Shenk argues that "freedom from genetic oppression doesn't make us all equal, or truly free" (119). In what ways does he argue for more of a societal oppression instead of a cultural one? Does this ultimately illustrate that despite perfect efforts, some people can never reach greatness? Can you name any examples of a critical period in humans?
In addition, Shenk argues that "while genes themselves do not change... from generation to generation, the epi-genetic instructions can change" (118). Through this lense, how does each individuals efforts towards greatness become more important for their future children? Is freedom from biological oppression really all that significant if our lives are subject to societal oppression? To what extent can we shape our own destinies once old enough to understand the implications of our actions?
Jacob Yomtoob (jakeyomtoob@gmail.com)
When Shenk makes the point “freedom from genetic oppression doesn’t make us all equal, or truly free”, he is saying that while genes are not the limiting factor to our potential we are not all equal because there are other limiting factors in the environment. This argument points to a sort of societal oppression where our environment, which is the society we live in, forms barriers that stop us from reaching our maximum potential. Shenk makes the argument for a societal oppression by declaring that “we are mostly shaped by habits, messages, schedules, expectations, social infrastructure, and natural surrounding that are not exclusively our own” (118-119). The factors that shape our life and that ultimately limit us often come from society, hence the term societal oppression. Depending on the type of society we live in, we may have different limiting factors. This does not illustrate that some people can never reach greatness despite perfect efforts because if people did in fact put forward perfect efforts then they could find some way to overcome these limiting factors, as these limiting factors are not absolute.
ReplyDeleteLike birds, humans do have a critical period, defined by Campbell as “a limited developmental phase where certain behaviors can be learned” (1126). One example of this in humans would be learning a first language. In an article by Christo Moskovsky from the 2001 Conference of the Australian Linguistic Society, he states that evidence shows that there is a critical period for first language acquisition, and that unless humans are exposed to language in the early year of life, they lose the ability to learn a language (http://www.als.asn.au/proceedings/als2001/moskovsky.pdf).
Epigenetics makes each individual’s strive for greatness important both for them and their children. The idea that lifestyle can alter heredity means that the individual’s actions may affect future generations. Freedom from biological oppression is significant even if we are subjected to societal oppression because biological oppression is more absolute than societal oppression. We could never change our genes, but we could take action against societal oppression and work to overcome it. We can shape our own destinies a great deal if we understand the implications of our actions. While we can’t control our future, we can control actions that could impact our future. This idea would likely not apply to epigenetics because there are too many variables to see the effect on our future but would apply to the actions we take in everyday life.
Jessica Hua (jhua33@yahoo.com)