"DNA works in mysterious ways."

Humans have been on earth for million of years, and still we don’t even know half of the animals and plants we share our planet with; yet, we think we do. It is nearly impossible to know every single species, as (as Dawkins says) there are around three million different types of insects alone. And still we continue to believe we know everything, and we have the power over the world. But we don’t, and Dawkins proves this by saying that every species depends on the others; like trees depend on monkeys and water depends on fish.

Dawkins also explains how chromosomes work. In the past, teachers have tried explaining this to me and I’ve barely understood a thing. However, Dawkins, with an allegory, was able to make me understand easily for the first time. He compares the human body to a building, each cell to a room, the nucleus to bookcases, chromosomes to 46 volumes of books, and genes to pages. He then proceeds to explain by using this allegory and once the reader understands, he simply uses the real terms. Surprisingly, with no need for questions, everything was clear for once and for all.

“Acquired characteristics are no inherited,” says Dawkins (Page 23), and I completely agree. People sometimes think a boy is good at soccer because he inherited it from his father, or that another is good at math because he inherited it from his mother. But I disagree. Things like math and soccer, although they have been present for a long time, were initially created by man, so genes cannot carry information for these. However, by living in an environment were these are practiced and by one practicing these as well, one can develop the skills necessary. This is the inherited vs. acquired debate comes in, but I believe skills are acquired; so it doesn’t depend only depend on who your parents are, but where you live.

"Now they go by the name of genes, and we are their survival machines."

For years we have been taught science. What chemicals are, what they're made up of, the periodic table, evolution, etc. This bring up the debate of science vs. religion. Some say it was God who created the universe, while others ridiculize this idea and say it was nothing greater than a new mixture of molecules. Truthfully, I believe we'll never know, because we weren't there and nobody will be able to come back from the dead and confirm whether God exists or not. So we'll just keep doubting, never knowing what is actually true. With such a scientific book, it is evident that Dawkins supports the scientific theory over the religious one. This is specially obvious when he discusses errors made in history and chooses out of all examples to say "I suppose the scholars of the Septuagint could at least be said to have started something big when they mistranslated the Hebrew word for 'young woman' into the Greek word for 'virgin', coming up with the prophecy: 'Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son...'" (p.16) By doing so, he is attacking religion in a way which could be called subtle, as he can simply deny it when he is criticized and say it was an incorrect inference made by the reader.

Never had I realized that everything we know - all humans, other animals, and plants - came from the same molecule. Never until now, that is; thanks to The Selfish Gene. Richard Dawkins explains that we were created by accident, since the replicator molecule wasn't even meant to be formed. But it was. And so it began replicating until errors in replication caused the existence of hundreds of different replicas. This is what allowed animals and plants to be created. Before, there was only one type of molecule. But now since there were tons of different ones, it became a competition: survival of the fittest.

Never before had replicas had to fight to survive. However, with the newly-formed diversity, they were forced to create various new defense devices to outsmart others, and survive. This is the reason why they created what today is known as the cell wall, which in the end allowed life to appear on earth, and created us, their "survival machines."

Passive Voice Exercise II

8. If expansion is not accomplished, then two less-efficient alternatives must be acted upon: either the book sales will have to be in separate quarters or else the whole enterprise will have to be moved to a new location. [Try "we."]
9. Trees on average sites are expected to be about twenty inches in diameter when they are eighty years old if they are managed properly since youth. [Start "Managed properly."]
10. Any amended declaration should be filed with the Internal Revenue Office with whom the original declaration was filed   even if you move to another district.


8. We will have to choose between selling the books in separate quarters or moving the store to a new location, if we can't expand the shop.
9. Managed properly, eighty year old trees grow twenty inches in diameter. 
10. The Internal Revenue Office must file any amended declaration, even if you move to another district. 

Passive Voice

1.      Children cannot open these bottles easily.

The bottles cannot be easily opened by children.

2.      The government built a road right outside her front door.

A road was built right outside her front door by the government.

3.      Mr. Ross broke the antique vase as he walked through the store.

The antique vase was broken by Mr. Ross as he walked through the store.

4.      When she arrived, the changes amazed her.

She was amazed by the changes when she arrived.

5.      The construction workers are making street repairs all month long.

Street repairs are being made by construction workers all month long.

6.      The party will celebrate his retirement.

His retirement will be celebrated at the party.

7.      His professors were discussing his oral exam right in front of him.

His oral exam was being discussed by his professors, right in front of him.

8.      My son ate all the homemade cookies.

All the homemade cookies were eaten by my son.

9.      Corrosion had damaged the hull of the ship.

The hull of the ship was damaged by corrosion.

10.   Some children were visiting the old homestead while I was there.

The old homestead was visited by some children.

"Will you kindly tell us why such a strange animal as man was ever made?"

