Transcript THE EVOLUTION OF THINKING AND IDEAS WITH SPECIAL

THE EVOLUTION OF THINKING AND IDEAS
WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE
POLITICS OF REPRODUCTION
Cover design from Integrated Sciences
Irina Pollard, Dept Biological Sciences, Macquarie University,
Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
e-mail [email protected]
MODEL OF THE MIND AS UNDERSTOOD
IN THE MIDDLE AGES
Drawing of the orbits of the mind
by the Paracelsian mystic Robert
Fludd (1574-1637), based on the
classic three-cell model of the
brain. The first paired ventricle sensus communis or sensory
analysis - is situated at the front
of the brain and communicates
with the middle ventricle – ratio,
cognatio & aestimatio or reason,
thought & judgment - in the
forebrain, which connects through
a narrow canal with the last
ventricle - memoria or memory –
in the brainstem
THE EVOLUTION OF IDEAS AT VARIOUS LEVELS OF
POSSIBILITY
MIND THOUGHTS
Genetic
Organizational
BIOLOGICAL
Ecological
Culture
Social
Language
Ideology
Secular
Religious
Superstition
Innate
Ethical
Political
MIND THOUGHTS
Legal
Aesthetical
(Illustrations from Johnson, Rayle & Wedberg ‘Biology: an Introduction’ Benjamin/Cummings, 1984)
NEW IDEAS ORIGINATE THROUGH EXPERIENCE,
KNOWLEDGE, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
(Drawing by Betty Thorn)
Lepromatous leprosy
(courtesy Dr. S. Lucas,
University College Hospital,
London)
THALIDOMIDE - Harmless Tranquillizer?
- Teratogen?
- Pain Reliever?
- Cure for Leprosy?
- Cancer Treatment?
From S. Mader ‘Human Biology’.
McGraw-Hill, 2000
ON THE EVOLUTION OF IDEAS
MEMES AND GENES ARE CO-EVOLVING UNITS DRIVING SOMATIC EVOLUTION
Brain uses reasoning and imagination
Ideas
Inferential
(facts & reasoning)
or
Epistemic
(beliefs, perceptual experience &
theory of knowledge relating to
culture & religion)
ON THE EVOLVING COMPLEXITY OF IDEAS:
A PERSPECTIVE FROM THE ASSISTED REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES
(from The Good Weekend,
November 9, 2002)
TOWARDS A
CREATIVE FUTURE
(from The Sydney Morning Herald
December 21-22, 2002)
CHALLENGING THE NOTIONS OF HUMAN NATURE
AND THE CAPACITY FOR ETHICAL CHOICE
1. CLINICAL IN VITRO FERTILIZATION
TECHNOLOGY
(from H. Leese ‘Human
Reproduction and IVF’.
Macmillan, 1988)
What is normal birthing?
(from Good Weekend, November 8, 2003)
2. MALE-FACTOR INFERTILITY
INTRACYTOPLASMIC SPERM INJECTION TECHNOLOGY
3. DESIGNER CHILDREN AND GENE TECHNOLOGY
TODAY’S HOTTEST THREE BIOTECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENTS ARE:
a) Greater knowledge about genetic causation
b) Neuropharmacology
c) Prolongation of life
The human gene for telomerase has already been patented by
the Geron Corporation
It has already been suggested that we will be able to sidestep
the problem of consent in genetic engineering through the use of
artificial chromosomes, which can be added to a child’s normal
genetic inheritance but switched on after the child’s old enough
to give informed consent
4. STEM CELLS AND CLONING TECHNOLOGY
A: BORN AGAIN - REPRODUCTIVE CLONING
Dolly, the first mammal cloned
from an adult cell nucleus –
her demise creates uncertainty
about cloning
Does the clone bear the scars of its parent’s
aging DNA – the lived life - or does cloning
somehow restore genes to a state of original
elegance? (Rosamond Purcell, 1987)
(from the Bulletin, August 5, 2003)
B: THERAPEUTIC CLONING –
GROWING BODY PARTS TO ORDER
5. GRAND OLD PARENTS: THE TECHNOLGY OF
MAKING MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN FERTILE
Rashpal Singh 52 and Rajbir Kaur 50
Married for 24 years, they have two daughters but have
sought medical help for a male heir - “I need a son to
complete my family,” says Rajbir (from India Today,
December 22, 2003)
Dalip Singh 58 and Savinder Kaur 56
Ten years after the menopause, Savinder conceived quadruplets
through her niece’s donor eggs. Fetal reduction converted them
to twins (from ‘India Today’, December 22, 2003)
EVOLVING SOCIETY - EVOLVING ASSISTED REPRODUCTION
(from ‘India Today’, December 22, 2003)
(From New Scientist 10 January, 2004, p 30)