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Living in Hawaii and seeing how the few elderly keepers of Hawaiian culture are almost without exception fundamentalist christians. Thinking about the huge populations in Mexico, Central and South America, with 90%+ indigenous blood, but identify with the religion of their conquerers. Full blooded Africans passing on islam to their children. Could the trauma of past genocide produce a physical bias to obeying authority that eventually showed up in brain scans or DNA?
Living in Hawaii and seeing how the few elderly keepers of Hawaiian culture are almost without exception fundamentalist christians. Thinking about the huge populations in Mexico, Central and South America, with 90%+ indigenous blood, but identify with the religion of their conquerers. Full blooded Africans passing on islam to their children. Could the trauma of past genocide produce a physical bias to obeying authority that eventually showed up in brain scans or DNA?
Brain scan technology is far too crude for that, but your point is well taken.
‘Could the trauma of past genocide produce a physical bias to obeying authority that eventually showed up in brain scans or DNA?’
No.
Genetic material, or DNA is constant: that is, it cannot be changed by the environment or by use or disuse of the phenotype. Genes cannot be modified by the environment. Properites acquired by the proteins of the phenotype cannot be transmitted to the nucleic acids of the germ cells. There is no inheritance of acquired behavioral characteristics.
‘Could the trauma of past genocide produce a physical bias to obeying authority that eventually showed up in brain scans or DNA?’
No.
Genetic material, or DNA is constant: that is, it cannot be changed by the environment or by use or disuse of the phenotype. Genes cannot be modified by the environment. Properties acquired by the proteins of the phenotype cannot be transmitted to the nucleic acids of the germ cells. There is no inheritance of acquired behavioral characteristics.
I think Steves is asking about cultural effects on the brain. It might be too fine to measure with today’s tools, but I can imagine that brains of one culture are different from brains of another. Going from there, it seems likely that what Steves proposes has some validity, though perhaps not yet. I don’t think he’s being Lamarckian.
There might be one limited potential area where attempts at genocide might cause some change in the DNA. Consider the act of poisoning large portions of a particular population, and the poison causes some widespread genetic mutation. Or the same could occur with a nuclear attack, perhaps. Genetic mutations are passed down, and can conceivably affect behavior. But this would be rare, I would think.
The simpler, and better, answer would simply be that the dominant culture tends to win out in the end. Most elderly Hawaiins speak English as well, I presume.
There might be one limited potential area where attempts at genocide might cause some change in the DNA. Consider the act of poisoning large portions of a particular population, and the poison causes some widespread genetic mutation. Or the same could occur with a nuclear attack, perhaps. Genetic mutations are passed down, and can conceivably affect behavior. But this would be rare, I would think.
Yes, I can imagine a family or two—a very small tribe—escaping the event(s) and spreading their unique flavor of humanity in a particular region. Their DNA could seem to have been altered, and in a very literal sense, it has been.
The simpler, and better, answer would simply be that the dominant culture tends to win out in the end. Most elderly Hawaiins speak English as well, I presume.
And those who are more compliant with conquerors tend to survive better than those who aren’t.
I suspect the trauma “lesson” is far more influential than any pre-existing genetics though.
The simpler, and better, answer would simply be that the dominant culture tends to win out in the end. Most elderly Hawaiins speak English as well, I presume.
And those who are more compliant with conquerors tend to survive better than those who aren’t.
I suspect the trauma “lesson” is far more influential than any pre-existing genetics though.
I doubt that “compliance” is primarily driven by genetics. Political, social, and economic status—not to mention ideological predispostions, and numerous other factors.
Every case is different; look at the Balkans, for example. The factors which affected which locals converted to Islam versus which populations remained Christian were varied, but nobody has ever suggested that genetics or evolution had anything to do with it.
EDIT: Well, “nobody” is pushing. During the Bosnian War, Biljana Plavsic, for one, suggested that Bosnian Muslims were “genetically defective” but I’m assuming I can ignore the pseudoscientific ravings of a fascist politician.
‘Could the trauma of past genocide produce a physical bias to obeying authority that eventually showed up in brain scans or DNA?’
No.
Genetic material, or DNA is constant: that is, it cannot be changed by the environment or by use or disuse of the phenotype. Genes cannot be modified by the environment. Properites acquired by the proteins of the phenotype cannot be transmitted to the nucleic acids of the germ cells. There is no inheritance of acquired behavioral characteristics.
That is not necessarily true. Epigenetics research is yielding data and mechanisms on how DNA expression can be modified by environmental factors.
‘Could the trauma of past genocide produce a physical bias to obeying authority that eventually showed up in brain scans or DNA?’
No.
Genetic material, or DNA is constant: that is, it cannot be changed by the environment or by use or disuse of the phenotype. Genes cannot be modified by the environment. Properites acquired by the proteins of the phenotype cannot be transmitted to the nucleic acids of the germ cells. There is no inheritance of acquired behavioral characteristics.
That is not necessarily true. Epigenetics research is yielding data and mechanisms on how DNA expression can be modified by environmental factors.
*Thread Hi-Jack*
Sorry.
Has to be said though. Although lacking in some respects it never fails to amaze me what a brilliant source for science Wikipedia is. Long may it continue.
‘Could the trauma of past genocide produce a physical bias to obeying authority that eventually showed up in brain scans or DNA?’
No.
Genetic material, or DNA is constant: that is, it cannot be changed by the environment or by use or disuse of the phenotype. Genes cannot be modified by the environment. Properites acquired by the proteins of the phenotype cannot be transmitted to the nucleic acids of the germ cells. There is no inheritance of acquired behavioral characteristics.
That is not necessarily true. Epigenetics research is yielding data and mechanisms on how DNA expression can be modified by environmental factors.
*Thread Hi-Jack*
Sorry.
Has to be said though. Although lacking in some respects it never fails to amaze me what a brilliant source for science Wikipedia is. Long may it continue.
Indeed. I’m not smart enough to write articles for them but I am smart enough to donate annually to them so I can sound smarter by using them.
“We live in a dancing matrix of viruses; they dart, rather like bees, from organism to organism, from plant to insect to mammal to me and back again, and into the sea, tugging along pieces of this genome, strings of genes from that, transplanting grafts of DNA, passing around heredity as though at a great party. . . . ” (Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher by Lewis Thomas, 1978)
Maybe religion is passed by a virus. I spend most of my time near tropical plants, my wife & the Ocean..
