Review: The Gene

This is modern contemporary science canon. Dr. Mukherjee has written a comprehensive read that is so, so necessary. He carries us from the Greek philosophers to Mendel to the modern debates about gender, mental health, gene therapy and CRISPR babies. In fact, if you have not read The Gene, it is probable that you cannot intelligently debate any of these topics.

Our current world is ruled by three units: the atom, the bit, and the gene. The first is unquestionable and its secrets have been drawn out. We have broken it down into its constituent pieces, figured out where it comes from, and we've figured out how to get more. Hell, we've created its polar opposite.

Of the bit- well, we understood it so well that we created a worldbrain that threatens to doom us all to hell.

But of the gene, we know very little, at least in pop culture. The ideologically-aligned people that take the gene very seriously -think race theory and intelligence inheritance- are those that reject the chemically complex and error-prone process of sex and gender divergence. Likewise, there are those who completely ignore the gene and consider it an abysmal tragedy of Western civilization. They end up cutting off men's balls because gender is purely socially-driven while also affirming that gays and lesbians have no choice.

(This may seem like two strawmens, but, remember, in a world of more than 100 people and Twitter, every strawman is instantiated at least once).

These knowledge-failures are driven by myths and fallacies and common sense. They're driven by personal ego defenses:

"Anybody can become a world-class athlete". No. They can't.
"Sex and gender are determined by whether or not somebody has a Y-chromosome." No. It isn't.
"My personal success is driven by my grit and strength of will, my choices"... which are all genetic.

Atoms and bits do not determine who we as human beings are, but genes do. This makes them incredibly important. Imagine if God wrote down, "This is why I've made you the way I have, and this is how I've done it, and this is why you behave the way you do and why you are condemned". The answer is there, written in the blueprints of your body and mind.

Humans have spent 2000 years trying to read the text. Let The Gene take you on that journey.