Vincent was not genetically engineered but his younger brother, Anton, was. While Vincent was seen as being defective (like his heart condition), Anton was seen as having no flaws because they were genetically removed.

KQ: Under what circumstances might flaws or errors be beneficial to what we know OR how we know?

There is an adage that states how one’s mistake can be their best teacher, which is proven to be valid under almost any circumstances. Having flaws is not a shortcoming but a blessing at times, for they allow people to retain modesty and subdue complacency. In the film Gattaca, Vincent was considered as an inferior due to his genetics. However, with such a flaw acknowledged, he became more driven to pursue what he aspired to be. The inferiority attributed to his genetic flaws allowed him to develop a sense of humility that causes his ambition and grit to thrust him into places he never thought he would be able to go. In Vincent’s case, flaws can be beneficial when it comes to acquiring the knowledge of the weaknesses of an object, whether it be a person, event, etc. Flaws, in this case, are the cornerstone that pushes for the endeavor of occupation or even refinement of a piece of knowledge. This can also be observed in several occurrences. This ties me back to a distant childhood memory that made me realize the power of flaws. Chinese alphabets were absent during my kindergarten years, which means that although I could speak Chinese fluently, I did not know anything about the construction of my mother tongue. In fact, English was the first language I was formally taught. As I entered elementary school, clueless and timid, I was soon intimidated by the novelty of Chinese alphabets, and fear quickly devoured me. Embarrassed, I used to sob every chance I got when I encounter this unforeseen nightmare of mine. Trying my hardest to escape at first, I soon grew accustomed to this alien knowledge. My deficiency was my lack of prior knowledge in regard to the construction of the Chinese language; however, having that recognized, I was more than determined to master this knowledge that I was “supposed” to know years ago. Ironically, after the results of the first exam were released, I was the only person in my class who got a perfect score on the Chinese language exam. Both Vincent’s case and mine support how flaws constitute the foundation for a piece of knowledge to be obtained and cultivated, for they remind us of the importance of humility and evoke a thirst to explore and understand the unknown.

There are also times when flaws become the hindrance to the perpetuation of the grasp of a familiar piece of knowledge, which at often times is caused by the destruction or decrease in one’s level of confidence when encountered with a subject. Although a more pessimistic view on life, cases where people fail to perpetuate their pursuit towards a piece of knowledge due to the flaws or errors they encountered are not uncommon. For instance, a friend of mine was excited about learning French in the beginning. However, after encountering several challenges, she was on the verge of giving up several times. The flaw in this learning process, as she believes, is that fact she began to confuse Spanish and French pronunciations. This eventually led to a stagnation in her pursuit of acquiring a new language, which she hopes to pick up again soon. In the three RLS’s, it is not difficult to tell how flaws can be both a benefit and a hindrance to the advancement of a piece of knowledge; nonetheless, interestingly, flaws come across as a common element in all situations, but the outlook on it makes the difference that determines whether it becomes a source of motivation or disempowerment.