Central argument: Alva Noe argues that people act the way they do because of the influence of their environment they are in rather than being what they would like to be. This is one of the very few interesting articles that I have read and I completely agree with Noe because I know that a lot of people act the way they do because of some influence and not out of originality.
I have a stack of fashion magazines back home and every season me and my friends go through it and see what's "hot" for that season and then we shop accordingly. At one point this winter one of my friends also pointed out that she wouldn't be able to survive a day out if it weren’t for the super amazing fashion magazines. Come to think of it, I think those magazines have controlled our minds along with a lot of other sources that I will talk about later on.
We, especially us teenagers, want to fit in the society and be as popular as we can. To achieve that, we have to act accordingly and one of the easiest way of doing it is by dressing up the popular way. My mom jokingly told me to save up all my clothes for my children as fashion runs in a cycle and what is popular today could be popular in the next 20 years or so. That is true and this is where the lack of originality kicks in. People do not come up with new ideas, they just re-use the old ones.
Media has a very big hand in encouraging the people to act the way everyone else does. The way of speaking, wearing your hair and putting on makeup all comes from here. If you wear your hair the way people did a few years ago, it will probably be uncool and if you are a highschooler there is a high possibility that you will be named "loser." Especially with the dance steps. If salsa was popular a few years ago, it is now taken over by b-boying and it might get changed any time. This is the problem I face. I hate dancing, but as I want to fit in I learn the "cool" steps and when I am done learning there are new "cool" moves created already and the moves I mastered are already "so yesterday." Seriously, I think it is easier to climb up Mt. Everest than to try and keep up with the trend nowadays.
Almost all my friends have either one of the apple products. Why? Because it is "cool" to have one. It is not that it is better than other electronic devices. In fact, when it comes to phones, I think the most reliable phone is the old black and white nokia cell phone. However, people don't use it anymore because it is no longer in fashion. A lot of people have switched from normal earphones to beats because it is "so in." People buy those unreasonably expensive headphones even if they don't really have any interest in music. They do so thinking that this will make them more popular in the society.
If noticed I have used a lot of informal phrases and words under quotation marks. I did so because that is how we normally speak. It reminds me of this movie named Never let you go where a couple of clones try to imitate the people they see in movies so that they can fit in the society. The only difference between them and us is that we aren't clones. Noe is right about her argument. We aren't newborns and every individual can come up with unique brilliant ideas. However, we choose to act the way we act according to our environment and the people's expectations.
Live. Love. Laugh.
Friday, 30 March 2012
Please Read This Story, Thank You.
Central argument: Linton Weeks argues that people have stopped using "polite" phrases while speaking because people nowadays are so casual in every manner that it even reflects on the way they communicate and act. I agree with Weeks because I have noticed that a lot of people, including myself, think that using polite words is being too formal and it is best to avoid words and phrases like "please," "thank you," and "you're welcome."
My mother always tells me that kids from our generation are "just ill mannered." She keeps reminding me of how much they used to respect elders when they were young and how much "we" disregard them now. In a way I think it is true, but can we really blame our generation for the way we behave? I mean I am sure we weren’t born impolite. Time changes and with time so do people and their ways of behaving. A few centuries ago women didn't even have the rights to speak and now they are in the peak of success. I don't think they would have been where they are now had they not changed the way they behaved. As the people's way of behaving changed, so did their way of communicating. The way we communicate nowadays may seem rude to older generation, but to us it is normal.
When I chat with someone on facebook I normally right things like "what's up" or "how is life?" I realized that I never really asked them how they were in a proper manner. As the use of jargons have increased so has our casualty. If someone has to thank a person then this is how they do so: "OMG, I owe you one man." And, the most common reply to this is " LOL. It's okay man" or "LOL. No problem." Yes, this is how a conversation takes place in today's context. There are very few people who actually make proper use of the traditional phrases and I think media should hugely be blames for this. Movies that we watch and the songs that we listen to always try to bring up new ways of talking and acting. In almost all movies that I have watched, the characters portray the type of role which shows that being casual in the way you are speaking is the new cool.
Speaking of media, songs, especially the R&B and hip-hop ones, bring up new ways of using words and phrases. What they sing doesn't really make sense but still they are a hit in the music industry and the wannabe listeners of make it a trend. I don't know since when swearing at every sentence you use became normal whereas being polite became too formal. Week writes about how people in shops do not do their job well and I completely agree with her in that one. The salespeople in almost all the shops I have been in are ill mannered in a way that they are always grumpy and could not care less if we wanted any help.
