The Worst Historians

Dear Blogger,

I totally agree with you there on not just psychological things, but literally everything in our lives from Diabetes II to failure to thrive syndrome.

We have lots of genes in our bodies that are UNEXPRESSED, just like a lamp has POTENTIAL for light, but until environment turns it on, the light will not be “expressed.” environment is the TOGGLE SWITCH for the expression for these genes in our bodies/minds,

Unfortunately some of these expressions of genes don’t seem to have an OFF switch and once they are ON they are ON forever.

My family had a saying “the same sun that hardens the clay, melts the wax.” The SAME CONDITIONS will get different resxults depending on the qualities of the material within the person, the object, or whatever is effected.

The person with the combination of genes prone to be expressed as aggression or submissiveness (and I think there are genes for lthis too) will react differently to certain circumstances.

IN cattle, they have found in the last few years that the tendency to become wormy is GENETIC, and that even though certain cattle are exposed to worms they will not be effected, that they will almost lbe immune to worms. They found the gene and are now working on breeding out the tendency to become wormy.

The cattle industry is also finally figuring out that STRESSED conditions cause the cattle to not gain weight well, and that the more naturally “flighty” or nervous cattle gain at a slower rate and require food, they have also learned that this is genetic expressed under the same calm conditions that other, more genetically quiet cattle do not stay stressed.

Years ago there was an ad for Carnation milk, “from CONTENTED cows”—well, contentment in a cowherd does make a big difference in the amount of milk produced, and in the beef herd as well. Exciting the animal before slaughter (which is ALWAYS done in commercial meat packing) gives the stress hormones a big jolt and that is why I cannot STAND to even smell “store bought meat” cooking. The taste of the meat from my animals is primarily I think different because the animals I slaugher or have slaughered are UNstressed as much as is possible. They never are frightened or alone, or hear the gun go off. “Oxy’s meat, from CONTENTED cows!” It doesn’t smell like FEAR when you cook it.

I remember reading all the debates from the middle ages about predestination (religiously) and people I think want to believe we (humans) have “free will” and for many years our physicians taught us a baby was a blank slate upon which nurture (or lack of it) wrote on. Of course I have never subscribed to that belief because of my experiences with animals.

Just as some people are borh tall and skinny, and able to run fast, and others are short, heavily muscled and are able to lift heavy weights we all have different talents and different deficits as well, but all the nurture in the world and training isn’t going to make the short heavily muscled guy into a long distance runner, or the tall slim guy into a heavy weight lifter.

So there are some combinations of genes that limit the range, depth and scope of what is possible with nurture.

These musings are not ONLY a scientific debate and study, but also a philosophical one as well.

On the news last evening in Arkansas a man condemned to be executed for his crime was found to have an IQ of 59 (retarded) and the cut off in Arkansas for executing a person for their crimes is an IQ of 65, so he is considered “retarded” by law and will not be executed. The families of the victims are upset because they believe he is “faking” (and in truth IQ tests are NOT that reliable within 6 points for one individual, but the debate and hard feelings goes on.

I had a cow one time that had a stick or twig in her eye, we took her to the vets and operated on the eye to fix it, and though she was a gentle cow, if you tried to pen her up for vaccines or spraying for flies, she would go NUTSO and try to kill you or herself before lshe would consent to be penned.

That of course was a LEARNED response to the extreme pain she had endured after being penned. She did not know we did it for her ultimate good or to save her life. One of my steers that I worked (oxen) had cancer in his eye as he got older and we treated it four times (very painful though we tried to numb it up) He, however, dreaded to go into the chute at my vet’s office, but he did not fight us, but it broke my heart the 4th time because he whined in anticipation of the pain like a dog anticipating a whipping. I didn’t know cattle could whine.

When it came back the 5th time, I chose to put him and his mate down together. They had been together as yoke mates for 16 years and if one had died, the other would have grieved terribly.

Same circumstance (eye surgery) different cattle—one submitted and one fought. Dr. Temple Grandlin, a victim of autisim herself, has done a great deal of research on the psychology of animals and animal handling that is low stress. She has developed humane and safer handling facilities.

Even some breeders are aware that different breeds of animals have different “personalities” (obviously from genetics) just as the Spanish fighting bulls are bred for aggression my own cattle, Scottish Highlands, are generally very docile.

Sometimes knowing that my genetics and my past environment and current environment have such a large effect on my moods, my thinking, my intelligence, my ability to learn, to remember, makes me feel that I have NO free will, that I am simply a trained great ape responding to cues as I have been trained, and over which I have no control.

Yet, I know that is not true, that I DO HAVE CHOICES, and the consequences that go along with them. The poor man with the IQ of 59 who is now on death row may not have had enough “sense” to make good choices given his IQ and background, but I DO and I WILL, but also realizing that I AM influenced by genetics AND environment, but ultimately the CHOICES are mine, and the consequences too.