Is This a Blow to Determinism?

This is a story that's interesting enough in itself, but the ramifications philosophically are quite profound. A man who had a bone marrow transplant to treat leukemia now carries *only* the DNA of his donor within his sperm cells.  Recent decades since the discovery of DNA has seen an understanding of it grow up that it contains the plans for making us who we are- a pretty deterministic model if taken at face value.  But how much of us is determined (or at least influenced) by DNA and how much goes beyond that- either as 'nurture' or something metaphysical?  It would have really gotten interesting if he'd had children after treatment, but that's no longer possible as he's had a vasectomy after his second child.  This case will certainly create more questions than it answers.

5 comments:

MikeD said...

It's the whole Calvinist argument all over again. My personal opinion is that DNA is not destiny. It may cause tendencies, but we are not bound to those tendencies. Just because you have a genetic disposition towards alcoholism doesn't mean you WILL be an alcoholic.

I found the more compelling thing about this story to be the idea that DNA evidence (what we considered the "gold standard" of CSI evidence) can be so easily deceptive.

Assistant Village Idiot said...

The story notes that the man had had a vasectomy, which had likely allowed a secondary source of DNA from the bone marrow to overtake his previous DNA. My takeaway is that knowing the source for DNA is going to be more complicated than we thought, not that the effect of DNA on behavior is discovered to have weakened.

Nearly everything in behavior and personality is heritable, the question being how much. We have also found there is a large random element in all of us WRT the combinant genes. The part that isn't genetic is more uncertain than it is environmental.

Grim said...

It's a fascinating story. What we should be doing is a phenomenology -- basically getting him to journal, write down everything about his experience, and compare it with his existing record. If he becomes a different person in a substantial way, that's one thing. If he doesn't, well... that's something else.

douglas said...

Yeah, I'd love to see more research on his case (and perhaps others?). It certainly pokes a big hole in those who would cling to a deterministic/genetic view, and in a rather dramatic and convincing way- assuming the man still seems himself, and not more and more like the other fellow every day.

ymarsakar said...

DNA is like RAM or solid disc hard drives. It does not make you a different person or soul. What it does is give you access to different chakra and fate/quantum knowledge/powers.

Humanity barely understands anything about DNA, that the Sons of God and the elohim designed and coded to bring about current life. It's actually an inside joke by now. Humans are children, pretending they are wise adults.