A Better Me a Better World

By George J. Butorac

Despite unprecedented technological developments and material bounty, our nation and the rest of the world face ever-growing moral quandaries. We are still beset with continuous warfare and religious strife along with a litany of other past transgressions. These are all exaggerated by our population growth along with the growing complexity of life. In addition, our technological progress has created even more severe morality quandaries than our ancestors ever imagined.

Brilliant figures of the past espoused many, still admired, moral goals for better living. However, they are mostly rhetoric because they didn't provide a rational approach for achieving them. Thus, we are now saddled with a morality that couldn't even cope with a far simpler age.

Fortunately, an explosion of knowledge interrelating genetics, evolution, and human physiology has occurred in recent years that can be used to construct a more relevant moral code. One, based on reality, that can lead us to a more equitable and prosperous future.

A Better Me A Better World integrates these recent discoveries into a clearer image of reality than any of our revered philosophers could imagine based on their mystical conjectures.

Three valid purposes of life are derived from a careful examination of these new discoveries. They are survival, evolution (being the best we can be), and enjoyment. The acronym SEE encapsulates this finding.

Next, a physiological morality that guides all human behavior was found. It uses the classic pain-pleasure principle to guide personal behavior toward compliance with the three purposes of life.

Next, it was found that the body has always used servo controls to guide all body functions. Servo means using continuous feedback to help control all body actions. The concept was first instituted by man in WWII, being used to guide missiles against targets. Servos are universally applicable. For example, applying them to all laws enacted would eliminate all the out-of-control outcomes we now routinely accept.

We will dramatically improve ourselves and the world around us by adopting moral guidelines based on these principles. We are truly living in a time of discovery if we will only open our eyes and SEE.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Aug 10, 2023
• ISBN: 9798886548396

Book preview

cover.jpg

A Better Me a Better World

George J. Butorac

Copyright © 2023 George J. Butorac

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING

Conneaut Lake, PA

First originally published by Page Publishing 2023

ISBN 979-8-88654-838-9 (hc)

ISBN 979-8-88654-839-6 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

To all objective persons seeking the truth

Preface

Adages

List of Tables

List of Figures

Introduction

1

2

Nurturing of Loving Behaviors Must Be Balanced

Religious and Scientific Views of Reality Are Incompatible

3

Figure 4. Improved national government organization.

Federal Subsidies for National Elections Are Cost-Effective

A Simple Election Questionnaire Is Feasible

Surprising Performance of Recent Presidential Administrations

(All dollars in billions)

DOD Effectiveness Glaringly Lags BIS Effectiveness

Utility Value Correlators Are Practical

Appeal Value Correlators Are Emotional

A Simplified Personal Income Tax Schedule Can Be Equitable

To all objective persons seeking the truth

Preface

Wake Up, America

USA, the shining country of the world, circa 2000, has become a democratic basket case—we can't agree on any constructive activity because of overwhelming political divisiveness. We are on our third multitrillion-dollar debacle of the past twenty years.

First was the arbitrary Iraq War and the ubiquitous War on Terror that besmirched our image to the world and drained our resources.

Next was the infamous bailout of our nefarious banking system in 2008 that demeaned American capitalism to the rest of the world. This action totally dismantled the Democratic Party, led to the election of an unethical president, and elevated China's economic prestige on the world stage.

Last and still ongoing is the COVID pandemic that needlessly drained our health, our unity, and our resources. COVID has cost more lives and national debt than WWII did. Most of the loss could have been averted with proper leadership. (To illustrate, Taiwan met its COVID challenge while suffering less than 1 percent of our death toll and financial deficit. However, an arrogant leader sabotaging legitimate attempts to thwart COVID on daily national TV broadcasts didn't hamstring Taiwan.)

In addition, we are beset with numerous internal and external challenges.

Internally, we face the following:

A mountain of debt beyond belief being juggled by a more precarious banking system than prevailed in 2008

An entrenched plutocracy reigning supreme in all three branches of government

A lopsided economic system driven by government bailouts, advancing technology, unemployment, trade confusion, and chicanery

A costly but inadequate medical system

A large minority denigrating science and truth, chasing phony elections, etc.

An out-of-control communicating system that distorts reality beyond simple comprehension and that fosters divisiveness

An out-of-control military-industrial complex.

