Alvin Cho's Blog

8 Comments so far ↓

• chowster24 // Jun 19, 2011 at 1:02 AM

  This is a really unique topic that many of us can relate to because we play sports. I really enjoyed the way you concluded your TED Talk and I concur with you that the decision to take steroids is your choice. Do you think that people who do take steroids should have a more severe punishment or would the spirit of sports be upheld if steroids were banned? I believe the current all-time home run record holder Barry Bonds also took steroids. Should this tainted record be removed?

• chowster24 // Jun 19, 2011 at 1:07 AM

  Also, if you can add some more scientific info, it would be more science-related.

• Derek // Jun 19, 2011 at 2:05 AM

  Hey Alvin nice choice of topics! I like how you gave examples of steroid users. Also I noticed how you said the list of steroid side affects fast enough to get the point that there are a lot of them across, but slow enough for us to hear them, good effect. As a question; how long is it until the side affects occur? I was thinking that if the side affects appeared after the muscle growth than that would induce steroid users to take even more, therefore maximizing the side affects.

• talonsalbert // Jun 19, 2011 at 5:42 PM

  Awesome TED Talk Alvin! I enjoyed, like Derek, how you went about explaining the side-effects of steroids, and in such a way that people who consider taking steroids really know what they’re dealing with. Acne, tiny testicles, and breasts definitely don’t sound worth the bulging muscles in return. You offered your opinion and advice at the end, which I thought was great, since you connected to your topic and showed you really understood it. With your insight, someone considering taking steroids might have second thoughts. In response to Conrad, I think Bonds’ record shouldn’t be removed. He definitely hasn’t been the first baseball player to use ‘roids (A-Rod, David Ortiz, Sammy Sosa, to name a few others) and as long as it is noted in the record books that his record is indeed tainted by steroids, he deserves to stay.

• Macguire // Jun 20, 2011 at 12:03 AM

  To me, taking steroids seems to be very close to cheating, or breaking the rules of the game. Having performance-enhancing drugs that are artificially created is not how the ethics of sports should go. Sure, they did get the fastest time, or the longest hit, but is the accomplishment really notable if you were immensely aided by drugs? Yes, people do choose themselves to take steroids, but why would you do that to accomplish something? If I were to do it and break a record for something, I wouldn’t feel like I’d accomplished anything due to the fact that I was influenced by steroids. If not everybody takes them, they shouldn’t be allowed to anyone. It’s almost as if people are offered cars to participate in a foot race, but the car users are frowned upon and the whole race isn’t fair because some people, well, “cheated”.

• Talons Stephanie // Jun 20, 2011 at 12:13 AM

  Hey Alvin,

  Great TED Talk! You provided with a lot of real life examples, such as the comparison with baseball players using and not using steroids. You maintained a good pace and clear pronunciation throughout.

  You also explained in your TED Talk that males who take steroids will have breast development and sperm reduction. Which made me wonder if males will slowly take on female traits as the use of steroids continue. And likewise for women, will they take on male traits if females have the opposite side effects as males?

  It’s surprising how people are given talks on the negative effects of steroids yet they still choose to take that path.

  Great talk!

• Daniel // Jun 20, 2011 at 3:20 AM

  Sup Alvin, great job in your talk!

  First off, I really like the pacing of your talk. Nothing was rushed and you made sure to pronounce everything well. However, as it progressed, I had to turn my volume up a lot to be able to hear you.

  Anyways, I side with the anti-steroid side of the matter. It’s unnatural, unnecessary and takes away what I think makes the feeling of achieving a goal so important-fighting for it. I won’t go much further than to say that many a swim race has been won with nothing less than brute strength.

  You said towards the beginning that if you take steroids and don’t do anything, you’ll simply “get fat.” I may have missed it, but is this “fat” anything different from if you didn’t take steroids? As well, will the side effects of steroids still apply?

  Finally, what do you think will happen in the future in regards to side effects? Will humans eventually grow to adapt to these strange side effects, or perhaps grow to be a different sub-human race on their own? Thoughts? Opinions?

  Again, kudos for a great talk.

• Jay // Sep 22, 2011 at 3:05 PM

  Hy .. Im thinking of takin jus a 30mg course of dbol fr 4weeks .. I need to know what else I need to take with this to avoid the side effects .. Ive gt milk thistle bt need to knw wt sort of anti e’s to take and wt to take fr boldness .. Please help thankx