ACTIVITY ELEVEN

Purpose... to take a look at the question, 'Is genetics offering some insight into understanding human nature?"

From the October, 2002 (pp 34-40) issue of Discover magazine, here are excerpts (in a text document) from a thought-provoking essay entitled "The Blank Slate" by Steven Pinker derived from his important book with the same title. After (patiently) reading the article, gather your thoughts about the nature of human nature. This is obviously a BIG question... you might consider the following questions: Is this a topic you've given much, if any, thought to before? What have been your beliefs or assumptions about human nature? What in Pinker's article resonated with your own thinking? startled you? made you stop to think?

Activity - select at least two passages from the article that got your attention and comment on them, referring (if relevant) to some ideas you picked up through this FDIS.

ACTIVITY TWELVE

Purpose... checking out your 'take' on human nature

Below are 7 bold statements that Pinker makes in his article ("The Blank Slate"). Some of these may have caught your attention already. Select at least 3 of the statements, other than those you selected for Activity Eleven, and

• restate each in your own words;
• analyze each statement you've selected for whatever implications it may have for human relations, social policy, or everyday interactions, drawing on the text that precedes or follows the statement in the article as well as your own thinking;
• discuss anything about the statement that your experience, observations, or beliefs are or are not compatible with, being specific about why it is or isn't.

1. "The denial of human nature has not just corrupted the world of intellectuals but has harmed ordinary people." (p.2)
   
2. "The blank slate became sacred scripture. According to the doctrine, any differences we see among races, ethnic groups, sexes, and individuals come not from differences in innate constitution but from differences in their experiences... if there is no such thing as human nature, society will not be saddled with (such) nasty traits, such as...." (p.3)
   
3. "...some anthropologists... have found an astonishingly detailed set of aptitudes and tastes that all cultures have in common. This shared way of thinking, feeling, and living make all of humanity look like a single tribe." (p.4)
   
4. "Although the minds of normal human beings work in pretty much the same way, they are, of course, not identical. Natural selection reduces genetic variability but never eliminates it." (p.6)
   
5. "...most effects of genes are probabilistic ...gene's effects can vary with the environment...'If I had been an Apache Indian, those guys didn't need comedians, so I'd be out of work' (Woody Allen)." (p.6)
   
6. "once you think through the issues, the two greatest fears of an innate human endowment can be defused... One is the fear of inequality... A second fear of human nature comes from a reluctance to give up the age-old dream of (the) perfectability..." (p.7)
   
7. "...the fallacy that the blank slate has nothing but good moral implications and a theory that admits a human nature has nothing but bad ones." (p.8)

For a brief presentation of the premises of "The Blank Slate" in Pinker's own voice: Pinker and the Denial of Human Nature

ACTIVITY THIRTEEN

Purpose: Broadening the range of perspectives and ways to analyze the question(s) at hand.

Ten Theories of Human Nature is a survey of differing perspectives on the question(s) we are dealing with here. The authors -- Stevenson and Haberman -- have organized the book by establishing categories of common issues or aspects of human nature that each approach has a perspective on, has something to say about. This sets up a way to make comparisons and to get a framework for approaching the elements of this competence.

TO DO...

Scan the book. Read the Introduction, which sets up 'how' to read the authors' approach to looking at human nature across a variety of traditions; ... and then, based on whatever gets your attention, pick at least one chapter from Chapters 1 - 5, one from Chapters 6-10, and then a third from either of those sets of chapters along with the "Conclusion: Toward a synthesis of the Theories?" (i.e. a total of three perspectives plus the Into and Conclusion). Please..

• Summarize each perspective you've selected
• Using the framework the authors' have used, compare the important features of each perspective on human nature
• Comment on any assumptions you recognize in each of the perspectives.. i.e., what does one have to simply accept as 'true' in order to accpet the rest of the view expressed (without making judgment on the view)
• Pinker has attempted to incorporate what he believes are very important contemporary findings about 'who' and 'how' we are and builds a critique of the 'blank slate' in so doing; in what ways do you see the 'blank slate' perspective in the theories you selected and how important is that perspective - or not - to each 'theory' of human nature you selected?