Externally, we face the following:

Overpopulation with uncontrolled immigration pressures throughout the world

An existential threat of global warming with continuous energy squabbles

A growing threat of epidemics

A continuing threat of terrorism

Extreme vulnerability of our World Wide Web to foreign as well as domestic interference.

Emergence of China on the global stage

I wrote a book, A Better Me A Better World, over twenty years ago. It defined a rigorous approach to solving numerous societal problems festering at that time rather than the balloon policy solutions than in vogue. The book, lacking a famous author and promotional know-how, languished. If heeded, the book could have alleviated our decline in the world. Its reasoned message is even more valid today in view of the horrendous decline outlined above.

This book defines moral guidelines that can lead us to a more prosperous and humane future. To start, it defines a realistic purpose of human life based on our innate physiological morality. It also explains how evolution impacts our current behavior and how our bodies function.

It then provides simple guidelines on how persons can use their humane brain segment to transcend their reptilian and mammalian liabilities and continuously improve mentally, physically, emotionally, and morally.

It adapts servo control concepts perfected by all life forms and cellular societies since the beginning of life on earth to positively impact the effectivity of current human societies. The fact that you are alive today dramatically demonstrates the value of servo controls.

Adages

Historical adages infused in A Better World A Better Me

The virtue of a mind is to understand clearly and distinctly, and not ignorantly to believe… Moral theory must be based on man's nature; not man's nature upon moral theory. (Spinoza)

Fanaticism composed of superstition and ignorance has been the sickness of all the centuries. (Voltaire)

We obey the laws, whether they are actually on the statute books or belong to that code which, although unwritten, yet cannot be broken without disgrace. (Pericles)

An inexhaustible, vital impulse orients all of creation to greater perfection and lies at the core of evolution. (Bergson)

Without proper knowledge, right action is impossible; with proper knowledge, right action is inevitable. (Socrates)

Laws and institutions must go hand in hand with progress of the human mind. (Jefferson)

Equality means everyone should be given equal opportunity to develop his or her potential to the maximum. (Sun Yat-sen)

One should abstain from making one's living through a profession that brings harm to others. (Buddha)

Why protect people from anti-social physical behavior and then ignore unsocial economic behavior? (Durant)

We should understand mind and body in biological rather than theological terns. (Dewey)

Final morality can only come with one world…we have to protect what order there is until that day arrives. (Durant)

List of Tables

List of Figures

Introduction

All rational humans wonder about the meaning of life and our purpose in being. Even though we have amazing intellects, with unlimited potential for finding answers to these questions, few of us dare to do so. Burdened with indoctrinated prejudices, we bury our heads in benevolent ignorance rather than face an unfolding reality with its uncertain future. Many of us are like Jack Nicholson's adversary in the movie A Few Good Men: we can't handle the truth. It is my contention that if we have the courage to face reality, we can take giant steps toward living better lives and building a better world.

The pursuit of reality has been on the back burner of my mind since childhood. A major puzzlement of my early years was how often my inner views differed from the status quo. One of my first dissenting thoughts happened at church. It was an All Souls' Day service, and the pews all contained prayer cards. Each card had a sequence of boxes. They correlated value of contribution against prayer credits given for the donor's intention. A donation of one dollar earned prayers for one month, and ten dollars bought prayers for one year, while forty dollars attained prayers for a lifetime. My mind rebelled at the prospect of my immigrant parents being barely able to afford the minimum. Besides, the concept of buying goodness didn't ring true in my mind.

This type of thinking stayed with me even during my adventuresome adolescence. Much later, my deeper thoughts reached a boiling point during the Vietnam War. During the height of that war, social chaos wracked America. We had the unprecedented resignations of Pres. Richard Nixon and Vice Pres. Spiro Agnew; widespread antiestablishment demonstrations led by a hippie crusade based on draft dodging, drugs, free sex, and rock music; and the emergence of militant minorities. These events were amplified by a communication media frenzy more intent on generating heat than light. This pathetic state of affairs precipitated my first book, Ones Are Always More Than Zeros. It was an attempt to develop a rigorous approach to social morality by adapting a proven methodology from science. I believed then and still do now that the key to our fantastic technological progress is the development of basic laws based on objective repeatable truths, which channel and accelerate further advances. Lacking a similar rational basis, sociopolitical economic progress is extremely difficult, if not impossible.