Reading this article actually enraged me and writing it made it worse as I realized that Weeks is right and I fall under the category of this new "rude" generation. People nowadays have forgotten their etiquettes and the only way to bring it back is by practicing it as frequently as possible with as many people as possible.
My mother always tells me that kids from our generation are "just ill mannered." She keeps reminding me of how much they used to respect elders when they were young and how much "we" disregard them now. In a way I think it is true, but can we really blame our generation for the way we behave? I mean I am sure we weren’t born impolite. Time changes and with time so do people and their ways of behaving. A few centuries ago women didn't even have the rights to speak and now they are in the peak of success. I don't think they would have been where they are now had they not changed the way they behaved. As the people's way of behaving changed, so did their way of communicating. The way we communicate nowadays may seem rude to older generation, but to us it is normal.
When I chat with someone on facebook I normally right things like "what's up" or "how is life?" I realized that I never really asked them how they were in a proper manner. As the use of jargons have increased so has our casualty. If someone has to thank a person then this is how they do so: "OMG, I owe you one man." And, the most common reply to this is " LOL. It's okay man" or "LOL. No problem." Yes, this is how a conversation takes place in today's context. There are very few people who actually make proper use of the traditional phrases and I think media should hugely be blames for this. Movies that we watch and the songs that we listen to always try to bring up new ways of talking and acting. In almost all movies that I have watched, the characters portray the type of role which shows that being casual in the way you are speaking is the new cool.
Speaking of media, songs, especially the R&B and hip-hop ones, bring up new ways of using words and phrases. What they sing doesn't really make sense but still they are a hit in the music industry and the wannabe listeners of make it a trend. I don't know since when swearing at every sentence you use became normal whereas being polite became too formal. Week writes about how people in shops do not do their job well and I completely agree with her in that one. The salespeople in almost all the shops I have been in are ill mannered in a way that they are always grumpy and could not care less if we wanted any help.
Reading this article actually enraged me and writing it made it worse as I realized that Weeks is right and I fall under the category of this new "rude" generation. People nowadays have forgotten their etiquettes and the only way to bring it back is by practicing it as frequently as possible with as many people as possible.
Friday, 23 March 2012
Evolution of the meaning of words
Robert Lane Green thinks that words like awesome and terrible are used so often and are overrated because the meaning of those words have changed completely over time.
When I read this article I was awestruck or let's say I felt "awesome." Green tells us about how words evolved so much over time that it now has a completely different meaning to it. The words that were then used to define God and his powers are now used to define random people and things by people who have absolutely no idea of what the meanings of those words are.
I do not know how the trend of using those words started, however, in my life it started after I met my friend's annoying brother who called himself awesome all day long. To be honest, he was pretty cool so yeah I kind of tried to imitate his coolness and maybe just maybe that might be how I started considering myself as "awesome." This has not only happened to me. A lot of my friends also tend to pick up those word trends from someone they look up too, and as Green mentions in his article, that someone is mostly their parents. Parents have a huge role to pass on characteristics, especially a way of using words, further on to us. Green writes in his article that we must be the ones to "adopt" ourselves in order to stop the future generations (our to be children) as we are the ones they will look up to.
Who knew that a word like terrible was used to describe God at one point of time. If I called someone a terrible person in junior school (hopefully not in high school,) I just might get myself into a huge trouble with the teacher. Imagine calling God terrible at this time in midst of a group of strictly religious people, they would probably execute me. Another meaning of word that I had picked up while watching television was "sick" and "dope," and I unconsciously started using those words while talking to my bewildered mother. I would tell her that the new mall she took me to is sick and she would innocently tell me that she honestly thought that I would have liked it. After explaining her that the meaning of sick is great or amazing, she told me that our generation has come up with all the words to confuse the people of her generation. After reading this article I finally cracked the meaning of the word "safe" to the people from Britain and now I might of unconsciously encoded it in my mind as well. A few years back there was a big trend among my friends from the United Kingdom to say "stay safe" after every conversation that we had and till the time I read this article, I thought that the wanted me to actually "stay safe." Not knowing that "safe" is the new awesome, I would tell them that I could take care of myself and they would just laugh when I said that. Now, I just find myself stupid.
What Green, wrote in his article about words taking a new form of meaning is totally true. It is funny how people twist and turn the meaning of words and give it a whole new meaning. Terms like that is "retard" has started becoming cool. I don't know how that is anywhere close to cool, but yeah it just is. I think that evolutionary is not doing justice to words.