Candide is a book different from any other I have ever read. As I went further into the story, I tried looking for works it reminded me of. Yet, I found none. This is of no surprise, though. Never before had I read a satirical piece. I didn't even know what satire was until a few weeks ago. So it is undeniable that satire is what makes this work different from any other.

In Candide the reader is not meant to identify with the characters or even wish that they succeed. On the contrary, I was constantly looking forward to Candide's failures and to being able to make fun of all the characters. It usually bothers me when I can't really relate to the characters, but in this case, it thrilled me. I loved it when Candide killed the two monkeys and these happened to be the two ladies' lovers,  I was excited for Pangloss's death, and I was delighted after reading that Cunégonde had become ugly. I guess the irony of it all made me happy.

In addition, I found that what I wanted most was to have Candide discover that Pangloss was in fact wrong: We do not live in the "best of all possible worlds", as Pangloss never failed to remind him. It was for this reason that the only character I really liked was Martin. Martin constantly disagreed with Pangloss's teachings and ideas. Many would believe he was pessimistic, but I just think he was realistic.  Everyone in this story was too optimistic, and Martin was the only one who was able to see what everything was really like. Too bad this makes him seem as the pessimistic character in Candide.

Voltaire maintains a constant battle between optimism and pessimism. Pangloss always says everything is for the best. He even develops an explanation as to why getting syphilis was not a curse, but a blessing. Since without it, America would not exist, and therefore, there'd be no chocolate. On the other hand, when Candide asks Martin why the Earth was formed, he answers "To drive us mad." So is this the best of all possible worlds or are we just here to fight the constant injustices and learn to survive? Well, I guess that is up to each one of us to decide.

"'What is optimism?' asked Cacambo. 'It's the for maintaining all is right when all goes wrong with us.'"

Optimism. Something not everybody has. Something people wish to acquire, but still annoys many. Something Pangloss had. He used to say everything is for the best and that we "live in the best of all possible worlds." But is this really so? Is there no place that could be better than the one we live in?

It is true: we are living in a world quite different from the one Voltaire was referring to. But we still keep all those aspects he so strongly disapproved of. We have religions, lack of free will (even though supposedly do have it). and wars all the time. But he must've know that it would always be the same.  This is evident when Candide asks "Do you think, that men have always massacred each other, as the do to-day, that they have always been weak, inconstant, mean-spirited, envious, greedy, drunken, miserly, ambitious, bloody, slanderous, debauched, fanatic, hypocritical, and stupid?" And Martin only answers: "Do you think, that hawks have always eaten pigeons when they could find them?" (Page 96) So it is obvious that Voltaire believes that all these bad characteristics of humans, are simply in their nature. There's just no way to change it.

There are better places to live in. If this is the best of possible worlds, what would the worst be like? We have people living in squalor, we have orphans living on the streets, we have children working and fighting to survive in awful places. So what a great place it is for everybody! It is true, this is the best of all possible worlds for me. I have nothing to complain about, and basically everything I could ever want and few will ever have. But it is not just me in this world. It's almost seven billion people, of which more than 50% have a difficult life in which each day is another fight for survival.

"The prodigious superiority of its materials over the sand and pebbles which we call gold and precious stones was clearly manifest."

“The door was mere silver, and the rooms were paneled with nothing better than gold; but the workmanship was in such good taste as to vie with the richest paneling. It is true that the hall was incrusted only with rubies and emeralds, but everything was so well designed as to compensate for this extreme simplicity.”

            For the inhabitants of Eldorado this was a very simple understated household. As one of the countrymen said when referring to the rubies and emeralds, “[those are] the pebbles and dirt found in our soil.” To them this kind of ornament wasn’t only common, but also insignificant. Yet, for Candide and Cacambo it was lavish and extravagant. When they first came across these precious stones they, “had the curiosity to pick some up, and found that they were gold nuggets, emeralds, and rubies, the least of which would have been the grandest ornament in the Mogul throne.” In short, they both thought the riches were “fit for kings”.

            In our society we would agree with Candide and Cacambo. The emeralds, rubies, gold, and silver were magnificent materials to come upon. However, the reason is that we have been brought up believing so. The value of these riches weren’t assigned by nature, instead they were appointed by society. If we had been educated in Eldorado, we would side with them in thinking that the gemstones were common everyday objects with no value. Yet, since we have been raised in a different environment, we end up coinciding with the views of Candide and his servant.

            One of the inhabitants also says, “We have been sheltered from the greed of European nations, who have a quite irrational lust for the pebbles and dirt found in our soil, and would kill every man of us to get hold of them.” This, unfortunately, is very true. They would most definitely commence a brutal blood bath against each other in order to gain control of the riches, which in Eldorado were trivial to say the least. The most ironic thing of it all, is that they created the value of these items and therefore also the desire for them. Truth is, society has always given everything it’s meaning, and we have blindly accepted and followed these set standards.