Six basic laws were postulated in the book. They covered birthrights, making a living, forming a more perfect union, promoting the general welfare, establishing justice, and providing a common defense. Many of the points made then are even truer today. Several examples are as follows:

Unlimited population growth is still the greatest threat to life on earth.

Continued religious squabbling and associated warfare still plague us.

The social chaos that was anticipated by the aid-to-unwed-mothers program has come to pass. You can't track an elephant in a foot of snow if you couldn't foresee this disaster in the making.

The self-serving greed of our judicial system has further corrupted public morals. The recent O. J. Simpson murder trial set a new standard of infamy based on the waste of public resources, the circus atmosphere, and the obfuscating tactics and theatrics employed by defense attorneys, all culminating with an irresponsible verdict.

Millionaire ballplayers going on strike and charging for autographs illustrate the worst aspects of capitalistic greed and exploitation.

Our political system is still controlled by special interests, with chicanery and demagoguery as the status quo. Voter cynicism is at an all-time high. Licenses to steal are still issued to cronies. The mushrooming public debt is a concrete testament to our political ineptness.

The communications media have further degraded their social responsibility in ways that make the Vietnam era look pristine.

Twenty years later, I retired from the aerospace industry when a two-year diversification effort I was leading, in medical electronics, was aborted due to the excessive legal risks involved. But this effort was my most intensive learning experience with an in-depth exposure to human physiology. I discovered answers to many perplexing questions relative to how we function, think, heal, learn, and enjoy.

I spent two more years reading extensively about evolution, psychology, sociology, philosophy, therapy, and history. I then wrote Discover the Joys of Living in 1994. It represented an attempt to understand the essentials of and actions leading to joy in living. When human physiology and behavior as well as social behavior are viewed in the light of evolutionary history, it becomes a clairvoyant experience. Many previously inexplicable phenomena emerged from the murky darkness of my mind into the bright sun of enlightenment.

I spent another three years studying philosophy and economics. It became evident that the conflict between reason and blind belief is of long standing, extending back to the beginning of recorded history. From Babylon, Egypt, Greece, Rome, Judea, India, and Arabia to the present, the only changes in this conflict are due to the differences in the particular flavor of the religious belief in vogue. Advocates of the blind beliefs persecuted any form of dissension, and nonbelievers were treated as heretics and pariahs.

As we look down the expanse of recorded history, there seem to be three approaches to understanding reality. First came religious myths attempting to explain the meaning of life and alleviate our anxieties regarding death or unknown phenomena. Next came a rash of metaphysical jargon, attempting to deepen the meaning of the earlier myths. These outdid one another in intellectual extravagance but were bereft of any added enlightenment. Last, there is the scientific method based on premise, observation, measurement, verification, and open critique. Early practitioners were universally castigated. Fortunately, they persisted, and now we are on the threshold of finding factual answers to many of our past misconceptions.

It became clear that the esoteric rhetoric of many ancient philosophers, based on pure conjecture, obscured the realities of life rather than illuminating them. I believe their worldviews would change drastically if exposed to modern discoveries in genetics; human physiology, especially brain chemistry; and evolution. In a similar vein, economic treatises of the past geared to a pastoral or early capitalistic society are also irrelevant today.

New clues to the meaning of life are mushrooming around us if we will only remove our historically imposed blinders and SEE. Here are some examples to illustrate:

A wealth of current evidence indicates the purposes of life are to SURVIVE, EVOLVE, and ENJOY. A meaningful acronym, SEE, for Survive, Evolve, and Enjoy, invites you to evaluate the authenticity of that statement by reading this book.

Further, humans have evolved over 3 billion years from primitive life bits and exhibit many personal and social characteristics reflecting this heritage. And humans are transient participants in the ultimate optimization experiment, the continuing evolution of life on earth.

It became increasingly apparent that this vast array of emerging knowledge could be used to enhance my first book. There are now three basic themes reflected throughout this revised effort:

Universal laws are still needed to guide personal and social behavior if we ever expect to achieve sustainable progress and/or survive in the long run.

Understanding evolutionary history and body physiology lends tremendous insight to comprehending contemporary behavioral problems and to postulating their solutions.

The body's marvelous method of controlling behavior is universally applicable to any managed function. This method relies upon having clear goals, using feedback to continuously compare results attained against the goals, and continuously applying desired corrections. This scheme is called servo control and is gaining ever greater acceptance in modern life.

