I recently read a book by the Nobel Prize winning Belgian scientist Christian de Duve titled Genetics of Original Sin: The Impact of Natural Selection on the Future of Humanity. The author, who was a co-recipient of the 1974 Nobel Prize in Medicine, as well as the author of a number of other books, passed away not too long after this book was published. He was, however, ninety five years old.
I recommend the book for a number of reasons, but two in particular. First, it provides an excellent layman's overview of the science behind the theory of evolution by natural selection: sufficiently detailed and approachable, but not too technical. Second, one of his key conclusions is the same one I reach in The Unexpected Perspective. In his book he maintains "original sin is none other than the fault written into human genes by natural selection." He concludes that natural selection "privileges all of the personal traits that contribute to the immediate success of individuals." Further, he observes that natural selection favors cohesion of individuals within like groups and hostility to others, something that is obvious to all: we prefer to be with people who look and act like us, and distrust people who look different and who come from different backgrounds.
One particularly interesting thing he examines is the growth of the brain in mammals. He notes that it took about 600 million years for the brains of animals to grow to 21.4 cubic inches, but that it only took 2 to 3 million years for human brains to grow from 21.4 to 82.4 cubic inches. In other words, when viewed on a graph, the human brain's growth over time looks like a proverbial "hockey stick." He further posits that the human brain only stopped growing beyond this because of limitations of female anatomy: a larger brain could not pass through the birth canal of a Homo sapiens female.
While both his book and mine link original sin to evolution by natural selection, de Duve's conclusions are dramatically different than mine. De Duve's book is greatly concerned about the future prospects for humanity, embracing a Malthusian doomsday viewpoint. Natural selection has caused humans to be shortsighted and selfish, and as a species, we have collectively brought the Earth to the bring of ruin.
Though de Duve never explicitly stated it, he appears to have been either an atheist or a deist. As such, he felt that it is up to mankind to save itself. The latter part of the book then addresses the question, how can humanity overcome what natural selection has "gifted" to us as a species? He lays out seven possible options for humans to save themselves:
- Option 1: do nothing
- Option 2: improve our genes
- Option 3: rewire the human brain to overcome the problem of original sin
- Option 4: call on religions to be more influential
- Option 5: protect the environment
- Option 6: give women an opportunity to play a greater role in human affairs
- Option 7: control population growth.
While he did not say it, I believe he felt the options with the greatest potential for success were numbers two and three. He did not offer any specific way to accomplish this, but merely expressed how this would be desirable. While I think only option 4 makes sense, it is interesting to see his thinking on the other options.
The other reason I recommend his book is because I think it gives a good preview to the arguments that atheists and secular humanists will likely make in response to the idea that original sin is "baked in" to our genetics. I think they will recommend options 2 and 3, too. Are these options realistic? While I do believe that humanity demonstrates incredible capacity to improve technology, I'm extremely skeptical that it can be done. Further, even if it could be done, what is the chance that there will be lots of unintended consequences. After all, Victor Frankenstein had only noble intentions, but look what he created? While Frankenstein is but a fictional character, is it unreasonable to assume that even if options 2 and 3 might work, there would be a terrible toll to pay on the route to the destination? De Duve's option 4, particular in the Christian flavor, sounds like a better choice to me.
