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THE EVOLUTION OF THINKING AND IDEAS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE
POLITICS OF REPRODUCTION
Irina Pollard, Dept Biological Sciences, Macquarie University,Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
e-mail [email protected]
Cover design from Integrated Sciences
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
BIOLOGICAL
Genetic
Organizational
Ecological
MIND THOUGHTS
Culture
Language
Ideology
Superstition
Innate
Political
Legal
Aesthetical
(Illustrations from Johnson, Rayle & Wedberg ‘Biology: an Introduction’ Benjamin/Cummings, 1984)
Secular
Religious
Social
Ethical
NEW IDEAS ORIGINATE THROUGH EXPERIENCE, KNOWLEDGE, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
(Drawing by Betty Thorn)
THALIDOMIDE - Harmless Tranquillizer?
- Teratogen?
- Pain Reliever?
- Cure for Leprosy?
- Cancer Treatment?
Lepromatous leprosy(courtesy Dr. S. Lucas,
University College Hospital, London)
From S. Mader ‘Human Biology’. McGraw-Hill, 2000
ON THE EVOLUTION OF IDEASMEMES AND GENES ARE CO-EVOLVING UNITS DRIVING SOMATIC EVOLUTION
Brain uses reasoning and imagination
Ideas
Inferential or Epistemic
(facts & reasoning) (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 INFERTILITYINTRACYTOPLASMIC SPERM INJECTION TECHNOLOGY
3. DESIGNER CHILDREN AND GENE TECHNOLOGYTODAY’S HOTTEST THREE BIOTECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENTS ARE:
a) Greater knowledge about genetic causationb) Neuropharmacologyc) 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 TECHNOLOGYA: 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
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)
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)
EVOLVING SOCIETY - EVOLVING ASSISTED REPRODUCTION
(from ‘India Today’, December 22, 2003)
(From New Scientist 10 January, 2004, p 30)