When I read this article I was awestruck or let's say I felt "awesome." Green tells us about how words evolved so much over time that it now has a completely different meaning to it. The words that were then used to define God and his powers are now used to define random people and things by people who have absolutely no idea of what the meanings of those words are.
I do not know how the trend of using those words started, however, in my life it started after I met my friend's annoying brother who called himself awesome all day long. To be honest, he was pretty cool so yeah I kind of tried to imitate his coolness and maybe just maybe that might be how I started considering myself as "awesome." This has not only happened to me. A lot of my friends also tend to pick up those word trends from someone they look up too, and as Green mentions in his article, that someone is mostly their parents. Parents have a huge role to pass on characteristics, especially a way of using words, further on to us. Green writes in his article that we must be the ones to "adopt" ourselves in order to stop the future generations (our to be children) as we are the ones they will look up to.
Who knew that a word like terrible was used to describe God at one point of time. If I called someone a terrible person in junior school (hopefully not in high school,) I just might get myself into a huge trouble with the teacher. Imagine calling God terrible at this time in midst of a group of strictly religious people, they would probably execute me. Another meaning of word that I had picked up while watching television was "sick" and "dope," and I unconsciously started using those words while talking to my bewildered mother. I would tell her that the new mall she took me to is sick and she would innocently tell me that she honestly thought that I would have liked it. After explaining her that the meaning of sick is great or amazing, she told me that our generation has come up with all the words to confuse the people of her generation. After reading this article I finally cracked the meaning of the word "safe" to the people from Britain and now I might of unconsciously encoded it in my mind as well. A few years back there was a big trend among my friends from the United Kingdom to say "stay safe" after every conversation that we had and till the time I read this article, I thought that the wanted me to actually "stay safe." Not knowing that "safe" is the new awesome, I would tell them that I could take care of myself and they would just laugh when I said that. Now, I just find myself stupid.
What Green, wrote in his article about words taking a new form of meaning is totally true. It is funny how people twist and turn the meaning of words and give it a whole new meaning. Terms like that is "retard" has started becoming cool. I don't know how that is anywhere close to cool, but yeah it just is. I think that evolutionary is not doing justice to words.
Thursday, 22 March 2012
Limits of science
Anthony Gottlieb argues that science does not always answer all you questions because at times they have a limit to resolving certain issues.
Anthony Gottlieb, the writer of an article named the "limits of science" which was published in the INTELLIGNT LIFE magazine, writes that a majority of people in this world believe that science is the answer to every question that they have. Now days people have depend so much in science that a lot of people no longer have any faith in something beyond science.
I grew up in Buddhist family, and while my grandparents were very spiritual, my mother was very down to Earth and told me that there is always a balance of nature in what we believe. She always told me that I have the right to believe in whatever I want to and by saying that she gave me a lot of flexibility along with a lot of complexity. I didn't know what to believe in. I knew that science has all the proof that it needs and our religious texts have some things that make no sense at all. I have also seen and encountered a few paranormal activities in middle of some religious ceremonies and that always made me wonder if that is actually something that is more spiritual or just another branch of science that needs more explaining to do.
There is always a limit to science and Gottlieb writes that this can be proven for science has not come up with all the necessary answers needed. For instance how long have scientists and doctors tried to come up with a cure of HIV AIDS? So far they have only succeeded to prolong their lives not cure the virus. Similarly, if science had the answers to everything why are there still so many spiritual groups that do not believe a bit in what science has to say?
I have met people who believe that the almighty has everything to do with the existence of literally everything and I have met some people who think that science is everything and don't have an ounce of faith about anything divine. My friend's cousin had fits sometimes and felt like she got possessed by something paranormal. She was taken to many doctors and psychiatrists all over the world. However, after a lot of failed attempts her grandmother took her to one of the renowned witch doctors in Nepal and surprisingly she got cured after that. We don't know if this had something psychiatric to do with this but all we know is that she got cured by someone religious after a lot of failed attempts by science.
What I meant by that story is that there could be something more than to what we just want to believe or are proven with. Science does have a lot of evidence that it is right but it does not have enough evidence to prove that other faiths are wrong.
Anthony Gottlieb, the writer of an article named the "limits of science" which was published in the INTELLIGNT LIFE magazine, writes that a majority of people in this world believe that science is the answer to every question that they have. Now days people have depend so much in science that a lot of people no longer have any faith in something beyond science.
