Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
sions.
1
This is not a matter simply of a language change or a method of
“We used to say that, but now we say this, but it really doesn't make
any difference because both really mean the same.” I want to affirm that
while our reality is different, particularly given the substantive cultural
shifts we have experienced, insights and ideas from the tradition may
provide a different angle of vision or bring a critical question to a con-
temporary discussion. I am not arguing that we can impose the concep-
tual framework of the past on the present. Rather, I am seeking to bring
the best of the past with me as I seek to understand what we share with
so many people, past and present: our human nature. And part of that
nature is surely our past, both genetically and culturally.
Finally, the recently completed HGP has given us a map of the human
genome. We now know the location of most individual genes, and the
next task is to learn the function of these genes and their interaction with
each other and the environment. Only when we begin to understand this
dimension of our genetic structure will we be in a better position to
achieve a more critical understanding of ourselves. But until then, and I
want to emphasize this strongly, we are at the level of knowing the loca-
tion of the genes and the biological or medical function of only a few of
these genes. In spite of all the articles and hype that surrounds the routine
announcement of a gene for this or a gene for that, very little of the
actual effects of a particular gene, gene-gene interaction, or gene-
environment interaction is actually known. This is particularly the case
when the behavior involved is a complex one such as intelligence, sexual
preference, or aggression. Thus at present, we can make only limited
comments about human nature based on information from the genetic
map we have at our disposal. What we do have, however, are perspec-
tives from current developments in genetics as well as synthetic per-
spectives such as sociobiology. Even though sociobiology is quite
controversial—both with respect to the theories themselves and the per-
spectives of the critics—information from this field, combined with some
information from current genetics, points us in various directions and
gives us important information to consider.
To ask the question of the nature of human nature, then, is to enter a
whole series of philosophical, scientific, and, for some, theological ques-
tions. It is also to enter the complexity of the disciplinary issues within
each of these general disciplines and the internal disputes endemic to
