Science, Religion, Politics and in the pursuit of truth – HappyPsychotic

The Babel Effect

// July 1st, 2009 // GlenncloseAuthor: Glenn Name: Glenn C
Email: happypsychotic@gmail.com
Site: http://www.happypsychotic.com
About: Glenn is 36 years old and now lives in a small town in Northern Ontario with his wife of 13 years and 2 kids. He has been a foster parent for 10 years in 3 different cities. He graduated from Radio College of Canada (Toronto) in 1993 as an Electronic Engineering Technologist and has been working in the electronics industry ever since with companies like Nortel. Glenn does a good amount of reading, studying and thinking about such topics as philosophy, psychology, physics (Quantum Mechanics), religion and science. Glenn does have an I.Q. of > 140 (as does Chris) which is categorized as genius but hasn't bothered joining any I.Q. type clubs. He is very logical and analytical and always looking for a way to make a better world - primarily through self-improvement and in helping others to improve themselves. Most importantly, he constantly re-evaluates his priorities and ensures his time is spent wisely - like working on this site.See Authors Posts (92)

I found another good book called “The Babel Effect“, after giving up on the last 2 books I started because I found them pointless and boring.

I suppose what I find most interesting about this book is how it makes me think about the causes of good and evil.  In the book, there are 2 half brothers who are very different – one is on death row because he is a mass murderer, the other has declined to accept honours from various groups that he has helped over the years including risking his life to save Jews during WWII, even though he had no personal connection with any Jews.  So the main character is trying to determine if there are any reasons behind why one person is “evil” and another is “good”.  Is there a genetic reason?  Is it due to environment?  Is it due to parental upbringing?  Is it a disease that you catch?

And the characters also struggle with the profound consequences of what the world would be like if one of these reasons were proven to be true.  For instance, if an “evil gene” was discovered, we shouldn’t incarcerate criminals, we should give them medical treatment, and we could screen everyone in the world to determine if they are good or evil and immediately segregate them until (or if) they are cured.  Another consequence would be the loss of “free will” – if you knew you were “evil”, you would probably get pretty depressed as you resigned yourself to a life in prison, or in a hospital or whatever, waiting to be cured.

Due to the fact that as far as I know, there have been no scientific discoveries as simple as “I found the gene that does X”, it is unlikely that we will find a “good” or “evil” gene.  And also due to the fact that we humans really do feel like we make our own choices in life (however illogical that may actually be), I’m thinking that all these things (genetics, environment, upbringing etc.) have an affect but are not ultimately responsible for our choices in life.  But I really don’t know why I (for instance) have a strong desire to help people that appear to need help, while others appear to think very little of others, and seem to only care about themselves.