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Social norms and their dynamic
In his Coase Lecture of 1995, the legal and social theorist Cass Sunstein (1995; 1997) analyzed the life-cycle of norms and in particular a phenomenon he termed "norm cascades." Sunstein noted that normative change sometimes occurs with striking rapidity. Thus, there may seem to be a consensus on some standard of behavior, for example that homosexuality should be a criminal offense or that interracial marriage should be discouraged. For most people, these precepts will appear to be sheer common sense. Yet such apparently taken-for-granted norms are sometimes abandoned with surprising speed. Sunstein asked: How and why does this happen?
That question has also been posed by a host of other scholars, including both philosophers and empirically-minded social scientists, primarily economists and social psychologists. Indeed, the authors of a recent working paper on social norms and their measurement comment on the current "bewildering array of social norms models and their terminologies." Fortunately, as they also note, the models tend to agree on a few key tenets, in particular, that social norms are maintained by shared beliefs about what others do and think should be done and by the expectation that publicly going against the grain (either in deed or word) will be costly, eliciting overt or covert social disapproval or even stronger sanctions (Mackie; Moneti, 2014).
Theorists also assume that not everyone within the relevant reference group will share the prevailing perspective; that norms are almost always to a greater-or-lesser degree contested.1 Agents who hold contrary views about what constitutes appropriate or desirable behavior in their community or the larger society may actively strive to change standards. In past 50 years, examples of these "norm entrepreneurs" would be civil rights activists, animal-rights activists, and environmentalists; in respect specifically to the domain of genetic services, they would also include feminists, bioethicists, and religious, patient-advocacy, and disability-rights activists.2 These agents can exploit the fact that what appears to be an entrenched consensus may in reality be quite shallow. Thus, some individuals' private judgments may diverge from those they feel comfortable articulating in public since to do so would brand them as deviant. Occasionally, they will even be mistaken in their assumptions about what most others believe; in situations where it is difficult to evaluate the content and prevalence of others' beliefs, their judgments may in fact be much less deviant than they realize (a situation known as "pluralistic ignorance").
When for whatever reason allegiances are weak, even small jolts - from new information, technology, law, or elsewhere - can make a large difference, in some cases enabling those with an interest in norm change to achieve rapid success. When enough people are convinced to either change their minds or reveal their true beliefs, the cost (real or presumed) of expressing what had been an aberrant view is lowered. If a tipping point is reached, the result is a norm cascade, where it becomes the older view that now evokes social disapproval. A recent example from the US would be opinion on gay marriage, which flipped in about a decade. In the end, the new norms may become so widely endorsed that they achieve the same taken-for-granted quality as those they replaced. And once internalized, they become essentially invisible because they are no longer challenged. This trajectory appears to have been the one followed by norms related to reproductive behavior, where widely-accepted views about what was appropriate in the 1960s and '70s became nearly unthinkable (or at least unspeakable) in the US, UK, France, Germany, and most other highly-industrialized Western countries by the 1990s. We begin the analysis with a brief mapping of the landscape of genetic services - genetic counseling, prenatal diagnosis, carrier testing, and newborn screening - in the early period, when the injunction to reproduce responsibly was widely endorsed both by service providers and their patients/clients.
Genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis, 1965-1980
A half-century ago, reproductive genetic services primarily consisted of genetic counseling, or as it was then often called, genetic consultation or genetic advice, a practice that had slowly expanded since its origins in the 1930s. Individuals sought counseling for a plethora of reasons. According to Sheldon Reed's Counseling in Medical Genetics (1963, p.156), the single largest group seeking help at the University of Minnesota's Dight Institute, which he directed, was prospective adoptive parents anxious to know whether a child of mixed racial ancestry could pass for white (and if they could, and married into the white community, what the color and facial features of the offspring would be.) Another common concern was the genetic risk of marrying a cousin. But in the US and presumably elsewhere, most clients were prompted to seek help by the presence of disease that had already appeared in their families.
Sometimes the goal was a diagnosis for an affected child, but it was almost always (or also) knowledge of potential reproductive risks. In respect to those risks, counselors were generally limited to providing statistical probabilities, and when the probability was substantial, the only means to act on the knowledge was to refrain from reproduction or further reproduction. Demographically, counseling was skewed toward the well-educated and financially secure. Advice was often - though not always - highly directive, at least when clinicians were confident that the condition manifested in children, its causation was truly genetic, and that they need not be concerned about incomplete penetrance and variable expressivity.3 But even non-directive practice was usually based on providers' assumptions that prospective parents who availed themselves of counseling services were unusually well-educated and responsible people who would make the right decision and that, in any case, they generally possessed good (heritable) mental and moral traits, which they would transmit to offspring (Paul, 1997; Comfort, 2012; Stern, 2012).4
In respect to both its size and scope, genetic services soon markedly expanded. In 1963, there were 28 genetics centers in North America. Within a decade, there were 387 in the US alone (Cottebrune, 2013, p.195). And whereas the only reproductive genetic service on offer had once been genetic counseling, the 1970s witnessed the development of both prenatal diagnosis (PND) and carrier testing. The rapid diffusion of PND, initially in the form of amniocentesis, reflected a convergence of technoscientific and social developments. Although amnio was not a new procedure, its value greatly increased with scientific and technical advances of the 1960s that enabled the culturing of fetal cells collected from the amniotic fluid and later the biochemical analysis of amniotic fetal cell cultures to detect inherited metabolic disorders. Advances in human cytogenetics also made it possible to diagnose some congenital malformations such as Down Syndrome and other autosomal trisomies as well as sex chromosome anomalies, and by the late 70s, alphafetoprotein (AFP), a marker for Down Syndrome, could be measured in maternal blood.5 Another factor in expanding PND was progress in obstetrical ultrasound that allowed doctors to visualize the trajectory of the needle, making amnio much safer.6 In the mid-1970s, studies in the US, the UK, and Canada confirmed that it had become a low-risk procedure, increasing its acceptability. In short, PND became increasingly accurate, easier, and safe, while its scope expanded. However, these technical and scientific developments would have counted for little in the absence of the decriminalization of abortion in a majority of Western countries including the UK in 1968, the US in 1973, and France in 1975. Once it was possible to terminate a pregnancy on the basis of test results, the use of PND exploded. By the end of the 1970s, the procedure in many countries had become routine for women over age 35.
Initially, state support for prenatal diagnostic services was typically justified as cost-saving on the grounds that use of these services would prevent the births of children with expensive disorders. In the 1970s, when such services were generally first established, and continuing well into the 1980s, it was common for geneticists as well as health economists and policy analysts to stress the financial burden to society of caring for individuals with chromosomal abnormalities such as Down Syndrome and the value of reducing that burden through expanded preventive genetic services. Such arguments often invoked cost-benefit analyses (Paul, 1998).7 Today, the use of cost-benefit reasoning, in which the abortion of fetuses with disabling conditions counts as a benefit of reproductive genetic services, has fallen out of favour, with critics condemning such reasoning as "eugenics." 8 But until the mid-1980s, the explicit use of such cost considerations raised few hackles, consistent as it was with the prevailing norm that prospective parents had a moral obligation to do what they could to avoid giving birth to children who would be cognitively or physically impaired. That norm is nicely illustrated by the following comment by Aubrey Milunsky and Philip Reilly (1975, p.74-75), editors of a highly influential series of books on legal and ethical issues in genetic services: "Traditionally, society has not taken a benign view of persons likely to have defective offspring. Every state forbids some degree of consanguineous marriage. Compulsory sterilization laws applying to institutionalized retardates may be found in the statutory codes of more than twenty states. Furthermore, these laws have withstood constitutional challenge." Through at least the 1970s, the ethical and legal literature relating to genetics was rife with similar comments (Paul, 2002).
