Research ArticleOpen AccessGoogle Scholar indexed
The Heritability Challenge to Evolution and Materialism: An Opening for Religious Perspectives
71 Azalea Road, Rochester, NY, 14620, USA
- 1 71 Azalea Road, Rochester, NY, 14620, USA
Open Journal of Philosophy·Volume 08 (2018)·Pages 355–364·Published 25 June 2018·DOI10.4236/ojpp.2018.84025
Copy link · social · email
Abstract
There are under-appreciated, serious behavioral challenges to science’s understanding of life and its evolution. The general challenge to that understanding, though, has unfolded in the form of pervasive failures in the search for the DNA origins of many heritable characteristics. Science has placed enormous faith in the presumed workings of DNA, including of course as a foundation for evolution. The stunning inability to identify the DNA bases for many heritable characteristics amongst humans—sometimes termed the missing heritability problem—is a big challenge to the largely unquestioned, biological vision. This situation is discussed herein along with its possible implications for religious perspectives.
KeywordsReligion and ScienceEvolutionReligionGeneticsMaterialism
- Balter, M. (2017). Schizophrenia’s Unyielding Mysteries. Scientific American, May 2017.
- Carroll, S. (2016). The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself. New York, NY: Dutton.
- Christopher, T. (2017a). Science’s Big Problem, Reincarnation’s Big Potential, and Buddhists’ Profound Embarrassment. Religions, 8, 155. http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/8/8/155
- Christopher, T. (2017b). A Hole in Science: An Opening for an Alternative Understanding of Life (Expanded Third Edition). https://www.amazon.com/Hole-Science-Opening-Alternative-Understanding/dp/1629670693/
- Collins, F. (2010). The Language of Life: DNA and the Revolution in Personalized Medicine. New York, NY: HarperCollins.
- Fromme, P., & Spence, J. C. H. (2017). Split-Second Reactions. Scientific American, 316, 62-67. https://doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican0517-62
- Green, E. D. (2013). Human Genome, Then and Now. New York Times, 15 April 2013.
- Hall, S. S. (2010). Revolution Postponed. Scientific American, 303, 60-67. https://doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican1010-60
- Horgan, J. (2014). http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cross-check/2014/10/14/quest-for-intelligence-genes-churns-out-more-dubious-results/
- Kingsley, D. M. (2009). From Atoms to Traits. Scientific American, 300, 52-59. https://doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican0109-52
- Landau, E. (2009). Born in Male Body, Jenny Knew Early that She Was a Girl. CNN, 14 June 2009. http://edition.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/06/12/sex.change.gender.transition/
- Latham, J., & Wilson, A. (2010). The Great DNA Data Deficit: Are Genes for Disease a Mirage? http://www.independentsciencenews.org/health/the-great-dna-data-deficit/
- Lewin, R. (1980). Is Your Brain Really Necessary? Science, 210, 1232-1234. http://www.rifters.com/real/articles/Science_No-Brain.pdf https://doi.org/10.1126/science.7434023
- Mayr, E. (2001). What Evolution Is. New York, NY: Basic Books.
- Mukherjee, S. (2016). The Gene: An Intimate History. New York, NY: Scribner.
- Orr, H. A. (2009). Testing Natural Selection. Scientific American, 300, 44-51. https://doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican0109-44
- Pinker, S. (2002). Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature. New York, NY: Viking.