Definitely, Sidharth Mukherjee’s The Gene: An intimate history is one of the best in the category along with Richard Dawkins Magic of reality. Especially for me. I always find it hard to understand the scientific concepts without relating to personal experience – something I can see or feel or imagine
I have also found that many scientists struggle with their desire to be objective and precise when they come across genes, atoms, or singularities which can not have a single definition that is complete in every aspect. So, they try to insist on their perspective by either ignoring others or making us more confused about other aspects.
But Mukherjee has looked at Gene from multiple aspects and perspectives helping me to understand and realize instead of teaching directly bombarding with scientific terms.
My interest in genes is primarily from its characteristic that it is a unit of heredity carrying instructions from one generation to another. What I learned from the book complements perfects with what I learned from philosophy.
As you rightly pointed out “People used to say the Brahmins are dominating because they have genius brains”. Knowing myself, I can authoritatively say that it is wrong. But when I went deeper into philosophy I realized that one becomes a ‘Dwija”(twice-born) not merely by the qualities one inherit at birth, but by developing his consciousness and moving beyond emotional pulls and pushes of Tamasik(Physical pleasures), Rajasik(emotional pleasure) and Satwik (Intellectual pleasures)Gunas. Our philosophy is much deeper, even Mukherjee mentions Plato tracing the origins of the history of genes but ignores the Indian philosophy - maybe because we jumped to consciousness dismissing the Body as a temporary form.
Similarly, I understand that irrespective of evolving definitions of the gene, it is basically a unit of heredity, and it carries across generations in the form of nucleic acid. But each human being is an experiment in process. Genetical activity is influenced by what we inherit, the environment we live in, influences of their genes, and even by what scientists call chance.
How humans think, talk, and reacts is even more complex. And you have rightly emphasized in this post, “the way she (Dame Jocelyn Bell) thought and acted was not so different from mine.” Each of us so like others at one level but unique in many other aspects. This depends upon how each consciousness evolves within the limitation of the Physical body and environment. Depending upon the attachments and associations we inherit and develop as consciousness manifest in our body.
Definitely, Sidharth Mukherjee’s The Gene: An intimate history is one of the best in the category along with Richard Dawkins Magic of reality. Especially for me. I always find it hard to understand the scientific concepts without relating to personal experience – something I can see or feel or imagine
I have also found that many scientists struggle with their desire to be objective and precise when they come across genes, atoms, or singularities which can not have a single definition that is complete in every aspect. So, they try to insist on their perspective by either ignoring others or making us more confused about other aspects.
But Mukherjee has looked at Gene from multiple aspects and perspectives helping me to understand and realize instead of teaching directly bombarding with scientific terms.
My interest in genes is primarily from its characteristic that it is a unit of heredity carrying instructions from one generation to another. What I learned from the book complements perfects with what I learned from philosophy.
As you rightly pointed out “People used to say the Brahmins are dominating because they have genius brains”. Knowing myself, I can authoritatively say that it is wrong. But when I went deeper into philosophy I realized that one becomes a ‘Dwija”(twice-born) not merely by the qualities one inherit at birth, but by developing his consciousness and moving beyond emotional pulls and pushes of Tamasik(Physical pleasures), Rajasik(emotional pleasure) and Satwik (Intellectual pleasures)Gunas. Our philosophy is much deeper, even Mukherjee mentions Plato tracing the origins of the history of genes but ignores the Indian philosophy - maybe because we jumped to consciousness dismissing the Body as a temporary form.
Similarly, I understand that irrespective of evolving definitions of the gene, it is basically a unit of heredity, and it carries across generations in the form of nucleic acid. But each human being is an experiment in process. Genetical activity is influenced by what we inherit, the environment we live in, influences of their genes, and even by what scientists call chance.
How humans think, talk, and reacts is even more complex. And you have rightly emphasized in this post, “the way she (Dame Jocelyn Bell) thought and acted was not so different from mine.” Each of us so like others at one level but unique in many other aspects. This depends upon how each consciousness evolves within the limitation of the Physical body and environment. Depending upon the attachments and associations we inherit and develop as consciousness manifest in our body.