Marc writes:
As you know, I am an extreme Darwinist with a very biological & a very
functional view on human behaviour. There's no contradiction between
biological & cultural. Think of the bird dialects that differ according
to the forest they live in. Or the dolphins who learn the peculiarities
of their individual sounds from their mothers.
Gerry: You say there is no contradiction between biological and
cultural? Are you also saying that what has been labeled as cultural
(Boas et.al.) is determined by genetics? Yet as illustration you
mention bird calls differing according to the forest they live in. Are
you implying that genes "think"? IOW, are you saying that genes "know"
they are in different forests so they change their tunes? Hmmmm. This
is most peculiar. If language were genetic then the calls would be the
same because there were be a cluster of genes that is labeled "oral
twitters and peeps". WOW. This is a significant thought. This means
that those medical folks who think they can perform gene therapy and
replace a defectively constructed gene with one that works properly are
WRONG! Yikes! Stop all the Operating Room surgeries! We've got a
horrible problem on our hands! What can be done! Gosh Marc, any
suggestions? Whew, I'm so pleased that you pointed this out. And it's
a good thing you're an extreme Darwinist -- the entire human race could
have been doomed.
Gerry
2/18/00
--
Gerald Reinhart
Independent Scholar
(650) 321-7378
waluk@...
http://www.alekseevmanuscript.com