Of course there were dissenters, especially among those disturbed by the legalization of abortion. In the US, a particularly influential secular critic was Leon Kass, a non-religious Jew and important figure in the nascent field of bioethics. Although Kass had moral qualms about abortion, he was not opposed to its use under all conditions. He did object to selective abortion, believing that it undermined "the belief in the radical moral equality of all human beings," and he asked whether, having finally managed to remove much of the stigma associated with genetic disease and to develop programs of care and support for its victims, "the development of amniocentesis and prenatal diagnosis may represent a backlash against these same humanitarian and egalitarian tendencies in the practice of medicine, which by helping to sustain to the age of reproduction persons with genetic disease has itself contributed to the increasing incidence of genetic disease, and with it, to increased pressures for genetic screening, genetic counseling, and genetic abortion." He also suggested that selective abortion would affect attitudes towards those with the disease, "as one unfit to be alive ... a person who need not have been, and who would not have been, if only someone had gotten to him in time" (Kass, 1976, p.315-317).
But most of those who wished to change the prevailing norm were orthodox Catholics opposed to abortion per se. In 1969, French geneticist Jérôme Lejeune was awarded the prestigious William Allan Award of the American Society of Human Genetics for the discovery that Down Syndrome resulted from an extra copy of chromosome 21.9 To the chagrin of his listeners, Lejeune, an ardent Catholic, used the acceptance speech to condemn PND and abortion. He imagined that a new and more appropriate title and agenda for the US National Institutes of Health, which funded much of the work on PND, would read: "Elements of the Statutes of a New Facility for Research and Applied Eugenics. Article I. Considering the disputed issue of mankind's betterment, noting the burden imposed upon society by genic and chromosomal diseases, and recognizing The limitation of the available solutions, a special Institution for Research and Applied Eugenics is created: 'THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF DEATH'" (Lejeune, 1970). Lejeune's host, Charles Epstein (2002), who had just founded the PND program in California, later described his and his colleagues' shock at the speech.10 But perhaps the most notable aspect of the intentionally-provocative speech is how little attention it attracted at the time from journalists or other commentators. In 1969, prior to the US Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade decriminalizing abortion, there was little political mobilization around that issue and hence few individuals or groups primed to seize on and publicize Lejeune's comments.
Carrier screening
Even in the 1970s, PND was not the only reproductive genetic service on offer. By 1975, more than 40 recessively-inherited autosomal disorders could be identified by biochemical methods in healthy carriers. In general, these methods were not useful for mass screening, but in the US, there were large and well-publicized programs of ethnically-targeted screening for both Tay-Sachs disease (TSD; formerly infantile amaurotic family idiocy), and sickle-cell disease (SCD). TSD is a recessive disorder resulting from a deficiency of the hexosaminidase A (hex A) enzyme. Characterized by rapid and progressive destruction of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, children with TSD generally die by the age of 4. There is no treatment. The gruesome and invariably fatal nature of the disease, along with commonly-shared assumptions about reproductive responsibility - accepted even by those who considered themselves and were considered by others critics of eugenics - explains why anthropologist Ashley Montagu (1959, p.305-306) could write that, "there can be no question that infantile amaurotic family idiocy is a disorder that no one has a right to visit upon a small infant. Persons carrying this gene, if they marry, should never have children, and should, if they desire children, adopt them." 11
A National Tay-Sachs and Allied Diseases (NTSAD) program to screen for the disease began in 1972 and by 1975 more than 100,000 American Jews had been tested (Wailoo; Pemberton, 2006, p.37). Screening is typically a prelude to prenatal diagnosis and selective abortion. But abortion is not acceptable to Orthodox Jews, who sometimes employ preimplantation genetic diagnosis (since embryos have a different status than fetuses in this community) or, beginning in the early 1980s, premarital carrier tests, with results communicated to matchmakers or other third parties and not to the individuals themselves.
The best-known example of the latter is the Dor Yeshorim program, which began in New York but soon expanded to Israel and eventually many other countries. The combined effect of these and other programs, such as open testing at a clinic or hospital where clients are told the results directly, have essentially eradicated TSD in the American and Israeli Jewish populations, although the matchmaking programs have sometimes been criticized as a form of eugenics (Raz, 2010).
A year before establishment of the NTSAD program, sickle-cell screening had been introduced by the Black Panthers, a revolutionary black-liberation group founded in 1966, which began testing African-Americans at community gatherings, in health clinics, homes, schools, parks, and at rallies and other public events. At the same time, the Panthers also established the People's Sickle Cell Anemia Research Foundation (PSCARF), with the aim of finding a cure for the disease (Nelson, 2011, p.116, p.122). Responding to political unrest in black community, in 1972 the US Congress passed the National Sickle Cell Anemia Control Act, which sharply increased funding for research and prevention. Testing of African-Americans was also mandated in 12 states and the District of Columbia - despite the fact that the portable screening test then in use did not distinguish the disease from the relatively harmless trait (i.e., the affected from carriers), and that there was no cure for the disease and no practical means for diagnosing it prenatally.12
The original hope in respect both to TSD and sickle-cell anemia had been that an effective treatment would emerge from research. But in both cases the hopes were disappointed, and as with PND, the point of screening became prevention of births. As physician Robert Scott, whose influential critiques of the lack of attention to sickle cell disease prompted the Panthers' campaign, expressed the point:
Since the disease is incurable and no effective management is available, prevention is the only practical alternative at present. Prevention requires identification of heterozygotes, which can be readily done by sickle-cell preparation or hemoglobin electrophoresis. These tests should be offered before marriageable age. If such tests were widely available, young Negroes would have, for the first time, the opportunity to make informed decisions about childbearing. (Scott, 1970a, p.164).
A prominent member of the PSCARF advisory board was American biochemist and political activist Linus Pauling, who had identified the molecular basis of sickle-cell anemia in 1949. Among Pauling's many causes - which included civil rights and nuclear disarmament - was the prevention of genetic deterioration, which he viewed as an imminent threat arising both from increased exposure to ionizing radiation and advances in modern medicine. In 1968, Pauling infamously proposed that all young people should have tattooed on their forehead symbols for any seriously defective recessive genes, such as those producing sickle-cell anemia and PKU.13 He also thought that "legislation along this line, compulsory testing for defective genes before marriage, and some form of public or semi-public display of this possession, should be adopted" (1968, p.9).14 Although Pauling was concerned that, in the long-term, an effect would be a slight increase in the future incidence of disease genes, he thought that result could be countered through an educational process aimed at convincing carriers "married to normals" to have fewer than the average number of children (Pauling, 1968, p.269-270).
In his views on genetic disease, as on many topics, Pauling was certainly an outlier. But it is notable that, at the time, his proposal occasioned little comment. Sentiment in the black community would later turn fiercely against sickle-cell screening programs, with black activists equating such programs with genocide and associating them with coercive sterilization and unethical medical experimentation (Markel, 1998; Randall, 2008). That turnaround is largely explained by the persistent confusion between those affected and carriers, with resulting discrimination in insurance and employment against individuals with the (usually benign) sickle-cell trait. But as with the use of cost-benefit analysis and PND, it also reflects the different ethos of the time. Ideas about reproductive responsibility that would have seemed commonsensical in the 1960s and '70s were by the 1980s viewed as eugenics, now assumed to be unreservedly bad.
Newborn screening
A very different kind of genetics program also came into being in the 1960s: the screening of newborns for the autosomal recessive disease phenylketonuria. PKU is neither common nor contagious. Yet routine screening of newborns as a public health program began in early 1960s, and by 1965, 32 US states had enacted screening laws, all but five making the test compulsory. By the decade's end, screening for PKU had become routine in most US states and Canadian provinces, the Antipodes, the UK, France, and Germany, and by the mid-1970s, it was near-universal in Central and Northern Europe and had even extended to several poor countries.
Babies born with PKU have an impaired ability to metabolize phenylalanine, an essential amino acid found in all dietary proteins. The phenylalanine ingested in food thus accumulates in the blood and body tissues, producing profound cognitive impairment and other physical and neuropsychological anomalies. Researchers hypothesized that the effects of the disease might be ameliorated if affected infants were fed a formula from which most of the offending amino acid had been removed. Although a low-phenylalanine formula became available in the 1950s, no test could reliably detect PKU in infants before they had suffered irreversible brain damage.
