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Paul Grobstein's picture

Genes, and "meaning"

Submitted by Paul Grobstein on Mon, 11/05/2007 - 3:07pm.

Interesting conversation this morning, triggered by Ruth's thought that "randomness ordered by a set of rules ... just seems a little hollow to me". The point, if I understood it correctly, was that if one had a gene with some unpleasant consequence, one would prefer to think there was some reason for that unpleasantness rather than it being simply the "luck of the draw." Interesting counterpoint today during NPR's "Voices in the Family", discussing genetic testing. A caller wanted to know whether genetic testing could help him explain why he'd been suffering, and was pressed by Dan Gottlieb, the moderator, to explain why knowing there was a genetic explanation would make him feel better. Maybe knowing about genes and randomness abolishes "meaning" in some contexts, and creates it in others?

 

http://www.whyy.org/91FM/voices.html

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