genetics - A Tippling Philosopher

Did God Give You Kidney Stones?

I would like to introduce you to Matthew Sabatine who will contribute a few pieces that can also be found on his own blog - details below. Over to him: DNA is often given supernatural attributes and its uniqueness is often hard to separate from God as an origin. I

Biology

The Causes of Homosexuality, and What It All Means

So now it is time to return to the idea of homosexuality and Christianity about which I posted the other day. Having looked at biblical issues concerning the position of deeming homosexuality (h/s) morally wrong, let us now look at what makes people h/s and whether it is

determinism

The Causes of Human Behavior - Good and Bad

A friend of mine recently sent this to me; I thought it would be good for stimulus, summing up some of Robert Sapolsky's writing. I would love to find time to read Behave - it sounds a tour de force.The Causes of Human Behavior -- Good and

genetics

First happiness genes have been located: Genetic overlap between happiness, depression discovered

This information is released by Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam: For the first time in history, researchers have isolated the parts of the human genome that could explain the differences in how humans experience happiness. These are the findings of a large-scale international study in over 298,000 people, conducted by VU

determinism

Parenting - why it might not much matter. Nature vs nurture!

I want you to consider the possibility that your parents did not shape you as a person. Despite how it feels, your mother and father (or whoever raised you) likely imprinted almost nothing on your personality that has persisted into adulthood. Pause for a minute and let that heresy wash across your

genetics

Guest post: a request about homosexuality and genetics

Here is a guest post from someone (a South American who wants to remain anonymous) who contacted me by email asking for help in dealing with the topic of homosexuality and genetics after he read my two posts on homosexuality and Christianity. It seems that there is a prominent Christian author pairi

determinism

Christianity and Homosexuality Part 2

So now it is time to return to the idea of homosexuality and Christianity about which I posted the other day. Having looked at biblical issues concerning the position of deeming h/s morally wrong, let us now look at what makes people h/s and whether it is fair for an all-loving god to judge them.

causality

Explanatory scope of free will

So I have a question. I will detail the following research. For ‘free will’ to be true, it has to explain the following. Or more accurately, the following has to be fully explicable within the free will hypothesis. How does it do that?

determinism

Nature trumps nurture in exam success: GCSE results 'mainly determined by genes,' says landmark study of twins

Genetics has a more powerful influence on pupils' GCSE exam results than teachers, schools or family environment, according to a new study published tonight. Researchers from King's College London found that genetic differences account for 58 per cent of the differences between pupils' GCSE exam

determinism

Fearful Memories Passed Down to Mouse Descendants

Certain fears can be inherited through the generations, a provocative study of micereports. The authors suggest that a similar phenomenon could influence anxiety and addiction in humans. But some researchers are sceptical of the findings because a biological mechanism that explains the phenomenon ha

DNA

Oldest Hominin DNA Sequenced: Mitochondrial Genome of a 400,000-Year-Old Hominin from Spain Decoded

Using novel techniques to extract and study ancient DNA researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, have determined an almost complete mitochondrial genome sequence of a 400,000-year-old representative of the genus Homo from Sima de los Huesos, a unique

free will

Why Parenting Can Never Have a Rule Book: Children's Genetics Significantly Affect How They Are Parented

This is a fascinating article which will feed in to a post I will write about my own twins, and the power of genetics over behaviour, with its necessary mitigation of free will. From Science Daily:

determinism

Free Will: The Achilles Heel of Christianity

An online friend of mine whom has a real interest in the concept of free will, and all the problematic baggage it brings with it. He has a proclivity for producing adverts for newspapers and publications like Free Inquiry that concern themselves with this erroneous philosophical belief. Here is one

Biology

Grandma's Experiences Leave a Mark on Your Genes

Check out this fascinating article from Discover. H/T Neil Webber. Your ancestors' lousy childhoods or excellent adventures might change your personality, bequeathing anxiety or resilience by altering the epigenetic expressions of genes in the brain. [This article originally appeared in print as "Trait vs. Fate"] Darwin

Creationism

Creationists - how do you explain this?

I am going to copy and paste a very normal article from Science Daily here. Nothing special. Just your bog-standard scientific journal publication press release. This one is about a fossilised horse which has had its genome mapped. What I want people like JohnM, a regular commenter here, to do is

determinism

Genetic Variants Linked to Educational Attainment

A multi-national team of researchers has identified genetic markers that predict educational attainment by pooling data from more than 125,000 individuals in the United States, Australia, and 13 western European countries.

determinism

New Studies Link Gene to Selfish Behavior in Kids, Find Other Children Natural Givers

Can't believe I missed this one. Interesting, and something I will bring up in my talk tonight on free will at Southampton University to the Atheist Society. Research into prosocial (kind) behaviour is always interesting, and something I have documented here, here and here. there is a mix of genetic

evolution

More evidence of common descent - Humans and Chimps Share Genetic Strategy in Battle Against Pathogens

As if any was needed. Science Daily - Feb. 14, 2013 — A genome-wide analysis searching for evidence of long-lived balancing selection -- where the evolutionary process acts not to select the single best adaptation but to maintain genetic variation in a population -- has uncovered at least six re

evolution

Far from random, evolution follows a predictable genetic pattern, researchers find

Evolution, often perceived as a series of random changes, might in fact be driven by a simple and repeated genetic solution to an environmental pressure that a broad range of specieshappen to share, according to new research. Princeton University research published in the journal Science suggests

Consciousness

Who's in Charge Inside your Head?

This is an interesting article from the New York Times. I like it - it is well written and thoughtful, making us ponder the reality of the selfish gene, and the idea that we could, at any time, be being manipulated by other organisms, unbeknownst to our humuncular selves.

determinism

'Psychopaths' have an impaired sense of smell - a slight bouquet of determinism

ScienceDaily (Sep. 20, 2012) — A new study suggests that a poor sense of smell may be a marker for psychopathic traits. People with psychopathic tendencies have an impaired sense of smell, which points to inefficient processing in the front part of the brain. These findings by Mehmet Mahmut and Richard