In 1961, such a test was invented - converging with the election of John F. Kennedy as US President. Kennedy had a sister who was institutionalized with what then was called mental retardation (MR), and he initiated a national campaign to combat MR. At the same time, parents of affected children had mobilized. Their organization, the National Association for Retarded Children, established in 1950, strongly supported the President's initiative and eventually lobbied to make screening for PKU mandatory (Paul; Brosco, 2013).
It might seem that there were few links between newborn screening for PKU and programs for prenatal and carrier screening. The personnel were certainly different, as were the institutional locations, techniques, and aims: in the case of newborn screening, the goal was treatment, not prevention of births. However, the newborn-screening and reproductive-genetics stories intersect at several points. One point of contact is that the ability to treat PKU inspired hope that other genetic diseases, such as TSD, sickle-cell anemia, and Down Syndrome, would also be amenable to treatment.15 Thus, Lejeune almost certainly had PKU in mind when he claimed that, if the chemical factor involved in Down Sydrome could be identified, it should be possible to avoid cognitive damage in those affected: "As far as I can see they would remain with the disease, but they could have a normal intelligence".16 Another intersection is that screening for PKU, which was rare, made it seem reasonable to screen for more common disorders such as sickle-cell. Thus Robert Scott wrote: "In any city with 30 per cent Negro population, more than twice as many children are born with sickle-cell anemia as cystic fibrosis and nearly nine times as many as phenylketonuria" (Scott 1970a, p.164; 1970b). Relatedly, it set an example of requiring that testing be mandatory. If screening for PKU had been made compulsory by law, then why not screening for sickle-cell?
Moreover, despite the fact that its aim was treatment, the establishment of newborn screening programs had implications for thinking about reproductive responsibilities and rights. First, the ability to treat PKU contributed to fears in some circles that modern medicine was dysgenic since it salvaged individuals who would otherwise not have reproduced, with a resulting increase in the incidence of the responsible genes. Thus, a historian of bioethics notes that, in the 1960s, "geneticists worried that the gene pool was becoming polluted because the early death of persons with certain genetic conditions was now preventable," and they cited the development of antibiotics, insulin therapy for diabetes, and dietary treatment for PKU (Jonsen, 1998, p.14). Second, the successful treatment of PKU engendered the new problem of "maternal PKU." Prior to screening and treatment, the fertility of females with severe PKU was nearly zero. In contrast, the fertility of women diagnosed as infants and placed on a low-phenylalanine diet was almost normal. When screening began, it was assumed that treatment could be discontinued after gross brain development was complete, around the age of 4 or 5. The policy of diet discontinuation meant that high levels of phenylalanine circulated in the maternal blood of once-treated women. Phenylalanine, which is actively transported across the placenta, is highly toxic to the fetus, and most of the children born to these women were badly damaged. Although it was in theory possible to return to the (unpalatable) diet during pregnancy, this massive challenge was infrequently met. As a result, into the 1980s the standard advice to young women who had been treated in infancy and childhood was not to get pregnant and, if they wanted to have children, to adopt. In cases of unplanned pregnancy, the most common advice was to abort.
As this brief overview of the formative period of genetic services indicates, the prevailing norm had been that prospective parents should act responsibly. In the 1960s and 70s, most genetics professionals (as well as physicians and medical ethicists) believed it wrong to knowingly risk bearing a child with a serious genetic disorder. The implication was that pregnant women at high risk should have PND and terminate if necessary, that individuals in communities where specific diseases were highly prevalent should be tested for carrier status and avoid mating with other carriers for same disorder; that women with PKU should not have biological children.
Today, in much of the world, such views would be branded "eugenics." However, it does not follow that, in the 1960s and '70s, they would have been thus labeled either by those who held them or by others. One reason is that the view that people likely to transmit a serious genetic defect should not reproduce did not mark its holder as a eugenicist. Indeed, this opinion was generally shared by people who considered themselves and were considered by others to be passionate opponents of eugenics, most of whom also considered sterilization an appropriate response when individuals failed to act responsibly (Paul; Spencer, 2001; Paul, 2014).
Moreover, there has never been an agreed-on meaning of eugenics. Particularly relevant to the domain of genetic testing is the potential inconsistency between long and short-term goals and related inconsistent use of language. To take a concrete example: In 1964, Sheldon Reed, who invented the term "genetic counseling," noted that:
The most important counseling problem [in relation to PKU] will be that of trying to educate affected individuals so that they will not wish to marry another affected person or a carrier. In the first instance, 100 per cent of the children would be affected and in the second case, fifty per cent. No couple has a right to produce a child with a 100 per cent chance of having PKU, and it is doubtful whether a couple has the right to take a 50 per cent chance of producing such a serious defect. (Reed, 1964, p.85).
Yet in his later history of genetic counseling, Reed (1974, p.4) called counseling "a kind of genetic social work without eugenic connotations." What he meant was that its aim was short-run - prevention of disease in the next generation - rather than (long-term) population improvement. Indeed, he claimed that the net effect of counseling was probably dysgenic, as was every medical triumph over genetic disease "in that it increases the frequency of the unwanted gene in subsequent generations" - thus equating eugenics with long-run aims (Reed, 1974, p.84).17
When goals were immediate, the primary rationales were to avoid suffering and to save money. These aims have been weighted differently by different groups such as clinical geneticists, MA-level genetic counselors, cytologists, obstetricians, primary-care physicians, economists, health-policy analysts, and legislators, as well as by laypersons, itself a diverse group characterized by widely varying views. Thus, it matters for the analysis whose opinions are considered. We will return to this simple but often overlooked point in the conclusion.
The transformation of norms
British geneticist Angus Clarke, recently recalled that in the literature of the 1970s and 1980s, "there were a lot of papers about reproductive population screening which focused very much on population outcomes, cost of screening versus cost of care and things like that, which I think caused quite a bit of offence outside the medical community and made quite a few people within it uneasy." And he went on to note that: "There was an effort to shift terminology away from cost rationales for screening through into individual and informed choice, and to some extent that has been a cosmetic operation" (Harper; Reynolds; Tansey, 2010, p.75).
In the UK, much of Western Europe, the Antipodes, and North America, this shift was prompted most importantly by the mobilization of disability-rights activists. Movement activists maintained that all life was equally worthy, and they strenuously contested the assumption that it would be better - for those with the disease as well as for their families and the larger society - if some kinds of people were not born. In the view of these activists, such assumptions rested on unwarranted beliefs about the suffering endured by individuals with disabilities and their quality of life. They claimed that most of the suffering resulted from society's unwillingness to accommodate the needs of people with disabilities; thus rather than preventing their births through the use of prenatal diagnosis, society should provide the social supports necessary for such individuals to achieve an independent and fulfilling life. Although disability-rights activists were often on the political Left, Catholic and politically-conservative critics of abortion subscribed to essentially the same critique of genetic testing. The primary difference was (and is) that most critics who view themselves as politically progressive also support the feminist commitment to reproductive choice. These competing agendas are expressed in the argument that while terminating a pregnancy because one does not want any child is unobjectionable, while termination to avoid having a particular kind of child is not. The reach of that disability-rights argument is exemplified by recent discussions of the Zika virus and abortion in Brazil, a country where pregnancy termination, though not uncommon, is criminalized in almost all circumstances. Deborah Diniz, a law professor who is one of the best-known campaigners for abortion rights and the leader of a group demanding that the Brazilian Supreme Court recognize women's fundamental right to terminate a pregnancy, has emphasized that "It is not the fetus's future impairments or the 'extreme negative consequences for the families affected' that moves our demand, but the urgency to protect women's rights in the epidemic" (Diniz, 2016, p.e9).18 But most left-leaning critics, in Brazil and elsewhere, would nevertheless still defend a woman's right to use PND and engage in selective abortion whereas for most Catholic and conservative critics, all abortion is wrong and should be prohibited.
