Book contents
- Our Genes
- Frontispiece
- Our Genes
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Origins and Histories
- 3 The Mind, the Lab, and the Field: Three Kinds of Populations
- 4 Metrics and Measures
- 5 Models and Methodologies
- 6 Six Patterns of Human Genomic Variation
- 7 Natural Selection
- 8 Intelligence, Female Orgasm, and Future Discovery
- 9 Is Race Real?
- 10 The Conscious Universe: Genes in Complex Systems
- References
- Index
- Plate Section (PDF Only)
1 - Introduction
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 December 2022
- Our Genes
- Frontispiece
- Our Genes
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Origins and Histories
- 3 The Mind, the Lab, and the Field: Three Kinds of Populations
- 4 Metrics and Measures
- 5 Models and Methodologies
- 6 Six Patterns of Human Genomic Variation
- 7 Natural Selection
- 8 Intelligence, Female Orgasm, and Future Discovery
- 9 Is Race Real?
- 10 The Conscious Universe: Genes in Complex Systems
- References
- Index
- Plate Section (PDF Only)
Summary
As humans, we have a graspable identity that has been shaped by our individual and collective attempts to seek answers to fundamental questions: Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going? Where and to whom do I belong, and how can I help myself and others? The persistence of such questions may signal the insatiability of our human curiosity, but they also offer evidence of our possibly endless search for substantive, finite meaning. We yearn to identify who we are and to be part of something greater than our own limited individuality. This desire leads people to draw strong, even vicious, us-versus-them boundaries in political and social life. But it is also a spiritual wish to connect to all of humanity, indeed to all of life and the cosmos, and to take benevolent action accordingly (Figure 1.1, chapter opener). Even when answers to our questions about identity prove inconclusive, changeable, or otherwise unsatisfying, our search continues apace.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Our GenesA Philosophical Perspective on Human Evolutionary Genomics, pp. 1 - 17Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022