--- Erik Reuter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Deborah Harrell wrote: > > > It is not a comfortable one: the "tb's" lose the > specialness of being > > Graced by the Gift of Faith, and the "aa's" simply > are unable to > > 'sense the spiritual,' rather like being unable to > distinguish red from green. > > I don't find that uncomfortable at all. Actually, I > find it quite > satisfying. Spiritually unspiritual? :-)
<grin> OK, 'uncomfortable' from the standpoint of those who want to be "chosen" or "specially gifted." > > having sensed it myself -- this reminds me of the > discussion about > > what a race of congenitally blind folk would think > of the sanity > > (or lack thereof) of a person who claimed to be > able to identify a > > far-away object - such as a soaring bird - without > hearing, touching or smelling it.] > > This is silly. There would be many ways to verify > what the person > claimed other than seeing it. Science frequently > (perhaps even usually) > deals with things that can't be seen (but can be > measured). No, it isn't - unless the blind folks' technology is advanced enough to detect a soaring condor (I admit I was thinking 'plain villagers' in my scenario, so no radar), there is no way for them to verify that a creature with a 10+ foot wingspan is passing hundreds of feet above their heads. > I really can't comment on the rest of your post, it > sounds like typical "politically correct" nonsense. <shakes head exasperatedly and pouts> Erik, Erik, Erik -- you can do better than that! No sarcastic parroting of "shamelessly" etc., or some crack about being half-baked?! *Ree-ally,* I'm going to feel quite hurt that you don't even make the effort to be clever in your put-downs... ;} <serious> You see no value in dynamic tension, whether it be in society or a counterbalanced elevator? That's what I used "yin-yang" "leavening" etc. as shorthand for: forces that work on one level against each other, yet on another level are accomplishing 'work' in a synergistic way. The following is an example of the work that is being done on genetics and human personality traits; in this study, a particular allele that is associated with "novelty-seeking" and ADHD is found to have been selected _for_, with an age range from 300,000 years ago to a mere 30,000 years ago. In the full article (which is linked via the abstract), evolutionary game theory and even the possibility of an "imported allele" from Neanderthals is discussed. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11756666&dopt=Abstract "Associations have been reported of the seven-repeat (7R) allele of the human dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4) gene with both attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and the personality trait of novelty seeking. This polymorphism occurs in a 48-bp tandem repeat in the coding region of DRD4, with the most common allele containing four repeats (4R) and rarer variants containing 2-11. Here we show by DNA resequencing/haplotyping of 600 DRD4 alleles, representing a worldwide population sample, that the origin of 2R-6R alleles can be explained by simple one-step recombination/mutation events. In contrast, the 7R allele is not simply related to the other common alleles, differing by greater than six recombinations/mutations. Strong linkage disequilibrium was found between the 7R allele and surrounding DRD4 polymorphisms, suggesting that this allele is at least 5-10-fold "younger" than the common 4R allele. Based on an observed bias toward nonsynonymous amino acid changes, the unusual DNA sequence organization, and the strong linkage disequilibrium surrounding the DRD4 7R allele, we propose that this allele originated as a rare mutational event that nevertheless increased to high frequency in human populations by positive selection." If "novelty-seeking" is a genetic trait that has become widespread because of some advantages that it confers (I can think of many, from utilizing new food sources to finding new places to live -- as well as little problems from being _overly_ curious, like fatal poisonings and discovering that cave lions *do not* like to share their dens!), is it so hard to consider that "spirituality" might likewise be a genetic trait? Debbi who thinks that certain *other* exasperating personality traits are also probably genetically influenced... ;} __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month! http://sbc.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