By the 1990s, the cost-saving rationale for genetic testing had been abandoned in the wealthier Western countries and was increasingly condemned as "eugenics." Thus, according to a report of the US National Academy of Sciences: "The goal of reducing the incidence of genetic conditions is not acceptable, since this aim is explicitly eugenic; professionals should not present any reproductive decisions as 'correct' or advantageous for a person or society" (Andrews, 1994, p.15). Reproductive genetic services were now said to aim at increasing the choices available to women. A recent set of recommendations on carrier screening issued by the European Society of Human Genetics exemplifies the shift to a choice-promoting justification: "Carrier screening aims to facilitate informed reproductive decision-making by identifying couples at risk of having an affected child." The authors also note that "in most Western countries there is consensus that the aim of reproductive screening, including carrier screening, should be to enhance reproductive autonomy and enable meaningful reproductive choices" (Henneman et al., 2016, p.e2). Other common rationales for testing came to include providing reassurance (since most women will receive a negative result), enabling parents to prepare for the birth of an affected child, and even to facilitate treatment, despite the very limited availability of therapeutic interventions.
Why did a once taken-for-granted viewpoint virtually vanish from public discourse? How did we go from "there are right and wrong reproductive decisions, and the right one is to avoid serious genetic risk" to "there are no right or wrong reproductive decisions, you should do what's best for you, and the job of the counselor is to help you make whatever decision is congruent with your own interests?" A brief answer is that reproductive autonomy became a dominant value when new social movements expanded the kinds of actors with an interest in changing attitudes.
As we have seen, there had always been some people who for religious or ethical reasons dissented from the prevailing norms regarding reproduction. Now they were joined by other groups which also had an interest in overturning old norms. Perhaps the most obvious and also most important were "second-wave feminists." In the 1960s, reproductive rights moved to the center of the feminist agenda, and with it the principle that women had an absolute right to control their own bodies. The idea that there were social interests and responsibilities in reproduction was anathema to these activists. The 1960s also witnessed the emergence of bioethics as a distinct academic discipline. In the discipline's early years, its practitioners championed the principle of respect for autonomy, generally interpreted as implying that a person "should be free to perform whatever action he wishes - even if it involves serious risk for the agent and even if others consider it to be foolish" (Beauchamp; Childress, 1979, p.56-59). A third important group was genetics professionals, such as clinical geneticists and genetic counselors, who also developed a strong commitment to reproductive autonomy. Denying that there was any correct reproductive decision, and that the goal of genetic services was to increase the choices available to women, served to dissociate genetic services from the increasingly-contentious practice of abortion. At the same time, it also functioned to protect professionals against accusations from disability-rights activists that such services were a form of eugenics.19
The history of genetic services would seem to map nicely onto the trajectory described by theorists of norm dynamics. There was a relatively rapid transformation, with the new norms becoming so widely endorsed that they achieved the same taken-for-granted quality as those that they replaced. The new view came to seem so obviously right that it became difficult to imagine that a diametrically opposed view had seemed commonsensical in the quite recent past. Statements that produced little if any reaction in the 1970s came to seem shocking.
However, one last caveat: the opinions available for analysis are largely those of experts; in the 1960s and '70s, most often famous geneticists and scientists in allied disciplines. Distinguished scientists dominated international conferences on ethical and policy issues in genetics, with the proceedings frequently published. But while norms were shifting in this particular reference group, so were the kinds of people interrogated for their opinions on reproductive issues. Thus, lists of speakers at prestigious conferences, the membership of government committees, and the names of those whose comments were solicited by the media look very different today than they did in the 1960s and '70s. To put it crudely, although in the 1960s a journalist writing on issues related to cloning or sperm banking might choose to interview a scientist, a journalist writing now about issues related to CRISPR/Cas9 would likely turn - or also turn - to a bioethicist. Today's journalist might also seek the views of a representative of a patient/parent advocacy group, such as one of the Down syndrome associations, or of an organization that takes a critical approach to genetic technologies, or of a disability-rights group. Thus, the elites whose opinions were sought were replaced, or at least partially replaced, by other elites.
Moreover, we do not know how representative either elite was or is of non-elite opinion. After all, intellectuals' views often differ from those of ordinary people (Nussbaum, 1997, p.127). In the domain of reproductive genetics, surveys conducted in the mid-1990s showed that most physicians and members of the American public considered it unfair to the child, to siblings, and to society in general to knowingly run the risk of having a child with a serious genetic disease, and also that there was a wide gap between the views of geneticists and those of laypersons on reproductive issues (Wertz, 1997a, 1997b; Wertz; Fletcher, 2004).20 Thus, when it comes to understanding apparently shifting norms in this domain, we need to be attentive to the fact that, as discussed at the beginning of this essay, people may be reluctant to express what they consider - rightly or wrongly - to be aberrant views. If virtually the only opinions that are publicly-articulated reflect the sentiments of selected elites, ordinary people may well be mistaken about what most others think and hence the social price they would pay for dissent. We should thus not be too surprised if new technological, legal, or other developments embolden dissenters to reveal private judgments contrary to those now thought to be near-universal. Should their numbers reach a tipping point, we might find that commitments to today's apparently entrenched norms are in fact weak, and that they will be abandoned as readily as those they only recently replaced.


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subset: commoncrawl


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Things to do in Big Bear Lake
Top recommendations from locals
From sightseeing to hidden gems, find out what makes the city unique with the help of the locals who know it best.
Gift Shop
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text:
Due diligence – are you paying lip service or being thorough?
The "what"…
Due diligence is a term used for a number of concepts, involving either an investigation of a business or person prior to signing a contract, whether that be commercial or employment, or an act requiring a certain standard of care.
The etymology of the word itself is taken from old French meaning "attention, care, haste, speed." This in itself is of interest as it speaks clearly to what is expected by clients when this type of activity is undertaken.
Yet haste and speed seem to be somewhat at odds with attention and care. How often have you done something quickly that has had your full focus and attention to ensure all the details and minutiae are covered? Rarely, is likely the answer.
So simply put – due diligence is a detailed investigation. A process whereby the focus is to verify information and uncover any issues. When it comes to people that involves investigating their background information, skills, qualifications and accreditations.
For a company the investigation will look into its business data thoroughly to make a more informed decision on whether or not it has potential for acquisition or to engage it as a client or supplier.
Due diligence in relation to an initial public offering (IPO) or the merger and acquisition of a company is a daunting process. Usually there is an ocean of documentation to review, analyse and verify. Depending on the size of the company this can take a considerable amount of time to complete.
The "why"…
On the face of it, that sounds simple and straightforward enough. However the key element here, which is often overlooked to some degree, is the 'human factor'. Therefore, ultimately the most important aspect of due diligence more often than not revolves around the people.
A good example to demonstrate this point is when a successful smaller company is acquired by a larger business. The financial due diligence is carried out by the accounts department who pour over the figures to ensure there are no hidden surprises and the business is performing as advised. The empirical accounting data suggests that the goodwill is there…great!
Is it though? The common error here is that the 'how' of success is overlooked. The figures will only tell you so much. The questions that need to be asked are, who drove the company forward? How did they do it? Most importantly are they staying and if not can they be replaced?
We often think of companies as living breathing entities. But they aren't, they are legal formations or partnerships. What makes them so is the individuals that work within them. They make the day to day decisions and sometimes those decisions are wrong which can lead to catastrophe.
The best and most infamous example of this is the collapse of Barings Bank. The oldest British merchant bank based in London. This company was established in 1762 and ultimately undone by the activities of one man in 1995.
Even though Nick Leeson was demonised and bore the brunt of the blame in this instance in reality he wasn't the only one at fault. There were a number of poor decisions made by individuals within the business that allowed him to continue unchecked until the inevitable conclusion.
