Epigenetics: Is anybody born an asshole?

Recycled Being
Aug 25, 2017 · 6 min read

… and which one does come first, the egg or the chicken?

I would say women hold the most vital position in society. In and through their womb, manufactured and released every single building block of society: human. Womb is the first environment each of us learns from; what kind of food we will eat, how stressful the life that we might have to endure, and how much psychological support we might receive. Human embryonic body develops and adapts biologically according to this uterine environment. However, human body development does not stop in this prenatal stage, but it will continue later during childhood where we also learn to live in social and psychological environment.

The Earth is indeed a scariest place to be for such fragile, not-fully-functioning creature; human baby. Babies are born not smiling but crying. With that, babies learn to breathe the air, as their first physiological lesson of life on Earth. Their proprioception is still developing, along with their vision, cognitive, speech, muscular, and neural development. Each stimulus that babies receive affects greatly in the way they learn how to respond their environment. However, they are still unaware yet of their perception, and their ego is so freshly built that whenever they want or dislike something, they just need to cry or voice an unintelligible word and the adults will come to serve like “Abracadabra!”. But does the magic trick always work? This is what an Anthropologist Ernest Becker mentioned as confusion of cause-and-effect relationship in human childhood. Life is not a fairy tale. It is learnt, not entirely given; interpreted, not merely imitated; and inevitably mortal. Human babies have to learn about this the hard way as they are progressing toward adulthood.

The Polemic of Nature vs Nurture
At this age, babies do not even know what kind of societal system they are born into, the “never trust a stranger” formula, the law of quid pro quo, the enslaving monetary system, the sickening corrupt human behavior, the exploitation, and basically all the shit we adult face in everyday life. Those shits are what we subconsciously teach and introduce to a cute baby. Those shits are what we give adorable babies as a welcome gift for their arrival, and each shit will contribute into their later life as an adult; what makes them who they are (nurture). One might argue with biological reason such as genetic traits (nature). What is obviously biological is that humans are born naked, and yet here we are fully clothed.

The silence coming from human ignorance now is becoming deafening

Think of this kind of people, first group: a bully, a racist, a sexist, a person with “ADHD”, a homophobic, a thief, a suicidal person, an addict, and an asshole. After that, think about this second group: a friendly person, a philanthropist, a warmhearted person, an altruistic, and an honest person.

From one point of nurture, an African proverb says “it takes a village to raise a child”. What kind of social environment raises a baby into a bully or suicidal? The silence coming from human ignorance now is becoming deafening to the point that I think, doing nothing should be considered as a crime. But then, how come that the same environment also raises an honest person or an altruistic? From the nature point of view, the answer is easy: genes dictate human condition which means it is predetermined. Based on this nature point of view, it is equally saying that when you find an asshole, it is a deterministic quality like the color of your eyes. However, the real question might be: is this dichotomy justified?

Biopsychosocial Approach

Environment where the organism lives in is the factor that enables (or disables) genes to respond to such environment.

The ancient Latin adage says mens sana in corpore sano. It is one of the earliest integration of physical and mental health. In 21st century, psychiatry came with a model to view human health based on biological, psychological, and social aspects termed as biopsychosocial. This integration of separate fields is the more holistic perspective to understand the nature of human condition. Later, a professor in psychiatry, Dr. Dan Siegel introduced a similar term, interpersonal neurobiology. It represents interdisciplinary approach from neuroscience, computer science, physics, math, sociology, psychology, among others.

Some believe that mental condition like ADHD or schizophrenia is genetically programmed, but Dr. Gabor Maté (a physician who is popular with his work about addiction) might argue that nothing is genetically programmed except a small handful of very rare diseases which are infrequently found in human population. The most complex condition is a predisposition that has genetic feature, but predisposition is not predetermined factor. Environment where the organism lives in is the factor that enables (or disables) genes to respond to such environment. It is called as epigenetic infuence. Whatever predisposition we have does not predetermine our depression, high blood pressure, or eating addiction, but our environment more likely changes our brain or genes to respond such environment that way. Even for a child with a gene that links with violent behavior who grows in an environment that protects him from potential stimulus is no more likely to be violent than the child without such gene. In medical case, the cancer gene might be present in some people, but do all people with that gene suffer from cancer and do all of those who suffer from cancer have that gene? Just because you do not have genetic heart disorder, does it make you immune to it?

Instead of projecting individual issue, depression and other mental disorder suffered by people are the signs or symptoms which reflect more about the societal system they are woven into.

Looking at the bigger picture, social, economic, and political environments are mostly the causes of behavioral problems in society. Blaming genetic as the cause of mental condition and social behavior holds the same value as what Nazi would believe in Aryan superiority. We might as well use asshole as a clinical term. Saying “it’s in the gene” or using a term, a symbol, a made-up definition for mental disorder such as “I‘m diagnosed bipolar disorder” (which due to how frequent it is used by people it now sounds more like bipolar order), or “I’m clinically depressed” as an excuse for being an ignorant, egotistical, conflict generating asshole is so unjustified. Nobody is born an asshole. Instead of projecting individual issue, depression and other mental disorder suffered by people are the signs or symptoms which reflect more about the societal system they are woven into. What if the thing we recognize as bipolar disorder is actually epigenetic, that external factor, such as frequent exposure to mental oppression, has enabled the mind to behave a certain way? What if those who have experienced such oppression possess a degree of bipolarity in which some of them can control it, while others cannot? Our unfortunate past experiences might shape who we are now, but we can stop the cycle by creating the more conducive psychological and social environment for human species to learn from. It might be harder to climb up the stair than going down, but we are all able to learn, try, and improve our well-being in our own stair. If free will truly exists, then now is the best time to use it.

The Simulacrum of Human Life

It is the paradox of a mortal life that we are faced by the inevitable death but designed to survive it.

I tend to think this world of human is a giant asylum where most people are trying so hard pretending to be normal, when normal is apparently a worshiped symbol, collective illusion or dream constructed and shared through generations. Some of us pay with high price to reach that dream, even in the cost of their well-being. It is not an uncommon sight to see people prioritize their work over family, their reputation over their inner value, profit over humanity, and their ego over the truth. Eventually on the top of all their achievement, a stinking thought is creeping up their head: what does really matter? Selfishness, fear, greed, hatred, and transgression are advertised globally. These things are embedded deeply in our modern culture and some people easily adopt them. The myth of perfect life requires countable objects rather than uncountable, sacrificing the fundamental things that cannot be measured with number such as the meaning of one’s existence, compassion and human connection.

Life for mortal being is like a sand castle on the beach where the ocean waves continuously come to wipe out. It is the paradox of a mortal life that we are faced by the inevitable death but designed to survive it. The presence of such confusion for human species on Earth drives our mind to conjure a symbol based on our imagination into reality then we suffer from that, struggling to escape from it.

Help me answer the next question: out of the free will and limitless imagination humans are equipped with, why do you choose to be you?

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Recycled Being

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Stardust-made organic machine run by a chain of chemical reactions and built as a vessel of self-conscious.

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