Humans, free will, and genetics

 
 

As I read Isaiah Berlin’s analysis of the relationship between Romanticism and Kant (there is one), I find myself thinking about nature and free will. The trend, at least in the United States, is to attribute more and more behaviors to genetic causes. Aggression is supposedly on chromosome 12 (I'm inventing the #), solidarity on chromosome 6, mysticism on 18. We would be automatons whose programmed behavior is passed down from generation to generation. 

During the sequencing of the human genome, geneticists were surprised by the number of genes detected. 25,000 at most. Far fewer than the 100,000 predicted. 

http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/faq/genenumber.shtml

I’m delighted. Humans have only twice as many genes as a primitive animal like the nematode. Where are they all, these behavior genes? Attributing behavior to genes relieves humans of the need to make free choices, but above all, it relieves society of its responsibility to provide social justice, equity, egality. If some young people commit crimes instead of studying, if some fathers fail to fulfill their obligations, if some young girls become mothers too early, it’s genetic. Solution: medication? Genetic manipulation? Embryonic selection? Aldous Huxley? 

In the world of research, there is an unscientific tendency to exonerate society, and there is an unscientific tendency on my part to believe with all my heart that human beings can make responsible decisions as long as society provides them with a suitable environment. It has been found that apes that are being harassed by others are actually the most aggressive. If we harass the young males in our society by depriving their environment of the necessities of life and of dignity, they are likely to show aggressive behavior. It has nothing to do with their genetics, everything to do with society that fails them.

May all of humanity’s most beautiful dreams of justice, equality, and solidarity not be thrown away in the name of science.

Contributed by  - -  Arabella von Arx

Notes: Taking back the net - PEN 2018

The most shocking item about this panel? Yassmin Abdel-Magied was denied entry in the USA, the custom officials arguing that her visa was inadequate, a visa she had used in the past for similar purposes. She participated in the panel via Skype.

Yassmin is an activist and a writer, she defends islam, and women, and muslim women. She has met with a lot of hostility in Australia, where she grew up, and has had to leave for her own safety and sanity. She spoke about how to survive harassement.

Toll on mental state:
Harassment takes a toll on mental state. Victims need to choose their strategy (ignore, react, respond, etc). They need to self care. Get support from communities around, from other victims of harassment. They can protect themselves with barriers such as

+ staff that takes over social media
+ friends that offer support
+ spend more time in "real life", interacting with real people

Harassment also takes time and energy away from activists, writers, artists, undermining their activities and production.

Anita Sarkeesian was the target of a sexist hate campaign of unbelievable proportions, when she tackled the sexism in gaming.

"The gaming world still hasn't done much to improve their misogynistic representations of women in particular."

Typical hate posts: "she's a liar!", "she makes pots of money", death and rape threats.

Porochista Khakpour is a writer, journalist, editor of Iranian descent. She has been harassed both as a woman and a Muslim.

"Some writers have in their contract the number of people that have linked with their social media platforms, and they can't quit them if they fall victime to harassment."

She lives in Harlem within a community of Muslims. Some of them have become less vocal on social media because of the psychological toll that takes, including suicidal frames of mind.

Media and harassment:
The media covering the harassment is often inadequately prepared. They want to sell a good story at whatever cost. They want to represent both sides of the stories. But when a crime is involved, there are no two sides of the story, just one. PEN is issuing guidelines for the media to help them cover the issue.

It's very difficult to get the law to intervene effectively, to sue successfully.

Harassment has increased under the current government. Revolution Books in Harlem have suffered a huge increase of attacks.

Companies' attitude to harassment:
Facebook, twitter and instagram and other social media platforms were created by white American guys. They had little awareness about harassment, racism, sexism, and didn't think through the potential for harassment. Initially the companies did very little in terms of controlling hate. They're now doing a bit better. Twitter used to have a staff of 4 concerned with safety issues. Now they have a whole department, safety counsel, etc.

They do not have to give their users freedom of speech, as they're private companies. They can, and do now, set rules: such word can't be used, such behavior is inacceptable.


Contributed by  - -  Arabella Hutter von Arx








Anita Sarkeesian