The conclusion…
In summary, there are a number of acronyms used within industry that simplify what you must do when it comes to these activities, those being KYC (Know Your Customer/Client) and KYS (Know Your Supplier). But the one that must never be forgotten and is the sole focus standing head and shoulders above these when performing a due diligence investigation is simply, KTP (Know the People).
Martin Cartwright is head of Investigations at Proelium Law LLP. Martin has over 20 years' experience in investigations and investigative management having worked in both the public and private sectors. Martin holds a BA (Hons) in Applied Investigation and represents Proelium Law LLP on cases both in the UK and overseas in high risk jurisdictions as well as complex environments.
Proelium Law LLP
Proelium Law LLP is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority No. 629608 (www.sra.org.uk)
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Was in Spain recently for the Three Wisemen Winter School of Luminescent Nanothermometry where I gave the opening talk on the History of Phosphor Thermometry just outside of Madrid. Later travelled Barcelona where we visited Gaudi's cathedral. It is called the Sagrada Familia. It was astounding.
Out of the Depths
religion, psychology, science
Thursday, January 30, 2020
Sunday, September 15, 2019
And Now I Know, Doubt is Who I Am
Joined Twitter in 2009 but did not do much with it until a couple of years ago. Now, I spend at least an hour a day, often more. I've met a great many perspectives, read some awful and wonderful things, and often drop my jaw at the cleverness, insight, pathos, and mirth of all varieties. I learn many new things every day. Was scrolling through the tweets this evening to review and savor what I'd seen in the recent past when I came upon this one from JohnsHopkinsMedicine.
About 3% of the population has OCD. Some fraction of these include this problem with doubt. Often it limits a person's functioning in life. Cognitive behaviour therapy can work and failing that, antidepressants can be effective.
It would seem the doubt issue would also relate to other personality traits like the ability to take initiative.
I am a very religious person. Every day I read something of a religious nature and ponder it. I do this even though I'm unsure and have many doubts.
Since retiring I've been able to review my life and recognize some aspects of myself that I did not perceive earlier. Have made some positive changes resulting from that introspection. Looking back I acknowledge often having the problem of being a person who doubts themself obsessively. Fear and uncertainty also accompanied this. It has often been difficult to make decisions because I feared I did not have enough knowledge and information. In the article from which the above tweet originates, the psychiatrist notes that doubt can often be something that characterizes a person's obsessive compulsive disorder, OCD. He gives examples of patients who continually check that the door is locked. They repeatedly check it and physically re-lock it."Doubt is not based on insufficient knowledge to make decisions; it's a behavioral trait," says Johns Hopkins psychiatrist Gerard Neustadt, about the first investigation of the clinical significance of doubt. https://t.co/tqB2ifdilQ pic.twitter.com/UbQKfyVLfT— JohnsHopkinsMedicine (@HopkinsMedicine) November 20, 2018
About 3% of the population has OCD. Some fraction of these include this problem with doubt. Often it limits a person's functioning in life. Cognitive behaviour therapy can work and failing that, antidepressants can be effective.
It would seem the doubt issue would also relate to other personality traits like the ability to take initiative.
I am a very religious person. Every day I read something of a religious nature and ponder it. I do this even though I'm unsure and have many doubts.
Saturday, August 24, 2019
Eden as Past, Future, and Present
A friend recommended Tapestry by Bishop SeraphimSigrist. I liked it very much. It's reads like stream-of-consciousness. It provides many interesting vignettes. Here is a meaningful snippet lifted from Chapter 18. Not that I think there was a literal Adam, still, nonetheless I like this.
Ch. 18 Eden as Past, Future, and Present
Poem by Charles Reznikoff
As I was wandering with my happy thoughts,
I looked and saw
that I had come into a sunny place, familiar
and yet strange.
"Where am I?" I asked a stranger. "Paradise."
"Can this be Paradise?" I ask, surprised,
For there were motor cars and factories.
"It is" he answered. This is the sun that
shone on Adam once;
The very wind that blew on him, too.
Sunday, August 18, 2019
New Forms of Spiritual Understanding
I've been thinking a lot about how Christianity is by its very nature not a static thing but adaptable and always changing. It seems to me that is the way it should be. The tradition I come from wanted to go back to the first century and RESTORE Christianity to how it was at its founding. The assumption was that there was one, immutable way for it to be and we must practice only that version of Christianity. But long ago I lost confidence in that approach. I came across a quotation this morning while reading Edward Hirsch's book "How to Read a Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry." It supports my view. Edward, on page 193 of my Kindle version, cites this as from Hart Crane and his "General Aims and Theories" which I have not read.
New conditions of life germinate new forms of spiritual understandingHirsch is discussing art and says of the above that "This key modernist idea, that fresh or changing conditions ferment fresh forms, has had particular resonance" in the New World . . . .
Even though he is discussing art, I think the principle holds for religion. Art and religion are intertwined, despite how the Reformation heritage has attempted to squelch the connection.
Saturday, May 18, 2019
From Chapter II of A Many Splendored Thing
How often do we read a book that surprises us in with topics and content we didn't expect? That was the case with this book, A Many Splendored Thing by Han Suyin. I did not anticipate it would contain some insights related to religion. My twenty year old self was in mood to read something and this book was available. On picking it up in my hand, I thought it was a romance novel based on the hit song and movie it inspired, and it was. But the book is autobiographical and the romance cannot be understood with its highs, lows, and tensions without Suyin's history as a person living in multiple worlds, Traditional Chinese, Western, and the newly emerging modern East with the rising communist tide on the mainland and burgeoning commercial world of Hong Kong. In some sense all of these worlds are native to her. She is specially positioned to perceive people from all angles, intimate with them all. The following is from the second chapter titled "The Kingdom of God" The timeline is important and so each chapter is dated by year and month. The content of this chapter explains her experiences in Hong Kong shortly after moving there from med school in London. She lives in a half-way house for missionaries families who have had to leave China in that disruptive time.
*Chapter II The Kingdom of God March 1949
I had always thought of missionaries as "superior persons" in the Confucian sense; that their fund of goodness, benevolence and knowledge must be greater than the average person's. It was with relief that I found they were just ordinary people. Well-meaning, earnest, hard working, not endowed with more wisdom, knowledge or virtue than anyone else. Not gifted with more vision and not always more tolerant. Teaching the Bible was their métier, just as medicine was mine, although I suppose both professions deluded themselves into calling it a vocation. They were concerned, as all normal, healthily self-centered people are, with family, children, home, security, life insurance, salaries, pension and furlough, all the mechanics of existence.When I was growing up, occasionally a missionary would visit our church and give a presentation/sermon. Usually it was a Sunday or Wednesday night so the lights could be turned off to enable a slide presentation. It was exciting to my young self. I would for a short time have a romantic desire to go to where ever it was they were living and working. Of course, with never a thought of the mechanics of existence and all that would be entailed. I heard few critiques of this. A great Uncle was a missionary in New Zealand then. Not long after, a cousin just older than me would move to Kenya where he lives as a missionary to this day.
In those early months of 1949, they seemed bewildered, confused and indignant. What was happening in China?
Some averred that it was only a passing phase of violence, similar to those previous eruptions of xenophobia which flare up from time to time in China. Some were inclined to think that the Kuomintang government would make a stand and win in the end "if only it would carry out reforms instead of just proclaiming them." The fact that the Chiang Kai-sheks were Christians seemed to them a guarantee that the Kuomintang government might still turn over a new leaf and that all would be well again.
Perhaps those who understood the irreversible change which was taking place remained in China until they could do so no longer, but those I met in Church Guest House showed much bewilderment and hurt.
It was a little like unrequited love. "After all we've done for them," they implied, "look at what they are doing to us."
How difficult it must be to be a missionary! In order to convince others, one must be so completely indoctrinated with the superiority of one's own brand of belief. To understand, to tolerate, to condone, is incompatible with the very idea of being in possession of a higher truth, a better explanation of the spiritual life.I don't remember having an immediate reaction when reading this last paragraph all those years ago but that question of the superiority of "our" brand of belief would soon haunt me. This book planted the seed which would grow into my consciousness and cause me to critique my inherited beliefs.
