We’ve been having this discussion for at least 100 years. How is it possible that two siblings with essentially the same DNA and the same home environment can be such different people?
In the 18th Century, British philosopher John Locke proposed his theory of tabula rasa, “blank slate,” suggesting that, when we’re born into this world, we bring with us exactly zero in terms of what will later become our unique selves. Few if any of us believe that today.
But what precisely do we believe?
Spiritualists assert that each individual has its own “basic personality,” perhaps deriving from our past lives.
Biologists who specialize in this arena are investigating epigenetics, the concept that we have genetic information that causes elements of our genome to either be expressed or not.
Many questions remain.
My main problem with it is that it’s direct violation of the United States Constitution, a document that, until recently, was a pretty big deal here in America.
A minor problem that further kills the deal for me is that I don’t want squads of lawless goons in my quiet little town.
As suggested at left, Rush Limbaugh made a fortune by sewing hatred into American lives, and he was incredibly good at it. He convinced tens of millions of U.S. citizens that anything that would not make rich white males richer was communism.
Following in his footsteps certainly does appear to be an essential guarantee of wealth.
Charlie Kirk, as an example, was a college dropout who was on a conveyor belt to selling used cars until it dawned on him that selling hate was one hell of a lot easier that hiding defects from car-buyers.
The words at left come from late-20th Century philosopher and ethnobotanist Terence McKenna.
His observation here echoes those of many other intellectuals who have pondered who it’s possible that an extremely intelligent species can make such poor decisions when it comes to governance.
The problem, I believe, is that intelligence isn’t the only characteristic–or even the main one–that drives the way we elect our leaders and get along with others. Our tribalism and greed are far more important to how human beings behave in groups.
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