############################Hi James,
Thanks. I agree with you fully about interlevel causation. This is something UTOK tries to help folks get clear about. Indeed, in the UTOK’s taxonomy of science given by the ToK into Periodic Table of Behavior (attached), your analogy is good, but not quite what UTOK gives. Rather, it is cells (floor 5) that are Life’s equivalent of atoms (floor 2) at the Matter level. The reason is that both cells and atoms are primary units of organization. Genes are the fundamental “digits of biological information” and correspond to Floor 4, and are akin to subatomic particles (floor 1).
Not sure if you saw that Lee B. posted this article earlier. My reply was:
“If anyone believes either that “genetics determines all/there are one-to-one gene-behavior relations” OR that “genetics have nothing to do with our talents, dispositions, or proclivities,” then they simply are not educated in the science of (mental) behavior.”
Both atoms and genes are justifications/constructions, so long as that is the referent point we mean in the semiotic triangle (i.e., our human constructions versus the referent). Of course, they are also both scientific ontological concepts that refer to things in the ontic reality (i.e., they are not just justifications/constructions, which is what something like a fictitious novel is).
I fully agree with you about knowledge helping us to depolarize society, I welcome any opportunity to help people start on a journey of awakening to the truth. Moralizing about genetics, either as entities that determine human behavior or as inevitably dangerous concepts that lead us to Nazism are not pathways to the truth.
Best,
Gregg
From: tree of knowledge system discussion <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of James Gien Wong
Sent: Monday, September 20, 2021 4:48 AM
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Subject: This article seems to point to a confusion of interlevel causation
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Obviously a very touchy subject...
The thought that occurred to me, from this forum’s perspective is that genes are the biological equivalent of atoms for the physical universe - genes are the reductionist atoms for the biological universe. Just as it is quite difficult to generalize causality arguments of quantum effects observed at subatomic scales to ones at human/ macroscopic scale, it is difficult to generalize observations at the bio-molecular level to the human psychological level.
Perhaps a ToK framing of the problem can enlighten both polarized sides of this contentious argument?
Both atoms and genes are the result of constructed, scientific human narratives. It seems to me that the psychological unpacking of how we humans construct stories is critical for our collective survival at this time. From climate change to vaccines to behavior genetics, it’s our constructed and divergent storytelling that lay at the center of the storm. A deep understanding of how we emerge and use language to construct our stories seems highly salient to depolarizing society.
--
Wishing you WELLth
Gien
Future Ancestor
Pull a thread here and you’ll find it’s attached to the rest of the world. - Nadeem Aslam
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