There were two types of missionaries in Hong Kong. The first, those that had not been long in China, were still under the spell of their narrow denominational fanaticism. They carried with them a sulphurous aroma of hell-fire and damnation to the heathen. They were spiritually intolerant and physically bigoted. They were inclined to gloat over the possibilities of martyrdom and to emphasize the persecutional element in the pressure against them. But they were very few. The larger group was eminently likable. They had been converted and mellowed to humanity, tolerance and a sense of humor. They had quietly jettisoned the belief in the infallibility of their own theme of salvation, together with the more wrathful aspects of the Deity they professed to love. They were far more interested in the social and practical aspects of Christianity. They were humanists, sociologists, and for them religion became the building of hospitals and schools, the creation of Christian Associations, and picking up abandoned waifs. But they were the ones most hurt, because they had loved their work, and they had been selfless in their devotion to it. "What is going to happen to our Christian communities? Many of our Christians seem to have gone over to the new regime, some have not. Will these be persecuted? What is going to happen to our churches, our schools, our hospitals?" They wanted to help China. And they found that their motives were suspected, and their efforts towards conciliation and understanding misunderstood. They were no longer wanted. China was throwing them out.* A Many Splendored Thing by Han Suyin An Atlantic Monthly Press Book, Little, Brown and Company, Boston. 1952
Saturday, May 11, 2019
I read "A Many Splendored Thing" years ago
We are often encouraged to reflect on important books in our lives. And reading is recommended for help in coping with life and mental health generally. I've enjoyed reading Deborah Cox's blog and one recent post discussed this aspect of books:
While considering what new books I might read, it came to my mind to consider which books have been most important to me. I traveled back in my mind and eventually came upon one that changed my life. Though, it is only on reflection of my life subsequent to reading it that I now realize that fact. Had not thought about this book in many years. It is not about science or religion or philosophy. It is not recognized as a classic. The book is "A Many Splendored Thing" by Han Suyin. It is one of only two or three Romance novels I've ever read. But it came at a critical time with some messages especially pertinent to my young life. I re-read it a few months ago to help bring back my memories of how and why it has the effect it did.
It was late summer of 1971 just before the fall term of my senior year of college and my 21st birthday. So, a time with critical choices on which path my life would take. I loved science and technology. I also desired to be as good a Christian as I could be and had always considered Christian ministry in some way as a possible life path. The previous summer I'd been to Europe on an Evangelistic campaign. This summer I had been involved in Christian ministry in Europe. It was late in the summer when I read the book, shortly before coming home.
It is important here to discuss the nature of the devout Christian fellowship which had nurtured me, the Churches of Christ. My Dad was a minister and a model of love for his family and devotion to his calling. The county where we lived from second grade through the tenth had a population of about 12,000 people. In the 1960's there were 16 Churches of Christ in the county if I recall correctly. In early and mid 20th century, we were amazingly independent of the rest of Protestant Christianity. We had distinctive ideas about worship, baptism, and church organization. Looking back, the accusation that we felt we were the only "true" Christians did have a valid basis. Fortunately, that exclusivism and isolation has significantly waned. Our distinctive practices are not perceived as the only valid way. But that was the milieu in which I was raised. Our lives were built around the Church, attending 3 times a week. Most of the people who were my close friends were within this fellowship. I went to a Church of Christ college where immersion in this insular world continued. And I have many wonderful memories from those days. While growing up I never questioned the teachings seriously. We had a strong family history in this fellowship. I knew the stories. It was my identity.
That was the young man who began reading the book.
I did not know that religion would be an important component of this book. And that it would profoundly influence me. To be continued....
Sunday, January 20, 2019
The Spiritual Meaning of Trees - Maya Becomes a Tree
Finished reading A Many-Splendored Thing by Han Suyin this evening. It is a semi-autobiographical novel about a romance between a Chinese Eurasian woman and a British correspondent. The action is centered in Hong Kong with some action in China and Korea in 1949-1950. Read it for the first time in 1971 and it made a big impression on me as I was about to start my senior year of college and turn 21. Upon this re-reading I underlined and made checks in various places for later contemplation.
Here is one extended passage that happens to connect with my interest in the spiritual meaning of trees is from Part 3 Chapter 4.
Should also mention that a movie was made of this book called "Love is a Many-Splendored Thing" in 1955. I was a little tyke but remember the Oscar winning song by the same name, a lush romantic memorable piece that attracted me to the book in the first place years later.
Here is one extended passage that happens to connect with my interest in the spiritual meaning of trees is from Part 3 Chapter 4.
One day I found her sitting at my desk in the office, having fled her bed again and as if it were the most natural thing in the world, she began to tell me about the tree.
Suyin, the main character, is at her job transcribing handwritten medical records using a typewriter when her sick friend, Maya, comes to visit. She has terminal tuberculosis. Maya describes an experience.
"As I walked here" said she, "something which had not happened before occurred to me. Halfway up the road I sat under a tree to rest, under a candlenut tree. Facing it, looking at the straight gray silver trunk, ringed and speckled with a frolic of young days, at the dappled white-flecked leaves, plumaged-mottled birds poised for the gust of light, under the cool green shadows spread over me, and the slanting sunlight falling upon my hand, I became a tree.
You can search and find pictures of candlenut trees of Hong Kong as well as other places. This is startling beautiful language presaging and amazing passage. Maya describe existence as a tree.
Insidious and bone-deep the transubstantiation; an enchanted dupe I sat, my heart the tree heart, coursing sweet green sap, sweet fire within my veins, I knew its secret name, its drift of years; I felt my thick mindless roots clutch the live earth, digging through earth and stone groping for water. I heard each leaf grow out, an unfurling pennant in strong search of that other rain, the light. I strained my branches, insinuating into emptiness the flourish of my life. I knew the self-absorption of the tree, the peace acquired at last, its contemplation of the day. I sat on without motion, tree basking in the sun, and all previous awareness a half-remembered dream.
This captivates me. I don't know what it means. It does not seem like something the author could have completely made up. She must be conveying to us something she remembers. I wonder if this identification with trees or other entities is something that happens with some people?
"Suddenly there was a wrench, I coughed, and the division fell between the substance of the tree and myself. I was I and the candlenut tree stood above, green and dappled with flakes of sun, remote, unknown. I came here."Now that this is posted, I plan to come back to it and ponder it from time to time. It must mean something.
Should also mention that a movie was made of this book called "Love is a Many-Splendored Thing" in 1955. I was a little tyke but remember the Oscar winning song by the same name, a lush romantic memorable piece that attracted me to the book in the first place years later.
Tuesday, September 25, 2018
A Goethe Quote on the Stages of Life
Maxim #390 from "Maxims and Reflections" by Goethe
"Every age of man has its own appropriate philosophy. The child appears as a realist; for he finds himself as much convinced of the existence of pears and apples as of his own. The youth, overwhelmed by inner passions, must observe himself, feel his way forward; he is transformed into an idealist. On the other hand, the man has every reason for becoming a skeptic; he does well to doubt whether the means he has chosen for the purpose is indeed the right one. Before acting, in acting, he has every reason for keeping his intelligence mobile, so that he need not subsequently be sorry for having made the wrong choice. The old man, however, will always espouse mysticism. He sees that so much seems to depend on chance: the irrational is successful, the rational fails, fortune and misfortune unexpectedly coincide; so it is, so it was, and old age finds comfort in Him who is, who was, and also who will be."
I originally read this in the summer of 1971 in "First German Reader: A Beginner's Dual-Language Book" ed. by H. Steinhauer. Published 1964. Library of Congress Number 64-7673. page 89-90. Today, I learned that the quote derives from maxim #390 from "The Maxims and Reflections" by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe which he published in 1794.
Friday, August 31, 2018
Back from the UK
Tuesday, May 15, 2018
The Lord Bless You And Keep You - Lutkin - performed live by Octarium
A excellent rendition of a wonderful piece of a cappella choral music. It is not as widely known as it deserves to be.