Thus, my new book, A Better Me A Better World, addresses how humanity can best further its purposes in being. This work focuses on the American scene but is universally applicable. The book is divided into three major parts and a concluding commentary. The first part defines a rational purpose in being along with discussing how evolution and human physiology influence human behavior. It explains why we act the way we do. The second part discusses how to use this knowledge to become a Better Me, while the third part provides guidelines leading to a Better World. It concludes with the thought that an organized world society is inevitable based on the evolutionary flow of history.

You may or may not agree with the messages presented in the following pages, but I humbly request that you read with objectivity and not select only those passages that reinforce your prejudices.

One further point, I challenge you to read this book in its entirety without discovering a worldview closer to reality than the one you are now holding. You will need an open mind and have to restrain yourself from choosing a verdict until you finish the book. It may discomfort you to shed some of your treasured prejudices, but the long-term future of a saner world depends upon your doing so.

The virtue of a mind is to understand clearly and distinctly, and not ignorantly to believe. (Spinoza 1670)

1

Humanity Laid Bare: Or Our Purpose in Being

This chapter builds the foundation for developing the Better Me and Better World chapters. It provides a rigorous approach to defining a valid philosophy of life and to understanding human behavior. The approach integrates recent discoveries in the life sciences into a meaningful whole. The resultant worldview is based on reality rather than wishful thinking. Once you digest this illuminating information, I am confident you will find much to agree with in the rest of the book.

A Voice of Reason

When in the course of human events, exponential population growth continues even though worldly resources are unable to provide a decent subsistence to a growing multitude; religions, which are supposed to be our moral beacon, actually foment continuous warfare; there is a universal lack of meaningful moral leadership; and lust, vulgarity, greed, hate, injustice, cowardice, stupidity, and despair assail us from every communications medium, extolled as the new virtues of an enlightened liberal life, it is time that a voice of reason be raised, that moral laws be restated, and that humanity sets a course for a future capable of exceeding its past.

America has long enjoyed widespread material prosperity. In fact, our welfare recipients receive greater creature comforts than two-thirds of the world's inhabitants. Yet the so-called good life is developing ever-greater festering sores. Some examples are listed here:

All major cities are turning into slums despite billions of dollars in subsidies and welfare, our prison populations are exploding, and teenage crime and gang killings are reaching epidemic proportions.

Family life has disintegrated, with growing teen pregnancies and single parenting both contributing to mushrooming delinquency.

Minority extremists of all persuasions relentlessly pursue their pet interests, often tyrannizing the majority.

Sports and other mass entertainment have assumed religious auras with temples (arenas) paid for by taxation rather than by tithing, and a tremendous array of related icons, relics, and totems are marketed to the devout in a manner that puts historical religious abuses to shame.

Ever-growing hordes of immigrants are clamoring at our borders, which clearly indicates the squalid environments they are trying to leave. And can you blame them for wanting to leave the abject poverty of their homelands?

These problems and others like them, though real and disturbing, are not the roots of our personal and social malignancies. They are due to our continuing refusal to accept objective reality regarding life on earth. Despite the outpouring of knowledge currently available regarding evolution, human physiology, and genetics, we still let primitive misconceptions govern our behavior.

Due to the prior lack of factual information, humanity has long been subjugated to an outpouring of self-serving and even altruistic myths regarding life and creation. From human sacrifice to appease the reigning gods, to divine rulers, to Middle Age superstitions, these beliefs have proliferated. Lacking a rational basis, they are often accompanied by frenzied passion because that is our only refuge when factual data are missing.

Fanaticism composed of superstition and ignorance has been the sickness of all the centuries. (Voltaire 1750)

The major premise of this book is my belief that principles leading to scientific progress can be effectively applied to our personal and socioeconomic lives, and considerable new knowledge is currently available for us to do this effectively. The following comparison details the key differences between scientific and religious belief systems.

Scientific reality versus religious beliefs

Many credit the birth of modern science to Francis Bacon in the early seventeenth century. However, such luminaries as Democritus, Aristotle, and Archimedes sowed the seeds of the scientific method in the cradle of Western civilization, i.e., Babylon, Egypt, and Greece.

