Genes control our lives.?

Question

What is your interpretation of the above statement?
What is the argument in support of and in opposition to the statement?
How can we identify the role that genes play in our lives?

Thank you so much, hopefully my last question of the month xXxXx

Answer 1

Genes are the cards we are dealt.

It's up to us how we play them....

I think your question really hinges on the extent to which our minds are genetically programmed, although our physiology also influences our behaviour as we cannot ignore our bodies, and our bodies are patterned by our genes.

To use an analogy, genes provide the framework for how our brain is going to be structured - kind of like the skeleton of our mind, if you like. But it's a somewhat flexible skeleton, and it can be dressed up in all kinds of different ways by the layers of nurture that overlay the underlying nature.

An important difference between us and other animals is that we are born with our brains only partly developed. In a sense, we are born in a much lower state of maturity than most other animals. Consider how a foal is able to stand and walk unaided in only a brief interval after its birth. A human child is helpless by comparison and unable to move for at least 6 months after its birth.

This lack of birth maturity means our brains are much more plastic than other animals. They pop out of the womb with a fully-formed set of instincts. We have to learn from our environment. BUT this is where we have an advantage! We are more able to adapt to our environment because of this plasticity.

The plasticity of our minds doesn't last forever, and has to be taken advantage of in our early years. Feral children raised in the wild by animals have a great deal of trouble adapting back into human society. They have particular problems with language and social skills. Those bits of their brain are under-utilised when they are young and they never recover and reach their full potential. So it's not just a simple 50% nurture 50% nature model (for instance). The bit that's nurtured becomes more inflexible and unchangeable as we get older.

I've strayed a little away from the issue of genes here, because I think that the role of genes is often misunderstood. People tend to think 'nature = genes, nurture = what you learn', but the picture isn't really that simple.

Answer 2

lurkinggherkin has a great answer. And physiologically that is how we would individually go through our lives. And that truely I too have stressed the importance of physiology in connection to the gene.

But , if you look further ,, we also inherit homicidal tendancies and we are not exempt from the rabbit warren effect ,, population dynamics really.

By looking at the genetic garbages and the Hox clusters ,, I am apt to think that genes do control us ,, ultimately.

It is also the "wildness" of our genes that makes space colonies quite a dangerous propersition at our current knowledge.

If I may say , that at the individual level ,, one may be able to override certain inheritances ,, and that not all genes are Mandelian. But , as the individual numbers increase , as in a population ,, it becomes more difficult to will ourselves over and above our inheritance.

Answer 3

not really an answer but are you reading this question out of a text book - doesn't matter - How can genes control your life? Genes are just the information that tells your body how to grow whether you have blue eyes or ginger hair. it is your environment which dictates how you live your life and as for control that has more to do with situation you live in. Perhaps "control" is the wrong word?

Answer 4

We are, to some extent in control of our lives. We are also partially as you state it "under the illusion of having control of our lives". I believe in a partial branch or tree philosophy to a great extent. I believe that we make our own decisions along the way, but the decision we do make will effect our future to some extent. Say that there are 5 possible choices you can make in a situation. Each one of the choice leads off in to a different branch of the future with a different outcome. However on each of these branches there are more decisions you have to make so it starts to branch out like a tree starting at one point(your birth). So by the time you have died there will have been trillions of different possible futures that you could have lived if you had made different choices. However we are not in complete control of our lives as the decisions other people make also effect us and change the course of the current "branch" you are on. You may think your life is going great and will end beautifully but then you may be hit by a car. One last thing. No two branches or futures are ever the same. You may make a choice and the end may look similar, but something is always different because of one of the choices you made to go on to the current branch.

Answer 5

There is currently a lot of dispute (especially in the medical field) over how much influence our genes have (nature vs nurture)

Its true that while genes make us what we are, they certainly have no effect on how we act.

HOWEVER, there has been recent research that genes may have an impact on our behaviour and our general disposition. Look at dog breeds! Labradors are loving quiet dogs in most environments unless specific steps have been taken to alter their behaviour.

You might find this website of interest:

http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/behavior.shtml

Answer 6

Genes are not only responsilbe for our body development....they along with the environmental factors mold our behaviour...and our behavior controls our lives.

Answer 7

Genes make us who we are, they are the building blocks of our lives, it is up to us how we use them...
They make us a part of our parents and give us that unique relationship with our parents we don't share with anyone else, because they are a part of us, and contribute immensely to our lives.

Answer 8

try reading the selfish gene by Richard Dawkins very interesting

Answer 9

genes control what you look like
such as your hair, skin, and eye color
but they do not control our lives, they do not choose what we want we choose. and anyway there is no way of controling anyones lives no matter how hard we try.