The Why of Differences

From a genetics point of view, we are all pretty similar (about 99.9% the same, if you believe some estimates). Yet, there are many observed differences in people. For, well, 99.9% of these, we pretty easily attribute it genes (oh, she's tall because her parents/aunt/uncle are). We know from high school biology that one of the things our genes do is tell our body how to grow and give our eyes and hair color. But, do our genes make us smart?

We all know people who are more/less intelligent that we are (however you want to define intelligence). As a culture, we are eager to say that someone got ahead on his smarts, but reluctant to say he's got a shitty job because he's stupid. We also tend to believe that smarts is something you get by working at it (studying hard, getting good experiences, etc.). Put another way, we don't look at high school kids' SAT scores and throw the low scorers in shop or home ec. And most people will not start a conversation about which group of people are smarter than another one.

What our reluctance to speak about intelligence masks is that any cognitive process (e.g., problem solving, learning and memory) must be physiological events. And if they are physiological they must be subjected to the same principles of genetics that other physiological processes are, right? Well, here's the science to back it up.

Basically, the researchers found that there are physiological properties of neurons (brain cells) that allow some to transmit faster (quicker thinking) than others, and these properties are inherited. Of course, if they isolate the gene that increases these properties, then drugs to make us smarter could be created. But that's a ways off.

It's important to note that genes, in some respects, are templates for our potential. Environment and behavior certainly determine how much of our potential (whether it be intelligence or height) that we can obtain. But this, and other research, do show that we get more than our eye color from our parents. Now, if I could only develop the easy to administer test of the quality of brain myelin...

A Death in Science

One of the most important people in all of psychology and neuroscience died Tuesday. He wasn't a researcher, therapist or teacher. Rather, he was an unfortunately brain injured man, known as HM, who served as a link to understanding the physical nature of memory.

The Holy Grail of neuroscience now is the understanding of exactly how memories are formed. When HM was first studied, scientists didn't even know where memories were stored.

Among psychology students, the term HM has always been a quick shorthand for someone who can't remember something. So, if my wife can't remember something easy I'll say, "Your car keys are in your hand, HM."

Philosophically, his case is interesting. What would your life be like if you couldn't remember things after a certain point in time? Would life be fascinating or frustrating if everything seemed brand new? On one hand, you'd only have to own one book, but would have to read it pretty quickly for it to make sense. But, it would be impossible to build meaningful friendships.

RIP, HM.

Thinning the Job Market

As an atheist, people assume that I get upset when school districts want to have creationism taught in schools. I usually don't because a) those dumbass laws usually get repealed after those school board members who vote for them get voted out and b) the more kids who grow up learning that shit as fact ,the fewer competitors for good jobs when the HB when he applies for college. But, this takes the cake.

Now, to say that dinosaurs roamed the earth with people goes against pretty much everything that evolutionary biologists know. That's OK, there was a time when the greatest scientific minds thought the world was flat. But, I need a little proof. And note that some people don't think that dinosaurs even existed since they aren't mentioned in the bible. But, the museum's website states that they've got a good story to tell, even without scientific evidence. Basically, they give it away with their marketing statement: Prepare to Believe. Personally, I think we're better off preparing to Know.