ACTIVITY FOURTEEN

Purpose: Analyzing another example of how considering the question "Is there a human nature?" can lead to further insights

Abraham Maslow was a 20th century psychologist who suggested that we have a 'heirarchy of needs." His ideas have had an influence on people who form social policies, deliver education, practice psychology, manage people and organizations, and study human development. Below is a link to a somewhat lengthy but thought-provoking summary of his ideas and how he arrived at them. Please pay particular attention to the "thought experiment" in the middle of Part One that illustrates Maslow's concept of _--

"Thought experiments" are a rich and challenging way to create a path of reasoning that brings the imagination and experience together to arrive at new insights. This was a favorite strategy of Albert Einstein and one that led Einstein to some of his great theoires of physics that in turn had many practical consequences that would not have otherwise been realized.

On Maslow... and more On Maslow...

Once you've read this piece, please consider and respond to the following questions:

• How do Maslow's ideas bring together a view of human nature that accounts for the interaction of biology and environment without making one or the other dominant?
• What are some criticisms of Maslow's ideas and how he arrived at them? Do those criticisms reflect a different view or set of assumptions about human nature? To help you with this, you might check out:
  • The discussion section of George Boeree's review of Maslow's ideas here.... or you might
  • Search vivisimo.com for "Maslow criticisms or Maslow critiques"
    
  • What does investigating Maslow's work 'say' about the role of supporting persepctives on human nature with empirical data?... i.e., What are the reasons to favor theories of a human nature that are based on the interpretation of well grounded observations? What are reasons to consider theories that aren't grounded in scientifically satisfying observations?
    

[Something to remember... the E-2 competence states that you "Can analyze one's own and others' perspectives on the nature of human nature"... so if you're a bit confused about the answer to the question "what is human nature?!", just know that you're not alone...]

ACTIVITY FIFTEEN

Purpose... to explore the question of whetehr there are characteristics of humans that are unique in the world of living creatures.

The primary question you are developing the ability to explore (i.e., competence) is whether or not there are qualities of humans (you, me, and your neighbors, so to speak) that define us as 'human' or whether we are really each uniquely defined by what we do or become through the influences on our individual lives.

The answer to this won't be found here - in this study, in my comments, or in the readings or even in the remaining days or weeks of this study. I'm assuming this isn't going to stop you in your tracks and that is the point! If you get a litle more curious and get a little experience here in how you might think about the question, then maybe things will get a little clearer at some point.

One of the ways this question has been explored has been by people who have been curious and interested in people who live in widely diverse cultures. This is the area of study described as 'anthropology.' Anthropologists have created various lists of characteristics that seem to be present in alsmot all, if not every culture and setting in the world. The most well know lists have been consolidated by Donald E. Brown... his list of universals is available here.

If these are characteristics that are found in all cultures, does that necessarily mean they each have a genetic basis? No, not necessarily.

We could stop right there but you know we won't. We could go on to the next question - if these manifestations of humans (human nature?) are not genetic, aren't they then environmentally produced (i.e., by human cultures)? No, not necessarily.

So we know from the 1st part of this study that the real question is 'how much genetics, if any, and how much environment, if any, and how might they interact to result in this list of uniquely human manifestations on earth.'

Activity... Find a definition of the term "epigenetic" or "epigenesis." After restating it, speculate on why the idea of epigenesis may be useful to understanding a genetic-environment perspective on the development of human culture.

This is to prepare you for the Activity 16 - If you get stuck, simply let me know (i.e., don't go away for weeks and mutter that this isn't making sense if it just isn't).

A very thorough -- and pretty fascinating -- piece reviewing the state of our understanding of epigenesis and epigenetic 'events' illustrates the growing attention this is getting in the ongoing effort to get our arms around 'how' we are. "DNA is Not Destiny" (Ethan Watters. Discover 27: No. 11; November 2006.) And.. it might be a good moment to return to a previous link - The Ghost in Your Genes - from NOVA.

The work on epigenetic processes is reaching into many areas of research, some of which that may add to how we think about ourselves and our 'human nature,' other aspects of which are 'simply' avenues to possible insights into critical concerns, such as cancer - it's development and treatment. We haven't dealt specifically with cancer in this study and so this article may reference some ideas that aren't fully developed or that don't have a complete context... but I think you'll find the implications of 'epigenesis' and all that we've been dealing with at "the intersection of genes and environment." It's from the "The Ghost in Your Genes" production from NOVA (above)... "Epigenetic Therapy" (by Dr. Jean-Pierre Issa).

ACTIVITY SIXTEEN

Purpose... to apply the ideas and rules of epigenesis to the question of what is human nature?