Friday, April 27, 2018
Kinobe - Slip Into Something More Comfortable in the sea [Sgrima YDedal]
Watch and listen to this on a big screen TV. The music reminds me of early sixties movie soundtracks. Like what Henry Mancini and his orchestra might do for beach scenes in a South Pacific resort. RELAXING
Saturday, February 17, 2018
Jeremiah and the Blockchain
I don't know why these two disparate things entered into my mind all of a sudden six months ago. On the one hand, I have had a fascination and affection for the person Jeremiah the Weeping Prophet, for many years. But interest in cryptocurrency and the blockchain is recent. Once these two dissimilar things arrived within my consciousness I decided to explore. So how do we tie together Jeremiah and the Blockchain? My thoughts developed as follows. To begin, Jeremiah is one of the most important links in the chain of people and events that created the Jewish people and enabled them to survive. And without them the history of the past two thousand years would have been completely different. No Christianity or Islam, for sure. Would there have been a Renaissance? Enlightenment? Science and Industrialization?
|Rembrandt van Rijn,
Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of
Jerusalem, c. 1630
Jeremiah and his Time
The First Axial Age
Jeremiah belongs to the Axial Age, a time that saw similar and near simultaneous changes to the major civilizations from Europe to China. Confucius, Lao-Tzu, Siddhartha (Buddha), the Hebrew prophets, the Greek philosophers were essentially contemporaries. All of these people have had a permanent effect and a role in creating the cultures and religions that have lasted down to the present. In this period, religion transitions from the communal to the personal. Karl Jaspers originated the axial age concept and some recent explicators are Karen Armstrong, Robert Bellah, and Ilia Delio. The last author combines and summarizes several sources in her book Christ in Evolution when she says:
"In the preaxial period, the human person was cosmic, collective, tribal, mythic, and ritualistic. Myth was a way in which the human person gave meaning to his/her world through the context of stories that contained essential truths. The idea of primal consciousness as mimetic consciousness, that is a consciousness of imitation, meant that humans identified with their surroundings…..Axial consciousness generated a new self awareness that included awareness of autonomy and a new sense of individuality. The human person as subject emerged. Jaspers states that, with axial consciousness, personality was revealed for the first time in history. With the emergence of the rational individual came a new sense of freedom by which the human person could make conscious and deliberate decisions.(1) Although the world religions that emerged in the first axial period are widely divergent in their doctrines and rituals, they share a common existential thread: self reflection and self transcendance of the human person."
A Problem with Trust
Jeremiah exemplified the new self-aware person of that era. He appears as one of the first people in history who reflects upon and describes his feelings. He is expressive. He attempts to help his fellow citizens in Jerusalem and exiles in Babylon make the transition from over emphasis on ritual to instead elevate their personal conduct and interact with their neighbors with integrity. Trust and individual responsibility are important to him. He described their problems in this area when he says:
4 "Let everyone be on guard against his neighbor,
And do not trust any brother;
Because every brother deals craftily*,
And every neighbor goes about as a slanderer.
5 "Everyone deceives his neighbor
And does not speak the truth,
And do not trust any brother;
Because every brother deals craftily*,
And every neighbor goes about as a slanderer.
5 "Everyone deceives his neighbor
And does not speak the truth,
Jeremiah 9:4-5 New America Standard Bible (NASB)
* some translations use the word "deceiver"
* some translations use the word "deceiver"
Jeremiah taught individual ethical responsibility. And also his younger contemporary with whom he corresponded, Ezekiel, communicates the same. Ezekiel 18 states that no longer will the proverb hold that says the fathers have eaten and the children's teeth are set on edge. But rather, the soul that sins, it shall die.
Our Present Time
2nd Axial Age
But how does Jeremiah and the axial period relate to us now? He helped us to get us to where we are now. And, perhaps, where we are is a new, second axial age. This might be illustrated by making analogies with his time and ours. The first thing to note is the question of what brought about the first axial age. Part of the answer must be that it was spurred by technological developments related to travel, communication and money. New technology creates new ways for humans to relate to and organize each other. The technology that we use for communication determines our consciousness, how we think, and how we perceive the world. Marshal McLuhan, who may have been the first to fully describe this, is convincing to me. And the developments since his death, involving the personal computer and the internet, validate what he said, in my opinion. Our external memory is enhanced much more than what was possible for Jeremiah and other Axial people. A necessary first step was the invention of the printing press. It allowed books and mass literacy to proliferate. And, more recently, digital memory allows thousands of books even in a small thumb drive. And, due to the internet, we have near instantaneous access to the thoughts of others anywhere in the world which may bring instant validation, challenge, critique or other engagement of our views. And likewise, we have continued to develop ethics and morality and self-discipline. One may decry current ethics and morality but progress has been made in many areas. The world now frowns on wife beating, slavery, torture, punishment for religious beliefs, and many other things that were acceptable even to the deeply religiously devout of earlier societies.
It may be noted that coinage, that is, technology related to money, was invented in the 1st axial age. In parallel with that in our time, the new digital currency and what is entailed by it, just might be helping to usher in a 2nd axial age.
Trust and the Blockchain
|Three Top Cryptocoins (3)
Like Jeremiah, we still have problems related to trust. The invention of the Blockchain addresses this problem. It makes possible a universal and unchangeable record of transactions. Incentives reward the keepers of the record. This permanent record may be viewed by anyone. Once something makes it to the blockchain, whether a financial transaction or medical record, after requisite confirmations, it is there permanently. It may not be changed.
In our new era, there is a distrust of central authority. Authority is being decentralized. Authority has become relational and social.
How to manage social relationships? For Jeremiah: Know God. Be honest. Know Thyself. Be personally responsible. What Jeremiah said still has validity for us. We are individuals who should act responsibly. In addition, in this 2nd axial age, we are developing newer tools. Yes, the blockchain is new technology for currency and payment, a breakthrough in money just as the invention of metal coins was in the first axial age. But, the development of the blockchain is making possible a web of trust, a decentralized means for validating and measuring trustworthiness. And making possible new and creative means for attending to other of our social problems that Jeremiah and those Hebrew prophets addressed, like feeding the poor, eliminating poverty, providing clean water, improving health, and other things an easy search will uncover (4). I'm kind of excited about the prospect of a basic universal income too.
We live in fast changing and exciting times, in many ways. What the near future will bring to us in terms of breakthroughs and problems related to technological and cultural changes, I don't know in detail. But I'm with Jeremiah, I take it that we have a hope and a future. (Jer 29:11).
We live in fast changing and exciting times, in many ways. What the near future will bring to us in terms of breakthroughs and problems related to technological and cultural changes, I don't know in detail. But I'm with Jeremiah, I take it that we have a hope and a future. (Jer 29:11).
(1) Ilia Delio, Christ in Evolution, Orbis Books, 2011.
(2) Delio cites here Karl Jaspers, Origin and Goal of History, trans. Michael Bullock
( New Haven: Yale University Press, 1953), 1, 23, 27.
(3) The photo is from https://www.pexels.com/photo/ripple-etehereum-and-bitcoin-and-micro-sdhc-card-844124/
(4) How Blockchain Can Address Pressing Social Problems. Kris Bennett
Friday, February 09, 2018
Turtle Power
The new crypto, Turtlecoin, has a Memphis connection. It has only been in existence for two months. I found out about it a week ago. Following it in this early stages has been fun and instructive. A great way to learn about cryptocurrency and the blockchain.
Sunday, February 04, 2018
Picture Consciousness and Rudolf Steiner and YouTube
A number of people who are significant to me find value in the life and writings of Rudolf Steiner. I had attempted to read one of his books a few years ago but just have not been able to get through it. A friend recommended to me a book by Gary Lachman about him and so far it looks to be helpful and full of insight. Here is a quote lifted from my Kindle of interest to me.
