Reading Response #3

  My father always told me that he loved math because there was only one correct answer. When you get the answer, there is no need to think again to see if it the teacher will accept it as correct and you don’t need to explain why you think that your answer is right. After reading Nathanael Johnson’s “The revolution will not be pasteurized: Inside the raw-milk underground” and Audrey Bilger’s “On Language: You Guys”, I wondered if having only one answer was a good thing. It is scientifically proven that everybody is different from anyone else and is made up of a unique set of organisms. Everyone has different reasons for their thoughts and actions and everyone responds differently to each situation. Therefore, is it really better to have just one answer for every question we debate? These articles reminded me that for some of the topics we discuss such as the effects of pasteurized milk and the reasons for our word choice, it is better that there is not a single right answer which applies to everybody, but a different answer for each individual.

            In her article, Audrey Bilger presents the question of why society uses words that refer to males as gender neutral, and looks to find an answer. She wonders why sayings such as “you guys” are used to address not only a group with males, but also groups of females where there are no males at all. Bilger argues that “calling women “guys” makes femaleness invisible. It says that man- as in a male person- is still the measure of all things”(Bilger78). I believe, however, that there is not a single answer to this question. Some people may do it just because they grew up hearing it and saying it. They have accepted it as the norm and are fine with using “guys” as gender neutral. Others might argue that we still live in a male dominated world and people say “guys” instead of “girls” to pay respect to a male whom they admire. Some others might prefer to say “you girls” but don’t because they are afraid to publicly make a change. Everybody thinks differently and therefore, there is not a single answer as to why many of us use “you guys” as gender neutral.

            Similar to Bilger, Nathanael Johnson also dedicates his article to attempting to find out for sure if pasteurized milk is in fact better for us than raw milk. The article goes into detail about the differences between raw milk and pasteurized milk, between grass-fed cows and corn-fed cows, and the difference between the immune systems of those who drink raw milk and those who did not. It also describes many different cases of people who get sick from raw milk, as well as many people who don’t. Johnson works to find an answer by presenting different solutions and trying to prove each of them. One example is when he says that the raw milk is filled with bacteria that does not get killed during the pasteurization heating period (Johnson72). He then proposes that if we drink pasteurized milk for our whole lives, we are not training out immune systems to fight off those bacteria and we are more likely to get sick from other sources (Johnson72). He performs many case studies and tries to prove each one correct, but is it not possible that each person reacts differently to what they drink? Everyone has different physical limitations and everyone is able to tolerate a different amount of something. I believe that for those people who can drink raw milk without getting sick, drinking the bacteria is beneficial. However, for those who cannot tolerate it, it is best to avoid it. The government should allow the sale of both products and let the consumers decide which is best for them, based on their medical history and trial and error.   

            As human beings, it is our natural instinct to find a single answer to a problem, however for some questions, it is better that the answer changes with each individual. We are all born to think differently and we are all born with physical capabilities and limitations that are out of our control. Therefore, having different answers gives us more knowledge and perspective on the subject matter, leading to more options for us to choose from.