Sorry. Misspoke. Don't really make a distinction between human nature and the
human condition. Each is a creation of the other. they are dialectically
intertwined.... or whatever. So, you cant disagree with me on that point any
more.
So, let's take this occasion to transition to a different topic ...
development. I have been Sean Carroll's Endless Forms most Beautiful. It is
the forth book I have read written by a brilliant author designed to explain
modern "EvoDevo" to the great unwashed. And I have to say, I still don't quite
"get it" But I think I am beginning to understand why ... the metaphors they
use are bad. Nobody has come up with a good metaphor to come up with how we
now know development to work. How do we get pluris e uno?
The stunning discovery of the last 25 years is how widely and in what detail
sequences of genes are similar among animals of widely different form. The
metaphor they use is of a genetic tool kit. Even tho organisms have many
different genes, they all share an essential toolkit. Carroll actually depicts
a little toolbox with cubbies in for the "tools". The DNA sequences in this
basic, shared tool kit are often similar down to the last base. So even though
planaria, bees, octopi, and humans have wildly different eyes, the making of
eyes in all of these species is dependent upon a shared sequence of genes that
generate a shared bunch of proteins.
But the tool kit metaphor leads Carroll into a ghastly anthropomorphic trap.
Once we have tools, we need a craftsman, right? Well, in Carroll's hand, the
tools themselves become the craftsmen. So, in caption of a photography
showing the embryonic development of a frog's "hand" we get the following:
"The BMP4 tool kit a gene marks the tissue between the digits that will die."
In general, reading the text, one is seduced into a vision of the genes or the
proteins crawling over the embryo, measuring it out for this and that, and
leaving stakes in the ground so that the different contractors that are coming
along will know what to put where.
Now, don't get me wrong. I think Carroll's book is stupendous, and I would
urge you all to drop what you are doing and order it on Amazon today. Buy this
"toolkit" thing has to be wrong. What is really going on is that fundamental
physical asymmetries in the ovum are serving as cues that excite portions of
embryo to produce one or more of these "tookkit" proteins, which then defuse
ac cross the embryo. Then the concentration gradients of these proteins, in
turn, serve as the cues for the production of proteins that further organize
the portions of the embryo for further functions.
So, assuming that I have this correctly, what would be GOOD metaphor to
encapsulate this process? Remember, we have stipulated here repeatedly that
all metaphors are faulted and that a GOOD metaphor is one whose faults do not
encourage defunct notions of what is going on. So, for instance, in matters of
development, a GOOD metaphor should scrupulously avoid any implication of
intelligence in its description of what these "organizing" proteins are doing.
Does any one have a better metaphor?
If any of you are wondering why I am so verbose and wondering, further, when it
will stop, try sending some decent weather to Massachusetts.
Eleventh straight day of rain.
N
Nicholas S. Thompson
Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Ethology,
Clark University ([email protected])
http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/
----- Original Message -----
From: peggy miller
To: [email protected]
Sent: 6/21/2009 11:42:22 AM
Subject: [FRIAM] vol 72, issue 25 response
I only wish to say that I disagree with the statement that "ethical behavior is
built on human nature". It is the "human nature" part that I take issue with. I
believe each person's sense of ethics comes from a combination of
education/experiences, social network, physiological chemistry of that person,
IQ, and genetic makeup. That combination causes a person to form a construct of
ethics they rely on to defend their behavior. The only other part that throws a
crux into their formula is the level of spiritual connection they have to the
greater universe, and I am not yet unconvinced that that particular level of
connection may also be a genetic thing.
thanks for listening.
Have a good day!
Peggy Miller
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