Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Genes
I'm reading a mystery right now that includes the murder of a street person - bum if you will. Some poor old slob who got disconnected from society and is living out on the street. It makes me wonder. When I was getting ready to retire from the military a few years ago - sheesh, is it actually 11 years now!! - I was more than a little worried about that. I'd seen so many guys retire from the military and go into mental hold. You'd see dozens sitting around the local mall drinking coffee and waiting to die. And not all of them were really that old. I'd worry about what would happen to me when I got out. Would I be unable to find a job or not be able to handle college? Would I be able to find a place to live? I even bought a station wagon just in case I had to live in my car. Looking back on it, I suppose it was a bit irrational. But I still wonder what separates me from the guy in the coffee shop watching the world pass him by, or even more, what causes someone to lose it all and live on the street? A lot of homeless are vets - that's frightening and disgusting and disturbing all in its own. I wonder what it is that broke in them to cause them to be how they are. And even more worrisome, could it break in me?
I've read that humans and chimps are supposedly 98% genetically alike. We're even supposed to share something like 50% of our genes with a banana - although honestly, I've met more than a couple of people who make that an insult to bananas everywhere. Anyway, the fact is that if less than 2% of our genes separate us from an ape, how infinitesimal must the difference be that separates me from that homeless dude on the street -- and what if it breaks?
