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["Lynda" <lurine AT com-pair.net>]

Why, my good Watson, surely you've noticed that the people who hold 
steadfast to such research are those that lack a particular gene themselves. 
What gene you might ask, as an good inquisitive mind might.  The most 
illusive gene of all, the common sense gene <g>

Lynda
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <sgian AT netscape.com>


> Our fault, dear Butus, ...
>
> ... is not in our stars .. and it turns out not even in ourselves.
>
> Not directly touching on homesteading perhaps, but several of our 
> discussions in the past touched on this.
>
> To the mechanistic view that the human being is an elaborate clockwork 
> mechanism generated and determined by its genes, I have always opined that 
> this all pervasive faith in genetics is much akin the medieval faith in 
> astrology.  As the more and more evidence comes in, turns out I haven't 
> been far wrong.
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/13/health/research/13genome.html
>
>
> The seminal passage in this article is:
> "But with most diseases, the findings have explained only a small part of 
> the risk of getting the disease. And many of the genetic variants linked 
> to diseases, some scientists have begun to fear, could be statistical 
> illusions."
>
> The phrase "statistical illusion" is one that appears often in the 
> writings that treat genetic research frankly.
>
> The above linked article tries to soft sell the news by intimating that 
> although the mapping of the human genome has yielded a plethora of 
> insights only we haven't come up with any concrete cures based on them 
> yet, it also includes reference to the studies that tried to predict 
> disease based on genetic makup and found (as the article puts it) 
> "variants turned out to have no value in forecasting disease."
>
> The thing I discovered was this:  when I discussed this article with 
> 'genes explain everything' folks, the replies I got were "oh .. we don't 
> see the connection between genetic makeup and disease (or behavior or 
> wotnot) NOW ... but we WILL!"  In the face of evidence that looking for a 
> genetic etiology to explain the human condition it is getting more and 
> more clear that it is not a matter of incomplete understanding but rather 
> it is following a red herring, being on a rum start, barking up the wrong 
> tree ... the true genetic believer brushes it off as if it is not germane 
> to the discussion,
>
> Just exactly like the religious fundamentalists ....
>
>
> Meanwhile it is beginning to appear that astrology is indeed just about as 
> good a predictor of disease and a guide to cures as genetics.
>
>
>
> James
>
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