Game of Words: View vs Counter View 2.24

Should bottled water be banned?

VIEW:
Oil is a scarce resource and it is required to manufacture plastic.  Plastic is bottles are being thrown in public everywhere. The factories which manufacture these plastic bottles emit carbon into the atmosphere.
For a plastic to biodegrade it takes 1000 years and this means that every plastic that has ever been made still exists in one form or another.  Plastic cannot changed be into another form other than plastic and the only way of getting rid of plastic is through incineration. Only a few plastics are being incinerated
Degradation of plastic water bottles leads to the release of harmful chemicals into the environment. Reusing a plastic promotes bacterial growth.  This results in absorbing chemicals into the human body which poses a great risk to humanity. Therefore we need to get rid of plastics.
People are made to believe that tap water is harmful for consumption. It is a reality that the water bottling companies are using tap water to fill up their bottles. This is a great deception and this deception can be taken away if the bottles were not in existence anymore and people become aware. These are the reasons for telling bottled water should be banned.

- Glenn Furtado
- 1BBA ‘C’

COUNTERVIEW:
Tap water contains unhealthy minerals especially in towns, tap water is polluted. Bottled water is a safer way of drinking water, and bottled water has added healthy vitamins and minerals that are needed for our bodies to work.
We should think of the homeless people who need water to drink during the cold season, where water fountains are turned off, and thus leaving people with no water to drink. Bottled water may be bad for the environment but think about how it might affect other people. Also, it’s cheap and is good if there is a natural disaster.
 Bottles can be recycled and therefore bottle is not. Everybody should take the onus on themselves to promote recycling of bottles rather than just throwing them into lakes, ocean or stream.
People prefer bottled water over a soda at a store. Bottled water is an alternative to sugary drinks and unhealthy sodas. It is so much more convenient because you can just grab it and go. Bottles are portable and thus makes it convenient plus you don’t have to wash it every time and that saves water.

     

- Aakash Ganta
- 1BBA ‘C’

Game of Words: View vs Counter View 2.23

Should participation in sports club be mandatory?

VIEW
Sports play an important role as it reduces obesity rates and builds body strength. Therefore, participation in sports should be made compulsory in schools at all cost. Of late, sports is perceived as important as education. Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin impressed the need for revising the education policy in order to give importance to sports, ensuring that the students excel in academics as well as in sports. The benefits of daily physical activity include weight management, efficient functioning of the heart, controlled diabetes, lower cholesterol levels, improved blood circulation, and lower hypertension and stress levels. It helps in the toning of muscles and strengthening of bones. Sports inspire people to live by certain rules, making them more disciplined and goal oriented. Children who indulge in sports are able to develop healthier relationships with others because a positive, team-based outlook is instilled in them. The United Nations Sports for Development and Peace believe that sports is a fundamentally enforceable right, as well as a very effective tool in promoting humanitarian, developmental, and peace-building activities.
- By Prajwal M
1 BBA ‘D’

COUNTERVIEW
Injuries ranging from mild cuts, bruises and sprains to the more serious and debilitating such as fractures, brain injury and loss of hearing or eyesight are a common phenomenon when participating in group sports. Over the years of training and competing, the body may succumb to early wear and tear, and long-term damage and impairment may take place. Playing any kind of sport on a rainy or stormy day is not advisable as the slippery ground can lead to injuries and concussions. Without an education, sports alone holds no significant value. Moreover, focusing too much attention to sports while excelling in sports is a rare case. Therefore sports should be made voluntary in schools.
- Gajanan S S
  I BBA ‘D’

Game of Words: View vs Counter View 2.22

Pseudoscience

VIEW
When a new particle of matter, the electron, was discovered by J.J. Thomson, at the turn of the century, his lab equipment predominantly comprised of magnets, vacuum tubes and some simple wiring. A century later, scientists searching for new particles like the Higgs boson use a supercollider which is a seventeen mile long machinery equipment that costs several billion dollars and capable of producing data to be analysed by the most powerful supercomputer in the world. Science has come a long way in the last one hundred and fifty years. With the progression of the attitudes of the broader society, science has benefited from the expanding diversity of perspectives offered by its participants. But not always have these perspectives been scientific in nature. Some of these perspectives have been mistakenly regarded as being based on scientific method. And hence the question arises, “Does pseudoscience hinder scientific growth and progress?” The pursuit of scientific knowledge usually involves elements of intuition and guesswork. Experiments do not always test a theory adequately and experimental results can be incorrectly interpreted or even wrong.

