The basic idea is simple. For decades, geneticists have been able to chemically separate and analyze genes. This made possible a fruitless search for the magic gene which `causes’ schizophrenia or depression or intelligence or other human qualities or disorders of human being. A lot was learned, perhaps most importantly—there are no such magic genes. … [Read more…]
Peter Frost, dissident anthropologist, wrote about some issues in the matter I’ve considered in recent blog essays—the formation of complex societies. See Mathematical Models of Human History: Are They Plausible? and A Different Model of the Growth of Centralized States in History. Frost’s article, The Agricultural Revolution That Wasn’t, looks at the broader issue of … [Read more…]
Here’s an article about hunting for your ancestry by way of genetic analysis: Ancestry testing goes for pinpoint accuracy . The article warns that interpreting the results of genetic tests can be difficult. Apparently, some of the testing companies have not only advanced equipment and well-trained technicians but also reputable academic researchers as advisers. That … [Read more…]
I’ve written about evidence that we like to live and work with those similar to ourselves, though there is still some substantial uncertainty about the mixture of culture and genes in the understanding of “similar to ourselves.” I’ve also written of my strong belief that this world, our universe seen in light of God’s purposes, … [Read more…]
There is a short animated sequence to be found at Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics [Animation] which shows how a warm and nurturing style of mothering by a mouse removes brain ‘markers’ which might otherwise lead to the young growing into fearful and anxiety-ridden adults, the females likely tending to pass on those traits to their … [Read more…]
As we explore God’s world, it turns out to be just as complicated and complex as some had suspected many centuries ago. And more so. Over the past century or so, DNA was discovered and shown to be that shadowy agent of heritability which was so important a part of the theories of Darwin and … [Read more…]
The brain-scientist and philosopher Patricia Churchland is giving some lectures on a specific and partial answer to the question: What can neuroscience tell us about morality? A short news article about these lectures can be found here. Her main point according to the article is hardly a surprise to those who’ve been keeping up at … [Read more…]
In an earlier entry, Engaging the Thought of Pope Benedict XVI: Broadening Horizons of Reason, I quoted the entirety of a Vatican Information Service news article. I’ll quote a stretch of that article about Pope Benedict’s speech to a symposium of philosophers: “Modernity is not simply a historically-datable cultural phenomenon; in reality it requires a … [Read more…]
So what freedom do we have when we’re strongly constrained by our genes and the rest of our body, by our upbringings and our social and political circumstances, by the very nature of space and time and causality? Whatever the result of the various debates about nature versus nurture, there are certainly some strong constraints … [Read more…]