Seems to me that "a kind of 'picture consciousness'" that he projects to arrive in the future has now come to us, first with Television, then the internet, YouTube, and how we make use of the easy capture of photos and videos with our cell phones. I should review what Marshall McLuhan said about this. I think it squares with his thought. Who we are, how we think, what we are even capable of perceiving all depend on the communication technology that we use. The communication technology we use forms us.
Does this relate to why I have so much trouble reading and understanding poetry?
*Rudolf Steiner: An Introduction to His Life and Work (Lachman, Gary)
- Your Highlight on Location 281-287 | Added on Saturday, February 3, 2018 5:24:00 AM
Steiner was captivated by a kind of picture book whose figures could be moved by pulling a string. He tells us that he and his sister spent many hours with these, and that through them he took his first steps toward reading. In later life, Steiner would argue that a kind of "picture consciousness" formed the type of consciousness of human beings during their "Old Moon" incarnation in the distant past, and that in the future, this would return and be integrated with our current rational consciousness to form a new state, what he called our Jupiter incarnation. One area his childhood toys certainly did influence was Steiner's system of education, which employs similar picture books in its kindergartens.*
Seems to me that "a kind of 'picture consciousness'" that he projects to arrive in the future has now come to us, first with Television, then the internet, YouTube, and how we make use of the easy capture of photos and videos with our cell phones. I should review what Marshall McLuhan said about this. I think it squares with his thought. Who we are, how we think, what we are even capable of perceiving all depend on the communication technology that we use. The communication technology we use forms us.
Does this relate to why I have so much trouble reading and understanding poetry?
*Rudolf Steiner: An Introduction to His Life and Work (Lachman, Gary)
- Your Highlight on Location 281-287 | Added on Saturday, February 3, 2018 5:24:00 AM
Friday, January 19, 2018
Mother's Day Reading Assignment: Read Books by Women
A couple of years ago, I think it was on Mother's Day, the minister at the church we were attending suggested that we should make a point to read some women authors for spiritual assistance. I have forgotten the context. The memory of that popped into my mind recently that I have been reading some women authors. Had never set out to make it a point to read or not read women authors but it just happened. A couple of nights I fell asleep trying to list them in my mind. Before the mid-nineties and Amazon, the list is probably incomplete. Will add to this as more come to mind. This illuminates my interests.
Religion, Philosophy, Biography, Novels and Spiritual Writing
The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels - early eighties
Adam, Eve and the Serpent: Sex and Politics in Early Christianity (1988),
The Origin of Satan: How Christians Demonized Jews, Pagans, and Heretics (1995),
Ancient Israelite Religion - Susan Niditch 1997
Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas (2003)
A History of God - Karen Armstrong - late nineties
Beloved - Toni Morrison 2004
Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith - Kathleen Norris ~ 2005 give or take
The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand 2005
Religion, Philosophy, Biography, Novels and Spiritual Writing
The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels - early eighties
Adam, Eve and the Serpent: Sex and Politics in Early Christianity (1988),
The Origin of Satan: How Christians Demonized Jews, Pagans, and Heretics (1995),
Ancient Israelite Religion - Susan Niditch 1997
Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas (2003)
A History of God - Karen Armstrong - late nineties
Beloved - Toni Morrison 2004
Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith - Kathleen Norris ~ 2005 give or take
The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand 2005
Anglo-American Postmodernity: Philosophical Perspectives on Science, Religion, and Ethics Murphy, Nancey 2005
Beyond Liberalism and Fundamentalism: How Modern and Postmodern Philosophy Set the Theological Agenda (Rockwell Lecture Series) - Murphy, Nancey 2006
Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith - Anne Lamott 2006
Scott, Mrs. Drusilla 2006
Bodies and Souls, or Spirited Bodies? (Current Issues in Theology)
Bodies and Souls, or Spirited Bodies? (Current Issues in Theology)
Nancey Murphy 2007
Dorothee Solle 2007
Great Emergence, The: How Christianity Is Changing and Why (emersion: Emergent Village resources for communities of faith) - Phyllis Tickle 2008
Reading Judas: The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity - Elaine Pagels and Karen King - 2008
An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith - Barbara Brown Taylor - 2009
Betraying Spinoza: The Renegade Jew Who Gave Us Modernity - Rebecca Goldstein - 2009
The Case for God - Karen Armstrong - 2009
Crystal L. Downing 2009
Barbara Brown Taylor 2010
Evolving in Monkey Town: How a Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask the Questions - Rachel Held Evans 2010
Absence of Mind: The Dispelling of Inwardness from the Modern Myth of the Self (The Terry Lectures Series) - Marilynne Robinson - 2010
Mysticism: A Study of the Nature and Development of Man's Spiritual Consciousness (1911) Evelynn Underhill - 2011
Lives of the Trees: An Uncommon History - Diana Wells - 2011
Cyborg Selves: A Theological Anthropology of the Posthuman -Jeanine Thweatt-Bates 2012
Christianity After Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening - Diana Butler Bass 2012
Emergence Christianity: What It Is, Where It Is Going, and Why It Matters - Phyllis Tickle 2012
Theology for Skeptics - Dorothee Soelle - 2012
Christ in Evolution Ilia Delio - 2012
The Emergent Christ Ilia Delio - 2012
The Age of the Spirit: How the Ghost of an Ancient Controversy Is Shaping the Church - Tickle, Phyllis - 2013
Ilio Delio - 2013
Changing Signs of Truth: A Christian Introduction to the Semiotics of Communication - Crystal L. Downing - 2013
Wife Material: A Novel of Misbehavior and Freedom - Deborah Cox - 2015
Embracing a Beautiful God: Tenth Anniversary Edition - Patricia Adams Farmer - 2015
On the Mystery: Discerning Divinity In Process - Catherine Keller - 2015
Meditation: How to Meditate: A Practical Guide to Making Friends with Your Mind - Pema Chödrön - 2015
Welcome to the Orthodox Church: An Introduction to Eastern Christianity - Frederica Mathewes-Green - 2016
The Empathy Exams: Essays - Leslie Jamison - 2017
Mike and Maxine: Whither Thou Goest...: Two Alzheimer's Journeys - Jan Fielder Ziegler, Heather Tyler, Melody Walker - 2017
Their Eyes Were Watching God: A Novel - Zora Neale Hurston - 2018
The Complete Short Stories of Flannery O'Connor - 2018
The Complete Short Stories of Flannery O'Connor - 2018
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UK Premier in Intensive Care Unit as Coronavirus Symptoms Worsen
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A Zaidi Shiite movement operating in Yemen. It seeks to establish a democratic government in Yemen.
represents the second largest denomination of Islam. Shiites believe Ali (peace be upon him) to be prophet"s successor in the Caliphate.
Axis of Resistances refers to countries and movements with common political goal, i.e., resisting against Zionist regime, America and other western powers. Iran, Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Hamas in Palestine are considered as the Axis of Resistance.
Persian Gulf Cooperation Council
A regional political u n i o n consisting of Arab states of the Persian Gulf, except for Iraq.
ISIS Terrorist Group
A terrorist group that fights against Resistance Axis in Syria and Iraq. It was founded & armed by America and its allies covertly.
Taliban is a Sunni fundamentalist movement in Afghanistan. It was founded by Mohammed Omar in 1994.
Wahhabism & Extremism
Wahhabism is an extremist pseudo-Sunni movement, which labels non-Wahhabi Muslims as apostates thus paving the way for their bloodshed.
Kurds are an ethnic group in the Middle East, mostly inhabiting a region, which spans adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. They are an Iranian people and speak the Kurdish languages, which form a subgroup of the Northwestern Iranian branch of Iranian languages.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949.
Islamic Awakening
Refers to a revival of the Islam throughout the world, that began in 1979 by Iranian Revolution that established an Islamic republic.
A militant Sunni organization founded by Osama bin Laden at some point between 1988 and 1989
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Tuesday 4 February 2020
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US Troops Airdrops Military Equipment to Syrias Biggest Oil Field
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