Democritus, born in 460 BC, wrote on mathematics, physics, astronomy, medicine, philosophy, music, and art. Called Wisdom by his contemporaries, he believed that genuine knowledge comes only from investigation and thought. Natural laws rather than willful gods rule over all. And wise men will cultivate knowledge to free them from passion, superstition, and fear.

Aristotle, born in 384 BC, used the students in his Lyceum to organize all the knowledge of his day. He accepted senses as the only source of knowledge. He classified all known animal and plant species and developed the first inventory of animal organs that closely resemble their human counterparts.

Archimedes, born in 287 BC, is generally acclaimed as the greatest scientist of the ancient world. He is best known for discovering specific gravity. He also wrote extensive mathematical treatises and formulated laws of levers and pulleys that are still used.

Science reached a zenith in Alexandria, Egypt, between 300 and 30 BC. Shortly thereafter, Christendom and the Dark Ages curtailed all scientific endeavors in the Western world until the time of the Reformation and Francis Bacon. Although Bacon's approach resembles that of Aristotle most, he called Democritus the greatest of the ancient scientist-philosophers.

A self-professed pursuer of knowledge, Bacon wanted to learn as much about the environment as possible and then correlate this knowledge into useful theories. It was said of him that he had desire to seek, patience to doubt, fondness to meditate, slowness to assert, readiness to consider, and carefulness to dispose and set intact. Bacon was instrumental in establishing an objective experimental approach to gain knowledge, in contrast with the religious dogmatism of that time. Several of his European contemporaries were persecuted and even executed as heretics for holding similar views.

From those humble and troubled beginnings, modern science has grown at an ever-increasing rate. The scientific approach spawning this progress consists of the following:

Reliance upon factual environmental truths verifiable by others regardless of their nationality, religious persuasion, or geographical location

Establishing basic laws from these truths that provide a rigorous methodology for predicting and controlling natural phenomena

Encouraging all attempts to broaden the knowledge base and/or challenge the status quo.

Refining the basic laws as necessary to keep pace with the growing pool of knowledge

Contrast this with our archaic approach to truth as espoused by all religions. Religious truths consist of divinely inspired rhetoric revealed to an anointed few. To my amazement, the rhetoric reflects the worldviews of the messengers more than the godly source. Note the jealous, warlike God of the Old Testament or of the Koran versus the loving, forgiving God of the New Testament. Or reflect on the veracity of St. Augustine's pronouncement (he is a revered leader of the early Catholic Church) that no one could live on the far side of the earth because they couldn't see the Second Coming of Christ. Augustine also claimed that a search for knowledge was dangerous.

Any attempts to challenge the divinely inspired messages are discouraged; dissenters are persecuted or even killed. Recorded history documents this repressive behavior in nearly all religions, even though they now want to act as if such atrocities never happened.

Since no effort can ever be made to correct absurdities in the divinely inspired messages because it would reflect upon the veracity of the messenger, objective knowledge has to be discredited. This has led to such folly as religiously enforced illiteracy, book burning, etc.

Scientific truth is like a growing organism; it has a rigorous foundation, akin to our DNA inheritance, but still has the ability to adapt to new discoveries, which further evolution is sure to produce. Religious truth is mummified with ancient ignorance. This precipitates the attempts by all religions to ignore or constrain the use of new knowledge whenever it supersedes their espoused dogmas.

On the one hand, our scientific approach has led to vast technological achievements, while on the other hand, our religious methodology prevented human morality from evolving in consonance with our advancing civilization. This gap is widening even now.

The rest of this section introduces basic background material, which will be amplified in later chapters. It includes recent evolutionary, genetic, and physiological findings; a brief analysis of the barriers hampering acceptance of these findings; a basic definition of morality; and an introduction to the specific approach taken in the rest of the book.

Evolutionary findings are convincing

Evolution indicates changes taking place over time. These changes occur universally in that all matter is involved. We generally think of evolution in a positive sense; however, an eroding mountain is also evolving.

Pertaining to life, evolution is taken to mean that all present life-forms, including humans, stemmed from more primitive beginnings. Although gruesome to contemplate, we do have reptiles and mammals in our heritage. And this ancestry still reflects how we behave today. This is vitally important if we ever expect to understand our current behavior.

