessings of both have given us a child. I had to force myself to maintain my composure. I wanted to ask was in not the Lord of Technology that fried your sperms?
Anyways for some time there was peace then a few days back I happened to go to their place for dinner. To my surprise there is a mound of plastic bottles and containers outside his door. I ask him dude what just happened here, you guys ok? My friend is very worried and tells mi about this.
PLASTICS INGREDIENT LINKED TO SMALLER PENISES
Exposure of expectant mothers to phthalates, a common ingredient in many plastics, has been linked to smaller penis size and incomplete descent of testicles in their baby boys, according to a new research paper that found the chemical also appears to make the overall genital tracts of boys slightly more feminine.
One would think that such mutations were only possible after exposure to nuclear radiation. So even if my friend did manage to start a family and something like this was to happen to his or for that matter any child it would be a tragedy.
Can you imagine a world without plastic bottles / containers / sheets? I personally find it quite impossible. But the fact remains that, till sometime back there was no plastic and people managed to drink water, feed their babies and stored food. They must have survived because we are here as a living proof to that. Also my contention is that they led extremely healthy lives.
I have a sneaking doubt, though I cannot possibly publicly claim such a thing without scientific proof (also it would be bad for my self esteem) that, if I at 27 years of age were to do a 100 mts race with my father 66 years of age he might just win. Of course it would be a photo finish, how unfit could I really be?
I would like to point out that I have only talked about cell phones and plastics and at that too not in any sort of detail. There are hundreds and hundreds of products and modern daily life practices hat are not good for our health. I am very sure that you have heard of many of them. Things like radioactive waste, pesticides, conventional petro-agriculture, birth control medicines, antibiotics, paints, aluminum cooking ware… you name it.
I understand that human beings have the need to have children, but we are supposed to be a sapient (wise) species. Hence, I am forced to question the actions of my friend because I am unable to understand, what exactly does he want to give his child?
Costly polluted junk food from GMOs (Geetically Modified Organisms), clothing from plastic and or GMOs, energy that is either unclean or too costly, an educational system that is decaying, an uncertain climate, polluted air to breath, polluted drinking water if any and a whole host of grand technological inventions that are competing to kill you.
In fact I, like many others would like to raise a question, “What has technology given us exactly, more dependence on more technology and an unhealthy and unsustainable life?”
Did I just hear a collective gasp followed by, “Blasphemy !OooOoo… here is a primitive mortal who questions the power of the all-powerful God of Technology! Doom On You!”
Somehow this reminds mi of a scene from the animation movie “Ice Age” where the protagonists come across a flock of Dodos and the Dodos are preparing for the Ice Age. As a part of their preparation they have collected three watermelons. Upon being questioned on the level of preparedness (only three watermelons?) they start chanting “Doom On You!”. An extremely hilarious scene, unfortunately satire and comedy are humorous only when applied to other people. When I think of my clan and human beings in general it sends shivers down my spine.
There are choices we make as individuals, choices we make as a family, choices we make as clans, choices we make as governments and choices we make as human beings as a species. Whatever they be the consequences will follow and whether we like them or not we have to face them.
Please don’t give yourselves the excuse that you, one mere mortal cannot make a difference. I came across a very novel thought the other day, “Every time you buy you vote. Make your vote count. Buy the right things.” It occurs to mi that I might have to completely quit buying. For I stand in front of a moral and scientific dilemma what is right? I will be dealing with these thoughts in the posts to come.
I would just like to quote a wise observation to conclude this post.
"One can evade reality, but one cannot evade the consequences of evading reality" - Ayn Rand.
The choices that we make will define the consequences we face.
That is, if you wish the apple tree give you oranges. Then it is a wish that cannot be fulfilled, you should get off whatever drugs you are on and come back to planet Earth. Or should I be asking, "Mate, how long did you say you have been using your cell phone for?"
Posts
1 comments:
What is this crap!
i dont believe all this...
DOOM ON YOU SU....
(Tringggggg Tringgggggg...)
Will comment later, my cell is ringing...
Post a Comment