The previous activity asked you to find and interpret the terms, "epigenesis" and I have already offered some commentary on what is probably your first foray into this concept. As you now know, epigenesis is the seemingly unlimited expressions of development that occur beyond the basic actions of genes in the cell.

The work of genes is limited to the biochemicals that are produced under their direction -- but then the seeming magic of life really shows up. Those chemicals interact with one another and with various aspects of their environment to form structures in the cell; the cells interact to create other structures, such as tissues and organs (like the heart, brain, liver, etc.) with various functions. These structures organize into something called a body which, in turn, interacts with the world around it, including other bodies, and so on to become groups and cultures and...

...these are all known as epigenetic phenomena.

One of the insights that gets our attention here is that all of these epigenetic phenomena may be -- and probably are -- governed by rules... epigenetic rules. Unfortunately, only a few of these rules are yet understood. Recognizing, describing, and understanding these 'rules' is now very much the focus of contemporary researchers.

Rather than go into detail about these 'rules' here, if you are interested a good place to start reading about them is in the work of E.O. Wilson (e.g., his book Consilience, published by Alfred A. Knopf, 1998, pages 150 and beyond).

Instead, I will summarize for you two ideas about epigenesis that may be of help to you in thinking about the question of human nature:

1. epigenetic rules themselves are likely to have a genetic component; and,
2. culture is an epigenetic phenomenon.

Referring here to Wilson's work -

"Genes prescribe epigenetic rules," which are mostly seen in how the five senses (taste, touch, smell, sight, hearing) operate and perceive the world and in mental development that allows us to take in the influences of culture.

Culture then helps to determine which of the genes involved in these activities survive and get passed on from one generation to the next.

Occasionally, through mutations, new genes alter epigenetic events... sometimes to the detriment of the individual (e.g., disease), sometimes with no adverse and advantageous impact (the addition of variation to the human population), and sometimes in a way that gives an advantage for survival and reproduction (the basis for contiuing evolution). Altered epigenetic rules change the direction and effectiveness of the ways in which culture may be experienced and manifested.

All of this is indeed very abstract... these are ideas for which there isn't a great deal of direct evidence (although there is some) nor are there obvious practical applications of these ideas yet -- other than as a means to help us interpret what we observe about life and the world(s) we live in.

What is of possible value, however, is the "way of thinking" these and related ideas offer. This study began with asking you to look at a package of Nutrasweet for what the warning label says about the interaction of genes and environment. And it has travelled down a path that progressively led to this point -- some way of relating genes, traits, culture, their relationships, and the nature of human nature.

ACTIVITIES... holding a mirror up (again) to see what's changed and what's missing.

Please read all of the questions here first... please respond as a unified essay of your thoughts.

• Please go back to Pinker's article one more time and re-read it. Do you notice anything different about what gets your attention this time around? Is it more or less interesting to you (please be honest).
• Revisit the activity on Maslow's ideas -- in a similar way, do you notice anythgin different about what gets your attention or howyou understand what Maslow was saying to us about ourselves?
• As you now think about human nature -- are there some aspects of what you think make humans unique among living things that are just not easily accounted for in the way Pinker has addressed the qeustion of "what is human nature?"
• Look again at the title of this FDIS -- what meaning does it have for you and has that meaning changed since you began the study?

ACTIVITY SEVENTEEN ... Closing Ceremonies

Where might you go from here?

The topic of human nature and the questions, "is there such a thing and, if so, what is it" has left many people scratching their heads - and some shrugging their shoulders - for a very long time.

Your last activity is simply to compile a list of titles of books, articles, movies, artwork or any other forms of expression in which an exploration of human nature is the primary reason for them having been produced.

This list is gift to yourself (and perhaps to others, including future students of this study, if that's okay with you). The list should contain at least 15 such sources and be organized in good citation from so that any one looking at the list, including yourself at some future date, can find the item.If you would like to annotate any of the items because you've become familiar with them, please do. Insightful quotes are certainly welcome as well.

Growing Human Nature Bibliography (pdf file)

Pass your findings along accompanied by any closing thoughts -- including any suggestions for this independent study.... and here's a link to some pieces that reminds us that there's always yet another way or two to converse about the nature of human nature...*Does evolution explain human nature? .......**:)

...AND KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE HYPHEN > ITS WHERE THE ACTION IS.

take care...