Category: Uncategorized

… I saw this NYT article. Apparently, for the low low price of $10 mil, scientists think they could gradually introduce woolly mammoth DNA into an elephant fetus, and eventually give rise to a critter a whole lot like a woolly mammoth. (I don’t know whether the critter would ACTUALLY BE a woolly mammoth, vs. a weird woolly elephant, vs. something-we-have-yet-to-name. Actually, I think the example pretty much obliterates rigid species-bound thinking. But I digress.)

That’s nuthin’, however, compared to what these scientists also think they could do: give rise to a critter a whole lot like Neanderthal. The article says that ethical considerations would keep that experiment from taking place. Here I am torn. Yes, I feel that it is wrong to ‘monkey’ with human DNA (har, har), unless there are compelling medical reasons to do so. I think the threat of a slippery slope is very real. On the other hand, would it not be exceedingly interesting — nay, totally friggin’ awesome — to have a Neanderthal around? to see what cognitive skills they possessed? to be able possibly to talk to (some version of) a non-human?

Actually, the article raises another possibility. Perhaps the Neanderthal DNA could be spliced into a chimp’s DNA, and the fetus could be brought to term in a chimp mother. Does that satisfy the ethical qualms, or introduce new ones?

Let’s vote. How do you feel about the possibility of manufacturing a quasi-Neanderthal?

This was a philosophy professor you should know about. His book, The Practice of Philosophy, is the best short introduction to the subject I know. It is clear he lived a full and rich life, worthy of emulation. I have copied his obituary here. His webpage is well worth exploring.

Father Laurence Paul Hemming will be leading a discussion on “Faith and Reason”  tomorrow Nov. 18th from 2-3  in TSC  336.

Check his info here.

If you think you’re pretty smart, you should read this post over at In Socrates’s Wake. Apparently, the less able you are, the more likely it is that you will believe you are very able.

It is not a surprise that, in the wake of the election, thoughtful conservatives (and, in this case, culturally conservative Catholics) are trying to sort out the new landscape.  The two articles below present somewhat different visions of where to go from here. 

Here is an article here by Richard John Neuhaus on ‘The Coming Kulturkampf’.  After briefly discussing culture (Western, American, Christian), he argues that while the Catholic Church has very often taken a transformative role in culture, it may be that the Church will have no choice but to stand against the culture.

And an article here by Brad Miner, a sort of post-mortem on conservative culture.  He is more on the populist side of things, and wants to embrace fully American culture (something like an attempt to synthesize high Catholicism and Nascar), which is another possible direction.