Yes, pseudoscience is probably more likely to be driven by ideological, cultural or commercial goals. The explanations may tend to be vague and ambiguous and the field may have evolved very little since it was first established. But also, efforts to falsify existing theory form the core of the scientific method. While there must be a fine line between methods of pseudoscience and science, there must also be a two-way communication platform. The voice of pseudoscience must be heard and the audience must be given the opportunity to make their choice.
View: (Vibhu R)

Counter-view:

Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs or practices that are claimed to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method, whereas science is the careful observation of the behaviour of something and coming to a conclusion based on the analysis of that behaviour. Once a person makes a clear distinction between the two, he himself can come to a conclusion on the illusion that pseudoscience is. I firmly believe that such theories stop the actual growth of humanity and scientific development. These theories have no evidence or proof of them actually being true but certain people have persuaded such theories in such a manner that people are brainwashed into blindly believing them without realizing what is actually beneficial to them. There are some bizarre theories which have no logical reasoning but still are very influential.

Astrology, ancient astronauts, anti-aging creams, superstitions, flat earth, religious rituals and vasthu shastra are some of the examples of this.  Pseudoscience prevents and limits people's reasoning abilities. They cannot think beyond what has been told to them and this bars their ability to develop and adapt to modern situations. Pseudoscience only benefits those who have formulated such theories and no one else.
Existence of such theories is undeniable and they lack logical reasoning. “A man when lost in the jungle, will do his best to survive and find his way back to civilization rather than waiting for the stars to align or read the lines on his palm or worship a rock." This analogy has a relevant meaning to the above argument. Ours is the only habitable planet in the whole universe and we have questions to answer and make our lives better and this is what science intends to do. It helps us in 'finding the right way' and pseudoscience is the thing that is preventing us from doing so.
Rishab Jiani

Game of Words: View vs Counter View 2.21

ANIMAL TESTING
Animal testing, also known as animal experimentation, animal research and in vivo testing, is the use of non-human animals in experiments for medical purposes that seek to control the variables that affect the behaviour or biological system under study.

VIEW:
Medical and scientific organisations around the world agree that animals are essential for scientific research, for developing medicines and safety testing.  We rely on animal research to help us learn more about how the body works.  Animal studies are done alongside other types of research such as cell and tissue culture. Computer-modelling, human patients and volunteers are also crucial but some questions can only be answered through research on a living animal.
We could not give human cancer to study it but we can study cancer development in mice, and mice that have been modified by adding human genes are even better models for disease development.  Using scanners their tumours can be studied at very early stages before the mice become sick.  This is teaching us more and more about how cancers develop and spread, allowing us to develop new methods of detection and treatment.  Research using animals is never undertaken lightly and no-one uses them unnecessarily or uncaringly.  Many medical advances that we now take for granted such as antibiotics, blood transfusions, vaccines or asthma medication could never have been achieved without animal research.  But there is still a great deal of work to be done. Conditions such as Alzheimer’s, cancers and heart failure still cause untold suffering.  For now, animals play a small but vital role in research that brings hope to so many.

- Derick Brian Saldanha
- 1BBA ‘C’


COUNTERVIEW:
Pain, fear, natural inclinations are also experienced by an animal. Since humans are considered rational animal let us not take for granted the animal which is also a living being.  We rational human beings have to protect them rather than locking them up in a cage and experimenting them because they are needed for our existence.  Animals are subjected to pain, suffering, abuse in the laboratory.  Don’t you think it is illegal?  Is it ethical?
No animal should ever face being genetically engineered to develop cancer, as mice are; being intentionally paralysed from brain damage, as monkeys are; or being force-fed pesticides and other chemicals, as dogs are.  In addition to being unethical, animal testing is fundamentally flawed because it studies the wrong species – and that is a scientific problem that can never be overcome. Approximately 90pc of medicines that pass tests on animals fail in people. That’s an enormous waste of money, animal lives, scientific resources and hope.  Non- Animal methodologies have to be adapted to accurately predict what happens in human beings.
Why conduct tests on the wrong species when sophisticated computer and mathematical models, human tissue and cell cultures and smarter, more focused clinical and epidemiological studies can show us more accurately what happens to human bodies with diseases?  Research institutions should use another alternative instead of an animal.   Research Institutions have to change their policies and align themselves with more progressive science.

