Viruses Make Me Who I Am

>>>>"I'm currently reading a book called The Dancing Matrix: Voyages Along the Viral
Frontier by Robin Marantz Henig. There's a discussion in chapter 5, about whether or not viruses cause chronic disease. I thought one part was particularly relevant to certain discussions we have here.
>
> "It would be a strange irony indeed if some of the attributes we most value, the
qualities that make us believe we are most human and most individual, are traceable to the subtle workings of a virus..."

>>>snip<<<
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Cc, the first popularized cloned cat had distinctly different fur markings than Rainbow, her genetically identical mother. This was not caused by a virus, but I think the example creates enough of an analogy to lend some plausibility to the I-am-the-result-of-my-viral-past postulation. And what a timely story for those of us who just heard the CNN "stupid pill" discovery report.

Nothing changes the fact that we have individual attributes that make us who we are. Maybe it's a theological conviction, but I believe we will always maintain a degree of personal free agency, unless of course, our decisions lead to relinquishing it. I hope this doesn't become one more argument to avert accountability for our actions and claim that "it's not my fault."

Nawledge