Shapiro,evolution, bad childhood and epigenetic changes (Introduction)

by David Turell , Monday, May 14, 2012, 14:22 (4577 days ago) @ dhw

"Yet fortunately, given medical advances, genetic determinism is not necessarily a life sentence, as those who wear glasses for shortsightedness or take growth hormone for growth problems can attest. The same will almost certainly be true for epigenetic determinism: Understanding the mechanism should bring forward possible cures."
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> Of course we don't understand the mechanism, but the basic premise seems to be that by removing the distinction between body and mind, and between genes and experience, we can change the former and eliminate the effects of the latter. And I'm sure we can. This is one of the preconditions for Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, in which the authorities use biological engineering and psychotropic drugs to determine people's behaviour. That's why, in spite of the obvious potential benefits, I find this train of thought disturbing.-Don't worry. Science writers like to pontificate about future results as it heightens the importance of their report. Our mind is independent as consciousness is and should be. It is influenced by psychiatric treatment without drugs. If a democracy is maintained Huxley doesn't work.