Summary Of The Terrifying Normalcy Of Aids By Stephen Jay Gould

“The Terrifying Normalcy of AIDS” is an essay written by Stephen Jay Gould, in which he talks about a dangerous disease that is spreading and becoming an issue to mankind, and that it is more of a mechanism than an irregular occurrence which I agree with. Stephen Jay Gould also shares his thoughts on our capabilities with the utilization of technology are boundless; especially when it comes to these types of ailments that threaten our kind, which is something I do not side with. Also, Stephen Jay Gould goes on to say that most people are misinformed about the disease and do not fully understand it.

In the essay Gould says “With the help of modern technology, we feel there is really no limit to what can be accomplished”. I believe that this

statement is far fetched, as we are utilizing technology as much as we can when dealing with dangers such as AIDS, and we still have not found a cure. In this day and age, the ideas that are being brought to the table are remarkable, but most are just ideas. For example, humans have discovered “cures as well as treatments” to diseases that still remain incurable and untreatable. This is so because when we are using technology in order to try and solve problems, the answer isn’t always going to be found right away as it takes time. Furthermore, there may even come a time where we cannot find a suitable answer to solve a problem at all, and that is why putting technology on such a pedestal is too much.
In addition, I liked the inclusion of the exponential curve in order to highlight the severity of the disease, as an exponential curve represents a variable increasing dramatically over a period of time.

What I found astonishing is the fact that constantly had to reiterate the significance of the disease, and it makes me wonder what made the majority of individuals so oblivious to AIDS. Also, Gould pointed out the limited knowledge among individuals regarding AIDS and that was largely responsible for the “mysteriousness” of the disease. Gould continues to say that ignorance served just as big a role as the lack of knowledge for the disease. I feel that this true because the lack of knowledge and ignorance went hand and hand with each other as many individuals thought it could only happen to people with darker pigmentation, and different sexual orientation. In addition, with these ideals being forged into each person’s mind, it led to most individuals ignoring the issue completely, which in turn made each person less and less aware of the severity AIDS. This allowed the disease to contaminate much larger portions of the population because AIDS could spread in many ways, and the majority of individuals were not aware of it. Piggybacking this statement, I feel that AIDS was so deadly of a disease and that it increased so dramatically due to this ignorance and

unawareness.
Furthermore, I appreciated the fact that Gould took the incentive to educate the people on the origin of AIDS as well as how it spread.

Gould went on to say that as far as medicine goes that humans have not come up with anything concrete that will cure the disease. Then, Gould states that AIDS is a mechanism that must be fought properly as it will take a considerable amount of time to beat it. I found this to be eye opening as it gives me more perspective on AIDS and even any other process of nature. Which leads me to the conclusion, people cannot ignore the issues around them even if they do not affect them directly. Also, we must all work together when dealing with nature in order to coexist with

it.
Thus, this essay written by Stephen Jay Gould had valid points as well as some far fetched ones, but it did keep me reading and allowed me to take away some things from it. For example, we cannot be oblivious to what is going on around us whether it is disease, crime or even politics. When we as individuals want we develop solutions to problems and issues that we are dealing with, the answers may not be found right away, but either way each of us have to know the facts as well as coexist with one another to ensure that we see another day.