“The Cosmic Connection” Essay #1 Questions

1. The evolutionary trend that Sagan sees that eventually will lead to a global

self-identification due to these major reasons which are that with excessive development

of technology not only are they seen as a toxic substance towards the environment these

advancements are mainly for us humans. The majority of the humans in the world on a

global scale will eventually reach a point of extreme technology where the earth is no

longer needed so we live off to space or some form of futuristic idea. I believe someday

we will reach this point of time where the world will become self-identified due to the

advancements we have made to society.

2. Sagon firmly believes that genetics will ultimately be the greatest threat to all of mankind

including plants and other animals. Another reason he thinks that could risk the survival

of our world is the tiny physiological changes to mainly humans even though it’s thought

of as defects from genetics. The way I see it is that the greatest threat towards the survival

of our world, mainly us humans, is climate change, food security and poverty are the

main three I believe are gonna cause a major disaster in our survival.

3. One example of an organism Sagan believes is necessary to kill for the survival of

humans would be to become a vegetarian since in the minds of many others you can

practice having a diet to prevent from eating so much. On the other hand it’s necessary

for us to consume other organisms for our survival. I support his position because it

explains how us humans are supposed to live but at the same time take care of the planet

as a whole. We humans as a whole could make the decision to care for the issues that
 involve humans not getting the right treatment which is the poverty part of every area in

the world.

4. I think that Sagan's ideas are more compelling as a whole due to the fact that his

explanations towards the difference between Thomas and Sagan’s thought process show

completely different opinions about how the world is affecting others around them. This

is especially true when the ideals of how we should take care of the planet is a major

factor for the future of mankind. I solely chose Sagan over Thomas mainly for the reason

that politics won’t affect the global standards compared to what the foods we eat will help

save more people from poverty and such.

 “It Takes a Tribe” Essay #1 Questions

1. According to David Berreby the more exposed you are to a certain group of people at a

certain place you become accustomed to the way you think, believe, and self identify

yourself as an example by using stereotypes to determine how a person is ranked in

society. In my case, I am referred to as an Asian which could mean multiple things such

as I could accidentally be called a different type of Asian like Japanese or Korean, when

I’m Chinese. This is commonly seen throughout the US especially when Asian hate is

still seen due to the 2019 covid pandemic that “started in China”. These are one of the

reasons that us humans have identified ourselves as whatever we surround ourselves with

and the people we interact with.

2. Individual behavior doesn’t change your perspective on other things whereas if you were

to be interacting with new individuals that are new to seeing you, you’ll eventually learn

to adapt and listen to those around you which in turn changes your point of view on many

things. Whereas animals that are grouped together stay the same no matter how many

other animals are near them, they are still the same. Given my experience with meeting

new people, in my case students that are in the same situation as me that just graduated

high school and are just entering the life of adulthood as well as college.

3. Both essays are on edge with each other since they both talk about the disasters that us

humans have caused over the course of thousands of years. As an example from

Thomas’s essay there were people that treated each other as nothing less than animals.

Whereas Berreby’s explanations of humans are done overtime with the evolutions of
technological advancements for mainly the humans to use. Both in the end helped me see

the problems that humans in the future could cause to our planet no matter what the

situation there will still be problems that us humans created.