Thesis Statement Breakdown

The thesis statement our group is going to work on is: Science should not be used to alter human beings as this will have serious consequences that outweigh any benefits the person receives. As can be seen from the breakdown, there are many complex ideas and concepts in this statement and therefore we are going to break them down, digest them, then try to find out the meaning of the statement altogether. To conclude this essay, we will then relate our findings to the short story version of "Flowers for Algernon".

o Science

Science in itself is an extremely broad term. It encapsulates in itself Mathematics, Logic, Philosophy, General Knowledge, etc... Therefore, we will need to narrow down the definition of Science to what we actually need to summarize and make accurate the original Thesis Statement. The word Science originates from the Latin word scientia, meaning "knowledge". Dr. Sheldon Gottlieb says that Science is an intellectual activity continued by Man. It is designed to discover facts about the Natural world Mankind is currently living in and also to categorise and classify this information. However, this is a scientist speaking. Their views on Science will be different from ours. Therefore, we feel it is important to show our own views on the term Science. In this context, Science is referring to any branch of Science which will, when executed, will go against, alter or manipulate what Nature had created.

o Alter

In this case, "Alter" can mean to substitute, to go against, and to redefine. As stated in the previous section, this "going against" is going against Mother Nature. This, as stated clearly by many Philosophers, is purely wrong. Going against Nature will always result in dire consequences, most of not all of them undesirable. When you alter something, you are manipulating its natural properties to suit them to your own need. This brings in the concept of greed- due to greed, you are manipulating something. You will have to pay the price for doing so and the "price" is/are the consequences faced.

[pic]Parts 1-3 show altering (IQ 68-204-68)