I’m applying to TASP with this. The evaluators of this essay will primarily be bright current college students. Any feedback - content, grammar, organization, etc. - would be appreciated.
Prompt: Write an essay analyzing a conflict you have faced and attempted to resolve. This conflict may have involved your community (however you choose to define it); your school; your friends, family, or acquaintances; or an internal dilemma. Be sure to assess the significance of this conflict and what you have learned from the experience.
I have recently rediscovered a basic truth: we, as humans, fear what we do not know. And our reaction to fear is a very simple one, predetermined and perfected through thousands of years of evolution. This general response is known as the fight or flight approach.
Here is one way to interpret this universal tendency in the context of our modern society: if we don't know or don't understand something, we are biologically programmed to take one of two routes. Either we try to beat the living heck out of it, or we run and hide.
This raises a conflict that I have reflected on. The root of the issue is, humankind as we know ourselves today are biologically unadapted creatures. We aren't physiologically built to handle the stress of tax season, of finals week, of state championships. We are built, more or less, to survive in a hostile environment with threats to our physical being constantly lurking. That's it - our minds, our bodies, our hormones, our genes, right down to the hairs on our arms - it's all meant for basic survival.
Keep in mind that ancient "Ugg-man", who was the extent of humanity just a few short millennia ago (barely a blip on the biological timeline), focused literally his entire life on maintaining this minimum level of sustenance. This leaves us, as "modern" human beings that Darwinism hasnt had time to fully affect, with a whole set of tools that we no longer have any use for. When we have to make a speech in front of our class, what good are the butterflies in our stomachs and the sweat on our palms? We feel more ready to spring out the window and run home than to deliver an oration about the Gilded Age of American History. When we get pulled over for speeding, what good are our instincts imploring us to either speed off or physically overpower Mr. Police Officer With A Comb-Over? Those who obey either of these instincts will most likely be punished for allowing their biological programming to overcome their judgment.
Logically, it appears that we, as intelligent and innovative beings, should take the obvious next step of simply sacrificing our humanity for efficiency, progress, and contentment, which seem to be the ultimate goals of our culture.
Nonetheless, there exists a figurative continuum, progressing from cavemen to humans to whatever it is we will someday become, and it screams for us to stay in the healthy middle of the road. Or perhaps the whole process is just completely counterintuitive. We're supposed to believe, whether it's because we were raised on this hippie-leftovers culture or otherwise, that our humanity is one of our most valuable assets. Someday soon (or maybe someday in the past?) we will consider our humanity an expendable factor, weigh it against the benefits of pure efficiency, and observe the results.
It is important to keep in mind that this is a conflict that cannot be resolved, for better or for worse, through a few short decisions. Indeed, this conflict is one that has been approached and wrestled by society for years without a truly definite and irreversible answer. We continue to deal with it daily. Issues concerning the continuation of stem cell research and the development of artificial intelligence are prominent examples of how this clash affects our view of the world today. Our constant struggle with such issues shows the intricacy of this conflict, but our multifaceted progress in the last century proves the inevitability of its eventual resolution.
That outlines what I perceive to be the basis of this conflict of man versus his progress. Humankind has advanced so quickly - technologically, socially, culturally - in the past few millennia, our biological bodies are struggling (and failing) to keep up with our intellectual growth. It also happens to be the basis of the future. What path do we choose to take in the 21st century? We as humanity have very nearly reached the impasse - not necessarily the limit of our given abilities, but maybe the intersection of our finite natural capabilities and our ever-increasing demand for efficiency. What do we, as present and future leaders of the 21st century, have to know and change about our own functionalities to operate successfully in the "modern" world? Do we bend ourselves to fit the world or do we remake the world to fit us?
I suppose only time will tell, but that time may be over before we know it.
This essay is due in final copy by tomorrow…
Any feedback, comments, or criticisms would be greatly appreciated, thanks.