Well, insemination, but I’m just being cheeky.

Just wanted to give an example of what I believe to be ‘cellular memory’ otherwise referred to as instincts. Many human beings are very afraid of falling from heights, the same mechanism tells us we need to not be relaxed around a wild animal that is big and has lots of sharp teeth. When we have not experienced certain events yet we somehow know to avoid them or appropriately react or respond, where does this knowledge come from? A female human being that has given birth will have such instincts in regard to taking care of her child.

Depending on the individual, there are always variables in regard to consciousness.

It is not that people are complete slaves to these built in mechanisms, but I believe they are very real. It seems the more aware a being is, the better the response is. I believe we are supposed to be aware of why we think and act and feel as we do, so that we can adjust in regard to the world we live in, to the point that we can create better and better society.

I also understand where you are coming from, and what I tend to think about it, is that both of our points are valid and have a measure of truth.

In fact, I totally agree with your statement about how society impresses upon people attitudes and behaviors. Movies, television, music, all forms of social media as well as institutions like that involving religion and education, all create archetypes, models that people clone themselves and each other after. As I am certain you know, it can be very oppressive!

I am about to read the book: The naked ape after a friend mentioned I should read it after reading some of my points here. Have you read this book?

Hope you are having a great week!

SMILE

I personally do not believe in concepts like cellular or genetic memory. I think that evolution has taken a pass on most of our behavior, giving us general things (like “sexual desire”) and letting us figure out the rest.

This does not mean we are not evolving – but rather that we are involved in an evolution of thought and culture rather than DNA. I think it is a mistake to assume that things like “masculine” and “feminine” are somehow encoded into our bodies as behaviors. Rather, we as a culture are very good at teaching men and women how to be masculine and feminine respectively, and that teaching is successful most of the time.

Like you, I am looking forward to a day when gender is much more mixed up and diverse, but I think that day can happen relatively soon (perhaps in a couple generations) because it is a matter of cultural change rather than biology.