Tag: DNA

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Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #2,367

yeah I know you did not ask!

You should so be blessed – well cursed at times actually – with a mind such as mine, making all these weird connections between my rumored neurons. Just be thankful that I do not share all of my random thoughts.

 

El cascarrabias

Next time you are troubled by one of your fellow travelers in this absurdity we call life,  consider this:  You share 99.9% (sources vary from 99.6 to 99.9%) of your DNA with every other Homo sapiens on this planet. What a big deal, positive and negative, we make of that 0.1%.  That amount of difference is just a little more than a standard size shot glass in a 15.5 gallon keg of beer.  It is one McDonald’s cheeseburger among a pile of 1000 similar sandwiches.

And just in case you are feeling smug… While we are not direct descendants of apes, chimpanzee, and bonobos, we do share a common ancestor with them.  As such we share 98.8% of our DNA with them.  That is a difference of 16 shot glasses in our keg of beer, or 12 cheeseburgers in your pile of  1000 such sandwiches.

So by and by when next you look deeply into my sorrowful, wistful simian eyes… remember that.

And so it goes.

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Michelangelo’s David

david_statue_webI have always enjoyed the statue of David by Michelangelo.  There are a number of reasons for this. First, it is a wonderful expression of human achievement by a master at the top of his game.  The detail is phenomenal and exquisite.  The statue looks like with just slightest of breathes he could come alive and jump down from the pedestal to begin a full human life. 

Besides being a beautiful piece of art, it depicts a beautiful human.  It appears that the granite “DNA” has co-mingled to form the ideal male.  While not gay it is certainly a male body that I appreciate and enjoy observing.

There is also a more mundane reason I like the statue.  The male sexual organ as usually depicted and photographed would make Man-O-War blush with feelings of inadequacies.  As a young man this wonderful statue made me feel “normal”.  Well at least in that one regard.

There is a Jamaican man that works where I do. For the most part he is very understandable, but occasionally his accent and my mish mash of accents makes communication a little less than optimal.  He came around one day asking if I knew the artist Dávid.  Not being entirely sure what he had just said, I asked him if he was talking about Michelangelo’s statute of David.  He looked at me funny for a minute then said, “You mean the one with the small penis?” 

Make room in your stall , Man-O-War,  I’m coming in blushing from head to toe.

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Memes, is there a self?

memeI just finished reading a book by Susan Blackmore, The Meme Machine. 

Meme may be an unfamiliar term to you so I will attempt to explain to the best of my limited ability.  All of us are familiar with DNA and genes; these can also be termed replicators.  It is how the blueprint of a species is passed down the generations.  Modifications/mutations of DNA are the backbone of evolution.

Memes were not first proposed by Ms. Blackmore, but she explores the concept deeply.  It is her contention that what separates Homo sapiens from other species is our ability to imitate.  Continue reading “Memes, is there a self?”