Are we what our genes dictate, or is it the environment that molds us on a whim? this is genetics intelligence? Are we naturally good, as they say Jean Jacques Rousseauor the wolf itself, as stated more negatively Thomas Hobbes? These are questions people have been asking themselves for centuries. At first it was philosophy one that tried to answer most of them, even before it was known what genes were. But, logically, it didn’t take long for science to join the effort to understand who we really are. Or, better to say, how to understand people? This long race for understanding is described in one of the latest books of the publisher. Publishers in the neighborhood written by professor of biochemistry and molecular biology Pablo Rodriguez Palenzuela.
It is a journey through each of those characteristics that make us human. What motivated us to communicate the way we do? Why do we need morality? How do we come to the development of culture? Genetics has a lot to say about all of this, though it’s clearly not a foolproof recipe. Our environment is part of what has made us who we are, for better or for worse.
forever because we are capable of great things, thanks to the intelligence that distinguishes us from other species. But also for the worse because we are the kind that can go the farthest for the pure selfishness and greed. Was Hobbes right then? Not exactly, because the explanation is much more complicated than all this.
Why do we need to understand people?
If we want to find a solution to a problem, the first step is to understand where it came from. People are full of virtues and surrounded by problems. Understanding who we are and why we behave the way we do is essential to solve these problems.
This is precisely what this book is trying to achieve by arguing against dichotomy. “dichotomies are dangerousbecause we are often faced with complex issues in which it is necessary to appreciate the shades of gray,” explains Pablo Rodríguez Palenzuela in statements to hypertext. “We need a global vision“.
This is where the author emphasizes the importance of scientific dissemination. “Science is meant to answer very specific questions, and that’s okay, but normal people should be able to include the discoveries of science in our worldview“, he notes. “This process of moving from the particular to the general is very important and is the main goal of the spread of science.” they can beat us.”
Given the importance of providing this global vision, the book brings together science and philosophy to answer those questions that can help us discover who we are and, why not?, perhaps also become better.
The role of genetics
In this book you can read the names of many philosophers, not only Hobbes and Rousseau. For its author, this is necessary, since philosophers have tried to answer these questions for centuries. However, it is important not to take what each other says as something hard and immovable. “I believe that philosophy is necessary as a concept, as a goal to explore, study and clarify things,” says the professor. “The question will be different if we look at the philosophical tradition that is studied in college and is of greater historical interest.”
He adds that “the questions were the same, but the philosophers of the eighteenth century, for example, they knew very little about living beings and people“. This does not mean that they were not trained, but simply that they did not have all the information that we have today. “We are on the shoulders of giants, we have the work of others.”
And in this work she has something to say genetics. However, genetics is also not immutable. We have gone from not knowing what a gene is to sequencing our entire genome and that of other species. Some of the inviolable truths of genetics have crumbled with the introduction of new research, and even new disciplines have emerged that intertwine genes and environment to give us a much more concrete idea of how we became who we are.
All this information is changing rapidly and you still have a long way to go. “Not much is known about humans from a genetic point of view,” recalls Rodriguez Palenzuela. “We know more about mouse genetics, basically because you can change a gene or part of it and see what the effects are, but with humans you can’t do that.” Fortunately, “now we have new species, genome sequencing, new methods of analyzing this genome associated with artificial intelligence and machine learning… More and more will be known about the influence of genes and interaction with the environment.”
And thanks to all this, it is now possible to try to answer this dispute between Rousseau and Hobbes. What makes us cruel? Is it genetics or environment? Why do wars exist? Are we the only animals that run them?
Morality, violence and war
In the 1970s, the primatologist Jane Goodall opened what could be considered the first war among non-human species.
I looked into Tanzania a two groups of chimpanzees which has long been separated from the greater. For four years, between 1974 and 1978, they behaved very unusually. Members of one gang planned raids on the territory of another in order to attack them with all the ensuing consequences. And sometimes they walked in a line, silently, until they found a copy of the enemy gang, which they ruthlessly attacked until death. This had never been seen before in these or other primates other than humans, so it was perceived as a war. But if these are our relatives they were able to organize a warmeans that people are born with the ability and interest in waging war in our instruction. Farewell, noble savage.
According to Rodriguez Palenzuela in his book, the discovery was such a shock that even UNESCO made an official statement, clarifying that it would be scientifically incorrect to say that war is something innate to our species. Recognizing something like this would mean it’s impossible to fix, but could it really be?
To answer this question, we must first take into account that there are two types of violence: one reactiveconsisting in the lack of control over violent impulses, and another instrumentalin which violence is used intentionally to achieve a goal. War will be found in the latter case.
But what is genetic in each of these types of violence? With regard to the reactive, it has been observed that MAO-A genewhich codes for a protein responsible for break down serotonin. It has been observed that in families in which the majority of members show an aggressive nature, everyone has this mutated gene. Therefore, many studies have focused on its analysis. However, it has also been observed that in order for a person to behave truly aggressively, even with a mutation, they would have to go through an environment marked by violence. For example, childhood abuse or abuse. It’s a fuse that turns on the violence gene.
In any case, to put it bluntly, we humans are not prone to reactive violence. But, unfortunately, there is much more in the instrumental part. “We are capable of real barbarism aimed at achieving the goal, but this does not mean that this is inevitable,” says Rodríguez Palenzuela. “Violence has dropped dramatically in the last 200 years at all levels, even in wars, despite the fact that now it is in the spotlight. This, according to the author of the book, is due to the fact that “it is something very prone to social control.” For this reason, he believes that the instrumental violence of people is not something inevitable.
“I don’t think it’s inevitable, it’s part of human nature, we have to be vigilant, but it can and should be avoided. For example, when you go to a football match, you start noticing emotions, your hair stands on end, and you feel the instinct to “follow them.” This tells us that this type of group defense situation from the enemy is in our DNA, we react very quickly to such things, but it is very good to realize that this comes from our evolutionary past, and it can be limited through the rational part of the person. . We need to see that although we feel very good defending our team, we are not going to beat each other’s fans.”
Pablo Rodriguez Palenzuela, author of How to Understand People?
In addition, the author How to understand people? indicates that it also plays an important role status. “If we realize that this tendency towards ambition, towards high status, towards the desire to earn more and have more power, comes from something as ancient as the high hierarchy that is also present in primates, we can put an end to this. .”
In short, to understand why we are the way we are. can help us get better. That’s why it’s important to understand people, because understanding where we come from is the only way to find a way to move where we really want to go.
Source: Hiper Textual