I grew up in Buddhist family, and while my grandparents were very spiritual, my mother was very down to Earth and told me that there is always a balance of nature in what we believe. She always told me that I have the right to believe in whatever I want to and by saying that she gave me a lot of flexibility along with a lot of complexity. I didn't know what to believe in. I knew that science has all the proof that it needs and our religious texts have some things that make no sense at all. I have also seen and encountered a few paranormal activities in middle of some religious ceremonies and that always made me wonder if that is actually something that is more spiritual or just another branch of science that needs more explaining to do.
There is always a limit to science and Gottlieb writes that this can be proven for science has not come up with all the necessary answers needed. For instance how long have scientists and doctors tried to come up with a cure of HIV AIDS? So far they have only succeeded to prolong their lives not cure the virus. Similarly, if science had the answers to everything why are there still so many spiritual groups that do not believe a bit in what science has to say?
I have met people who believe that the almighty has everything to do with the existence of literally everything and I have met some people who think that science is everything and don't have an ounce of faith about anything divine. My friend's cousin had fits sometimes and felt like she got possessed by something paranormal. She was taken to many doctors and psychiatrists all over the world. However, after a lot of failed attempts her grandmother took her to one of the renowned witch doctors in Nepal and surprisingly she got cured after that. We don't know if this had something psychiatric to do with this but all we know is that she got cured by someone religious after a lot of failed attempts by science.
What I meant by that story is that there could be something more than to what we just want to believe or are proven with. Science does have a lot of evidence that it is right but it does not have enough evidence to prove that other faiths are wrong.
Friday, 16 March 2012
"Of Youth and Age"
Central argument: Sir Francis Bacon believes that it should be the youngsters who should get hired for jobs that help the society rather than the old people. I believe with him as every day as a new child is born, so is a new creative mind with powerful imaginations that overrules the ones that are already existing.
Youngsters today, are more daring and challenging than the older generations. The generation of today, know what's going on with the world on today's context and what would be the right measures to follow in order to come with a solution for it. They have newer desires building up amongst them and in most cases do not think twice about accepting their ideas as challenges. The youngsters have more energy compared to the old people to do everything possible and they are more enthusiastic too. When it comes to travelling to difficult places or adapting to different lifestyles, youngsters are much more into it. Taking more work than a normal person and loading themselves without over thinking is also what they do better.
As people grow old, they tend to become more fragile both physically and mentally. Many of them even fail to think outside the box and have a mental set. Their narrow ways of thinking will not help the people or the world to go any further in life. People who are old have seen a lot that has been going on in the world, this leaves their mind corrupted unlike the young and fresh ones. The will make decisions based on what they think is right and not what is actually right.
I remember my mother taking interviews for a few positions in an U.S. Aid organization that she used to work in. There was this post where a lot of designing took place, and according to my mother it was a lot of hard work and effort. When she was done with the interview she chose 4 people who were in their early 20s and when I asked her why she took only the young ones who didn't even have much experience she replied by saying that these young and creative minds are the ones who will model our future and that they would take more challenges than any other aged person.
Come to think of it, I completely agree with my mother. Before coming to Woodstock I met an alumni who had passed out about 7 years ago and is in her early20s. When I asked her what she does, she told me that she is doing journalism in Afghanistan. When she said this I was really impressed; working in a strict and chaotic country like Afghanistan for a Hindu woman is not easy and still she was motivated to do so. If it was someone elderly, they would probably think a million times before deciding (in most cases not) to go to unlike the young girl. As I mentioned earlier, older people tend to over think which stops them from doing a lot of things.
There is a whole different world to discover, create and enjoy. However, this is a job that is done more easily by the youngsters, for like Bacon said, " young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams."
Youngsters today, are more daring and challenging than the older generations. The generation of today, know what's going on with the world on today's context and what would be the right measures to follow in order to come with a solution for it. They have newer desires building up amongst them and in most cases do not think twice about accepting their ideas as challenges. The youngsters have more energy compared to the old people to do everything possible and they are more enthusiastic too. When it comes to travelling to difficult places or adapting to different lifestyles, youngsters are much more into it. Taking more work than a normal person and loading themselves without over thinking is also what they do better.
As people grow old, they tend to become more fragile both physically and mentally. Many of them even fail to think outside the box and have a mental set. Their narrow ways of thinking will not help the people or the world to go any further in life. People who are old have seen a lot that has been going on in the world, this leaves their mind corrupted unlike the young and fresh ones. The will make decisions based on what they think is right and not what is actually right.