Opposition to evolution, mainly on religious grounds, is decreasing due to the overwhelming objective evidence currently available. This evidence includes the following:

A growing fossil record is continually being enriched with ever-earlier life-forms and by discovering more and more so-called missing links relating one life-form to another

Recent discovery of the DNA code that controls the formation of all life. It clearly indicates the evolution of life by a historical record more accurate than any written document.

A comparison of reptilian, mammalian, and human anatomies shows that we all have body symmetry, with balanced appendages. Our skeletal systems, backbones, and internal organs are similar. It is like looking under the hoods of several cars and saying, Yup, they've all got the same engines!

A comparison of our respective physiologies shows that we function identically in many regards. Our breathing, digestive, circulatory, metabolic, and nervous systems are nearly interchangeable.

The most significant differences between humans and animals are their relative brain sizes and associated performance capabilities. Reptilian brains are a small fraction of human brains. They have little flexibility and limited capability. Most of their wiring (programming) is fixed at birth, making nurturing unnecessary.

Besides being larger than reptilian brains, with greater capability, mammalian brains have more open wiring connections at birth. This enables the mammalian young to absorb parental nurturing influences. In turn, this capability facilitates the beginnings of a mammalian social life, i.e., the young get indoctrinated to the ways of their kind.

The human brain is larger still, with vastly superior capabilities. Yet surprisingly, it retains reptilian and mammalian aspects that influence our behavior even today. We possess all the innate capabilities of our primitive ancestors, plus much greater flexibility. Thus, we require considerably more conditioning before we can effectively participate in society. The importance of these observations will be developed later.

Genetic findings disclose secrets of life

Discovery of the DNA molecule, which is the key to heredity and to how life-forms, by James Watson and Francis Crick in 1953 earned them a Nobel Prize. It was a significant milestone in history, with far-reaching implications. A major industry has been spawned from it that produces new products daily, such as insect-resistant crops and age-resistant produce.

In addition, Project Genome, a major federally funded effort that will significantly influence our future, was initiated in 1990. Its objective is to unravel the complex DNA molecule that contains the unique life recipe located within most of our 100 trillion body cells.

This is a gargantuan effort. It has to map approximately 3 billion pairs of data into approximately 100,000 genes. The project is slated for completion by 2005, at an estimated cost of $3 billion. Japan and a European consortium are pursuing similar efforts.

Completion of Project Genome early in the next century is going to initiate a new era for humanity. It will unravel many facts of existence still clouded in mystery. Output from the effort will impact much of our future culture; especially the following:

Medicine. Where the relationship between personal ailments and genetic deficiencies will become clarified. In the future, physical exams will include evaluations of our genetic codes.

Evolution. Where we will be able to track the history of humans back to the initial bits of life. This will clarify many historical misconceptions.

Reproduction. Where we can positively identify parents and even forecast genetic liabilities with accuracy. This will impact parenting decisions.

Criminal justice. Where we can use genetic codes for positive identifications and for correlating defective genes against corresponding antisocial behavior.

Religion. Where positive proofs will disprove historical myths, necessitating revisions in dogma. The pope's recent acknowledgment of evolution is a step in this direction.

Other long-held myths and prejudices will also be dispelled by Project Genome findings. For instance, there is only about a 1 percent gene difference between humans and chimpanzees. And only about 40 out of our 100,000 genes distinguish blacks from whites. Many blacks are genetically closer to some whites than other blacks, and vice versa.

Results from the project will precipitate morality problems never anticipated before. For example, do we permit genetic engineering of human embryos, or do we knowingly prevent the reproduction of acutely abnormal persons? Can you imagine the day when it will be possible to custom-order household pets or for teenagers to routinely generate new specimens of life? These capabilities will be within reach and graphically demonstrate how cultural advancements are outpacing the limits of our current morality.

If you think this is far-fetched, think of the electronic revolution of the past fifty years. Today, teenagers can routinely generate musical compositions far advanced over what was possible then. This is enabled by vast technological support in the way of synthesizers, amplifiers, etc. Teenagers are also adept with computers, video games, and other electronic amusements that were unheard of then. There is a similar genetic revolution coming. The first outputs are already here with genetically improved produce and test-tube babies.

Like all major technological advances, the potential for mishap is ominous. Many moral and ethical issues must be resolved. For instance, an out-of-control mutant plant or animal can pose a threat to human existence. On a lesser note, public disclosure of a latent bad gene may cause employment or insurance problems or even have negative social implications for the unlucky recipient. Efforts are currently being made at worldwide meetings to resolve potential technical risks and social problems associated with the DNA knowledge being unraveled. Used properly, the output from Project Genome can provide a giant boost to humanity.