- OMAR SHARIFF
- 1BBA ‘C’

Game Of Words: View vs. Counter View 2.20

Should Online education be preferred?

VIEW
Online education gives students access to a multiple number of programs to choose from, which may be not available at a college in their vicinity. Studying online gives students the benefit of flexibility. Students are usually allotted a specific amount of course materials to read and assignments to complete within a week. Online courses will mold with the students' schedule and allow them to log into their online course at a time that works best for them, as opposed to attending a lecture at a specific time.
For students living in rural areas or in the outskirts, by opting for online education, they are not burdened with the necessity to move to a different place to pursue their degree.
Studying online helps save time and money in commuting everyday and reduces expenses for those who travel using their personal means of transport.
For students to whom the whole 'College experience' isn't that important and getting a degree is the main focus, online education is the better choice.
For students who learn well independently, online education is the best choice as they have the opportunity to learn without any distractions. Online education is also comparatively less expensive than traditional education.
Online education programs connect students with top notch professors and guest lecturers from around the world, so students can gain diversified knowledge. While social interaction isn't that common, it does take place in the form of video chats and online blog posts.

Parth Shah-1 BBA 'A'                                                     
18SJCCB014.

COUNTERVIEW
Online education requires an immense amount of self discipline to keep oneself motivated enough to complete the assigned amount of work per week. You need to have the necessary time management and organizational skills in order to successfully complete the course in the designated time period.
Online courses generally require more amount of reading and assignments to be completed compared to traditional education in order to keep up with the course schedule.
Many students fail to verify whether the program they are studying online is accredited from a legitimate university. Earning a degree from a school with no accreditation will lead to acquiring a worthless degree that will leave the student in debt and no better prepared for the workforce.
While opting to study online, there is a lack of student-teacher interaction which is essential in shaping an individual intellectually and personally. It creates an atmosphere of monologue and not a dialogue. Classroom participation is essential in helping a student be open to different perspectives and to be able to think in a diversified manner.
Building relationships with the instructors and peers is crucial for a student in order to develop various skills like leadership qualities, teamwork, ethics, communication and more.
Ultimately, all that matters is personal preference. Every person thinks and functions differently and it is up to them to analyse the pros and cons of both traditional and online education and choose what is best for them according to their conveniences and personalities.

Michelle J B-1 BBA 'A'
18SJCCB004.

Game of Words: View vs Counter View 2.19

  Should children have their own mobile phones? 

 VIEW
Parents can keep track of their children and contact them if needed when they go out if they have a phone. Children can learn a lot from their phone by using the internet which has its educational advantages. Their phones connect them to the world and they become aware of all that is happening all around the globe. Phones enable children to keep up with the advancing technology. When in danger, a call for help is only a button away. They can keep in touch with their friends and relatives, and clear doubts about their homework and assignments without having to leave the comforts of their own homes. They can play games that helps them improve their thinking and conceptual skills. Phones keep children alert, connected and aware of the world around them. Without phones, they would be lost.

- Kiran Thomas
1 BBA ‘C’

COUNTERVIEW
There are chances of children being cyber bullied on social media or any other platform if they have their own phones. They can get influenced by negative thoughts and ideas by watching movies and videos that promote inappropriate behavior and attitudes. Phones can make them addicted to games and social media, causing them to lose their interests in studies and other hobbies. There is a possibility of them getting in touch with strangers on the internet through their phones and social media which can lead to unsafe encounters. Addiction to social media makes the child incapable of mingling with others and maintaining appropriate social relationships. They may land up on sites that are not appropriate for their age which in turn may corrupt their young minds. Using phones longer than an appropriate number of hours can lead to various eye related problems. In conclusion, children must not get phones at an early age.

Ashraya Sirigiri

1 BBA C