I remember my mother taking interviews for a few positions in an U.S. Aid organization that she used to work in. There was this post where a lot of designing took place, and according to my mother it was a lot of hard work and effort. When she was done with the interview she chose 4 people who were in their early 20s and when I asked her why she took only the young ones who didn't even have much experience she replied by saying that these young and creative minds are the ones who will model our future and that they would take more challenges than any other aged person.
Come to think of it, I completely agree with my mother. Before coming to Woodstock I met an alumni who had passed out about 7 years ago and is in her early20s. When I asked her what she does, she told me that she is doing journalism in Afghanistan. When she said this I was really impressed; working in a strict and chaotic country like Afghanistan for a Hindu woman is not easy and still she was motivated to do so. If it was someone elderly, they would probably think a million times before deciding (in most cases not) to go to unlike the young girl. As I mentioned earlier, older people tend to over think which stops them from doing a lot of things.
There is a whole different world to discover, create and enjoy. However, this is a job that is done more easily by the youngsters, for like Bacon said, " young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams."
Of Marriage and Single Life
Central argument: According to Sir Francis Bacon, a person should marry only after they have a career and contributed in some way to the society, and is ready to take responsibilities as a married person. I agree with him as I think that marriage before career only leads to unhappiness in life.
Bacon writes that marriage imprisons a person to a certain boundary. They do not have the freedom to do the things they want, when they want and have a lot of difficulty in managing time. A true creator needs space and time to come up with things that will help the society and him to build his career. These are the two things that is needed the most and a married person in most cases to not have access to any of those. For instance, I have heard from a lot of mothers that they had to give up their career because they had to look after the children. Today I watched a movie named "Le petit Nicolas" in French class which has a character who keeps telling his son how he would have been an expert on something he wanted to, hadn't he married his mother. This does not just happen in movies; my uncle who is working six days a week for a reasonably fine salary tells everyone he can that he would have pursued to be a pilot if he hadn't married. To a lot of people marriage and children stops them from being successful in life. Yes, having a family is good but before that people should be confident that they are responsible enough to support their family.
Being unmarried has a lot of advantages, especially if you have an unmarried companion. The unmarried people can be the best of friends, masters and servants for they have enough time to spare for others. They however, do not have enough sense of discipline and responsibility. A lot of people start working hard and start keeping a grip of reality only after they have a family to support. From what I have seen in movies and from some of my family member, people, especially men, tend to quit a lot of bad habits like smoking and drinking after they have a kid that is born. In psychology class we watched a video of this man in the United States who was addicted to drugs for a decade or so. However, he promised to be clean and admit himself to a rehab after his first son was born.
In countries like Nepal and India, people need to marry before a certain age or else they will be taunted by the entire society. This is mainly pressurized on young women. If they do not marry in a certain age then they are considered to be a disgrace to their family. In many parts of Nepal people still follow the Dowry system where the family of a girl needs to give certain amount of money or goods to the bridegroom's family. Marriage of a woman is that important that people go to up to the extent to buy it!
The importance of marriage, however, is as important as standing on your own feet and being able to support yourself. Therefore, instead of wasting your time being good for nothing, you should have a certain goal in life, which you should fulfill before taking the responsibility as a married man.
Bacon writes that marriage imprisons a person to a certain boundary. They do not have the freedom to do the things they want, when they want and have a lot of difficulty in managing time. A true creator needs space and time to come up with things that will help the society and him to build his career. These are the two things that is needed the most and a married person in most cases to not have access to any of those. For instance, I have heard from a lot of mothers that they had to give up their career because they had to look after the children. Today I watched a movie named "Le petit Nicolas" in French class which has a character who keeps telling his son how he would have been an expert on something he wanted to, hadn't he married his mother. This does not just happen in movies; my uncle who is working six days a week for a reasonably fine salary tells everyone he can that he would have pursued to be a pilot if he hadn't married. To a lot of people marriage and children stops them from being successful in life. Yes, having a family is good but before that people should be confident that they are responsible enough to support their family.
Being unmarried has a lot of advantages, especially if you have an unmarried companion. The unmarried people can be the best of friends, masters and servants for they have enough time to spare for others. They however, do not have enough sense of discipline and responsibility. A lot of people start working hard and start keeping a grip of reality only after they have a family to support. From what I have seen in movies and from some of my family member, people, especially men, tend to quit a lot of bad habits like smoking and drinking after they have a kid that is born. In psychology class we watched a video of this man in the United States who was addicted to drugs for a decade or so. However, he promised to be clean and admit himself to a rehab after his first son was born.