Physiological findings focus on the brain

Candace Pert and Solomon Snyder achieved another important milestone for humanity in 1973 when they discovered how human brains communicate. Specialized messenger molecules are used that are invisible to our most powerful microscopes. This explains their past elusiveness. Their discovery precipitated an avalanche of brain research; the US Congress has designated the 1990s as the decade of the brain. Since the brain contains approximately 0.5 billion neurons and ten times that many support cells and each neuron has an average of 1,000 interconnections, it is obvious this research will continue for a long time to come.

Several significant findings have been uncovered to date. These include the following:

Messenger molecules found in the brain are also used to interlink emotional, physical, and mental behaviors throughout the body. Thus, how we think can also affect how we feel. These same messenger molecules are found in other animals, higher-level plants, and even single-celled organisms.

All health cures function in a similar manner regardless of whether they are initiated by therapeutic drugs, religious ecstasy, shaman incantations, hypnosis, or electrotherapy. They all precipitate a similar chemical reaction in the brain. A believable placebo can be just as effective as the best-known drug for effecting a cure.

The presence or absence of specific messenger molecules in the brain has been correlated with several common mental abnormalities. This has paved the way for new attacks on ailments such as depression and Alzheimer's disease.

Research has also clarified how brains control body activities. There is a division of labor within the brain. Its primitive segment, centered around the brain stem, controls survival functions, while the cerebral cortex controls voluntary (conscious) functions.

For the most part, survival control is hard-wired according to the DNA blueprint. It directs all activities affecting existence, such as breathing, heartbeat, body temperature, etc. It was long thought that there was no conscious influence of these functions, but research shows they can be affected with appropriate mental concentration, imagery, or alarm.

The bulge in our foreheads that other animals don't have houses life's evolutionary masterpiece, the cerebral cortex. Small segments of the cortex are prewired, but for the most part, its programming is flexible. This makes indoctrination of our young especially critical because it sets a lasting pattern in the brain. Fortunately, voluntary programming can be altered, even in old age, but it is more difficult to relearn than it is to learn. That is why young children can pick up a language so readily and why habits picked up in youth tend to become ingrained.

There has been an age-old debate regarding whether heredity or environment impacts behavior. It is obvious they both do. Heredity plays a greater role in survival activities, while environment prevails for conscious efforts.

The immune system, a major portion of the survival structure, is the least-understood body function. Recent research is finally bringing some rationality to our past misconceptions. The system's effectiveness and performance are amazing. It keeps track of the most common body invaders and can adapt appropriate defenders in a manner that maximizes their effectiveness. Repeat attackers are immediately apprehended; that is why vaccinations work. New attackers pose identification problems; that is why viruses like the flu bug, which can mutate continuously, are more difficult to defeat.

We have also determined how miracle cures are effected and that mental state influences physical health. Strongly held concepts in the mind have the same capability as signals generated by body senses to influence survival behavior. Signals generated by the minuscule molecular detectors located in the immune system can also control survival behavior. Thus, you could say human bodies have seven basic senses rather than the normally recognized five. To sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste, we can add conscious mental images and microscopic immune system detectors.

The concepts introduced here will be expanded upon in later discussions.

Many barriers deter acceptance of reality

An obvious question, crying for an answer, is why more people aren't entranced with the recent discoveries in life sciences, which are resolving many of humanity's past mysteries. The answer is complex but requires airing if we ever expect to overcome our current provincial thinking.

First, we are floundering morally because humanity lacks a single unifying purpose. Up until the last fifty years or so of Western civilization, Christianity and its antecedents from Israel, Greece, Egypt, and Babylon served that need. They did this with myths and promises clothed in solemn rituals with strong emotional appeal. Many of the resulting moral guidelines were beneficial. However, some were and still are destructive. Worse, they are incapable of evolving with the growing rationality of the world. With each new discovery in life sciences, the gap widens between religious dogma and objective reality. Emerging knowledge threatens past beliefs and disrupts the comfort of our lives.

Our refusal to come to grips with the death threat that faces us all is a major impediment to defining a secular moral code. When our overwhelming urge for survival confronts the finality of death, our vivid imaginations