I was going to sit down Sunday and write something insightful and philosophical ( ) but then the power went out for 20 hours and it was time to go back to work again. So maybe I'll get back to the Shakespare and Whedon later in the week, but in the meantme, one question and one thought:

Thought: Agnes, a better example of what you're thinking of might be Egil (Bud) Krogh -- you might remember him, he went to jail for the break-in of Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office. I saw an interview with him years ago and, unlike most of the other Watergate "alumni," he seemed to be a person who really turned himself around -- he sought out Ellsberg and the psychiatrist to make amends, recognized that what he did was wrong and took responsibility for it, and seems to have tried to make the rest of his life mean something. I don't think his basic nature ever changed -- he got caught up in someone else's fantasy and figured out he was wrong pretty quickly, but he didn't try to make excuses or deny his own responsibility.

Question: Heraclitus, what does the author say about environment and/or the interaction between DNA and environmental factors, if anything? I don't just mean nature v. nurture, but also our physical environment, and the things we do to it. For example, there have been some studies suggesting/finding a correlation/connection between lead poisoning and anti-social behavior -- see http://www.independent.co.uk/environmen ... 98151.html for one article. Not to put it all on lead (or any other pollutant), I guess I just find it hard to put everything on DNA -- maybe in some individuals, yes, but it just seems more likely there are a combination of factors at work.

The mind is the building, the cells of the mind are the rooms of the building, the genes in the cells are the bricks that make the building, and the dna is those cells are what the bricks are made of.
Complex chemistry has near infinite variables when morphed with sentient beings.

thank you for the thought eileen!

(also, glad your power is back)

Not wrong, Larry. For example, how often has Switzerland gone to war in contrast say, to France and how often has France launched a war since Napoleon although they get into any European war by virtue of being in a no-barrier-to-invasion geography?

A predictor of war willingness is the history and location of a nation, and in the cases of the former imperialist colonies, the culture of the colonizer. Why? War competence has a lot to do with the institutional competencies of a state which arise endogenously or as a result of acquiring institutions from colonizers.

War is a game of nations, not persons. Violence is a game of persons and that is so variant among persons it would be tough to lay that at the feet of DNA although as a means given survival, protection of the young, finding food, etc., it is common. As a neighbor said when my first born arrived, "And now you know there is something you will kill for" and she wasn't wrong about that.

As someone said: we have a war ministry but no peace ministry. So do the Swiss. They aren't prone to use it. In America, we are.

Larry wrote:

"The mind is the building, the cells of the mind are the rooms of the building, the genes in the cells are the bricks that make the building, and the dna is those cells are what the bricks are made of.
Complex chemistry has near infinite variables when morphed with sentient beings."


Forgive me for deviating from this intriguing thread for just a moment, but I just wanted to make an observation: I think that this is the first time I've ever heard Larry refer to a brain cell in the plural sense

Well, I think Larry was referring to mind cells rather than the brain cell. The brain cell is one of the mind cells; I'm not sure what the other mind cell is -- maybe it's the gut cell? -- but I'm sure the mind is more than the brain. I think.

No, no, no. Larry is referring to the brain cell we all share. He gets a hold of it and won't let go.

I totally agree with Eileen that "the mind" is a much different critter than "the brain".........the brain being more or less a tool that is at the disposal (maybe not the best word to use) of the mind, sort of like a part of the body, a "mechanical" instrument.......I think Eileen is alluding to the concept that "the mind" is more aligned with what we might call the soul, or the "divine spark".......or spiritual-ness. In any case, speaking strictly and semantically, Larry (in my experience) has never referred to more than one brain cell. Just an observation, as I said. Larry.....oh Larrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyy.......please give us insight, you hoarder of the brain cell

Oh, I know about the brain cell. But what Larry said was:

"The mind is the building, the cells of the mind are the rooms of the building, the genes in the cells are the bricks that make the building, and the dna is those cells are what the bricks are made of. Complex chemistry has near infinite variables when morphed with sentient beings."

No brain cell, plural or singular, mentioned there. So I don't think this can count as the first time Larry has referred to plural brain cells.

Also, I'm just being anal-retentive here, not spiritual.

But, now that I think about it, what's the mortar, Larry

Are you sure? Sometimes it is hard to tell. They do share about 95% of our DNA structure (according to those who look at these sorts of things). They also have to survive in trying times. It is just something to consider.


Sadly, I think war, terror and genocide have survived the coming of the atomic bomb.



I don't understand this one? I guess wafers of god and jugs of wine/blood are institution food.

Eileen, I will have to get back to you sometime on your environment question, it is a good one. (who knows where the time goes)

The brain is the physical. The mind is the metaphysical. The cell is where Bush and Cheney belong.

Come off the brain cell dude! It appears to be dividing and multiplying at an alarming rate

My math teacher told me that you can't divide and multiply at the same time.

That must have been the day you missed the mytosis lecture in biology class.......

(tee-hee)

i was just thinking...when i think of "spirit" i think, a person experiencing being...kind of beingness...but i don't put religion to it...i think religion kind of confuses the spirit...at least that is how i see it. maybe i am taking liberties with the word...or maybe the word is just fuzzy anyway...anyhow those are just some passing thoughts

see ya!