In countries like Nepal and India, people need to marry before a certain age or else they will be taunted by the entire society. This is mainly pressurized on young women. If they do not marry in a certain age then they are considered to be a disgrace to their family. In many parts of Nepal people still follow the Dowry system where the family of a girl needs to give certain amount of money or goods to the bridegroom's family. Marriage of a woman is that important that people go to up to the extent to buy it!
The importance of marriage, however, is as important as standing on your own feet and being able to support yourself. Therefore, instead of wasting your time being good for nothing, you should have a certain goal in life, which you should fulfill before taking the responsibility as a married man.
Friday, 9 March 2012
Rick Santorum, Meet My Son
The central argument of Emily Rapp is that women should have rights over their body so that they won't regret anything in the future. Emily Rapp was born with physical deformity and later gave birth to a child suffering from a genetic disease called Tay-Sachs which does not have any cure yet. This article shouts out Rapp's emotion and all the pain that she goes through. She clearly doesn't want any other child to go through all the pain that her beautiful kid has or let any woman suffer the way she has.
Ronan, Emily's son, is only two years old and has already suffered from various apnea seizures. Not only does he have to go through painful seizures but is also blind, paralyzed and increasingly non-responsive. His condition will keep getting worse until he turn completely into a vegetable. Ronan can die any minute, and Emily is getting ready for she knows that, that day is not very far off.
I can't imagine what women like Emily go through when they know that their child is dying and they can't do anything about it. Emily regrets not aborting Ronan and I can tell why. Seeing her child suffer with every breath he takes must be very difficult. Emily, however, didn't know that Ronan was going to have Tay-Sachs. She had to undergo various prenatal tests and Tay-Sachs was one of them. The test results didn't show that there were any signs of abnormalities in her unborn child though. Had she known that her child would be a victim of this rare genetic disease, she would talk to other parents who had children suffering from Tay-Sachs and learn more about it. After doing so, she writes that she would abort her child. It might sound very unethical but it is better to abort an unborn child then to let him suffer after he is born.
At the time when Emily was born, there weren't ultrasounds or any type of advanced technology available. Therefore women back then weren't free to choose whether they want to abort a child or not. However, now they do. Yes, sometimes things might go wrong like it did with Emily, but women should still have the choice to make their own decisions. Emily's mother didn't have a choice to make and Emily didn't know about the situation to make a choice. Women should therefore be careful on what they choose to do and must make sure that they have prior information that is accurate.
Some people believe that we should respect a living thing no matter what for it takes or what quality it comes with. Thinking from a spiritual view this might make a lot of sense. However is it worth all the suffering? No, it isn't, at least not to me or to a lot of women like Emily.
Ronan, Emily's son, is only two years old and has already suffered from various apnea seizures. Not only does he have to go through painful seizures but is also blind, paralyzed and increasingly non-responsive. His condition will keep getting worse until he turn completely into a vegetable. Ronan can die any minute, and Emily is getting ready for she knows that, that day is not very far off.
I can't imagine what women like Emily go through when they know that their child is dying and they can't do anything about it. Emily regrets not aborting Ronan and I can tell why. Seeing her child suffer with every breath he takes must be very difficult. Emily, however, didn't know that Ronan was going to have Tay-Sachs. She had to undergo various prenatal tests and Tay-Sachs was one of them. The test results didn't show that there were any signs of abnormalities in her unborn child though. Had she known that her child would be a victim of this rare genetic disease, she would talk to other parents who had children suffering from Tay-Sachs and learn more about it. After doing so, she writes that she would abort her child. It might sound very unethical but it is better to abort an unborn child then to let him suffer after he is born.
At the time when Emily was born, there weren't ultrasounds or any type of advanced technology available. Therefore women back then weren't free to choose whether they want to abort a child or not. However, now they do. Yes, sometimes things might go wrong like it did with Emily, but women should still have the choice to make their own decisions. Emily's mother didn't have a choice to make and Emily didn't know about the situation to make a choice. Women should therefore be careful on what they choose to do and must make sure that they have prior information that is accurate.
Some people believe that we should respect a living thing no matter what for it takes or what quality it comes with. Thinking from a spiritual view this might make a lot of sense. However is it worth all the suffering? No, it isn't, at least not to me or to a lot of women like Emily.
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