RE: The biological goal of the human mind

-----Original Message-----
Behalf Of Andrew Wayne Austin

>I am not aware of any convincing research showing that genes drive human
>behavior. What is the physical mechanism linking the strands of proteins
>we call genes to the behavior we call human?

I didn't suppose you were aware Andy, that's why I supplied the references.
What's the mechanism?  If you drink coffee or beer then you already know the
mechanism.   The genes control us with pleasure/pain drugs.  In other words,
we are all "junkies" with our genes doing the pushing.

Take, for example, "dopamine":

"Dopamine belongs to a group of brain chemicals called monoamines, a family
of neurotransmitters involved in many different aspects of behavior --
personality, depression, drug and alcohol use, aggression, eating, and sex.
It is tyrosine, a common amino acid found in many food stuffs, with a few
little changes at one end.

"Dopamine is synthesized in the cell bodies of neurons located in the middle
of the brain.  One group of cells shoots their axons into the limbic system,
the primitive region involved in emotions, and the prefrontal cortex, which
is involved in reasoning.

"Dopamine alone is not enough to give us a rush.  Dopamine is a key that
open a lock.  The lock is called a receptor, a large protein that sits on
the surface of brain cells.  The receptor is recognized by dopamine but by
no other chemical, just like a lock can only be opened by the correct key.
When the dopamine snuggles into the waiting receptor, the tumblers turn.
Inside the brain begins a series of chemical reactions." [p. 36, LIVING WITH
OUR GENES]

Jay -- www.dieoff.org