“With your nose and my teeth we’re sure to be good together.”
It may not be the most inviting of chat up lines and it is perhaps unlikely to sweep a young lady off her feet but that’s the underlying nature of the mating game. This is the reality of the relationships we choose.
In selecting a suitable partner we are looking for somebody who will complement our own genetic characteristics. It may be to bring some new quality to our genetic make-up or it may be just to enhance an already existing feature, making it stronger and therefore more appealing. Either way, the ultimate aim is to improve our position in the reproductive race.
Find the right partner, the one that brings some genetic advance, and our future will be assured. It’s classic Darwinism and leads to the survival and progress of the species.
But how do we know what will work? How do we know what is good for us? Is it just by chance that we make our choices – random couplings, some of which will go on to be successful, whilst others fall by the wayside?
Surely, it can’t be that random. After all, as individuals, we seem to know what we like in the opposite sex. We know what we’re attracted to. Something or somebody seems to be telling us what we should be looking for. Is that just an instinct or is there a guiding voice? The answer lies within us. It is our genes that guide us, our genes that tell us what to do.
And it’s a complex match-making business. Certainly, our genes work in mysterious ways. We don’t understand their machinations. Sometimes we’ll see it, “those two are made for each other”, but for other partnerships there may be no apparent bond – chalk and cheese.
With our limited, non-genetic vision we just don’t get the full picture, like looking at the night sky, we only see a few stars rather than everything that’s out there. And without knowing, we cannot fully understand.
But one thing is very clear and that is the way our genes seek to communicate to us.
Our genes plant ideas into our minds about the partner we should be striving to find. This is what we should be attracted to – our Mr Right or the Lady of our Dreams. Attraction, sex appeal and even, arguably, love are the binding forces that can exist between individuals, advising them that they have hit on a suitable genetic partner. They’re the green light to procreation.
As a species, we must escape from the rather smug notion that life is about us; that we are at the centre of things. This is just not the case. It is our genes that are the real makers and shakers of life.
And our genes exist for their self-preservation and on-going proliferation. We are tools for their needs, vessels to be used for their procreation and advancement.
As to whether or not there is any almighty force; God does exist but he is not out there in the heavens, he’s much closer to home than we realise. God exists within each and every one of us, within each and every living thing. That God, our true God, the force that commands our lives is our genes.
We live life according to the dictates of a Genetic God. Not one single almighty God but a multitude of multi-faceted Gods – our genes combining to make a unique God for each individual. And that God shapes our destinies.
It is our genes that control our existence. We are at their – our God’s – command; we live or die by the rule of God.
We like to think that we are the masters of life, after all, we’re bigger than them, but no, the truth is far different. It is our genes that have the power, the control and the sense of direction. They’re the ones that manage and drive our lives, hoping to secure genetic betterment.
As individuals, our God will never forsake us, as he is an intrinsic part of us. The relationship is more likely to breakdown as we stray from his path. It is our duty to keep to his commandments. Trust in him, follow our genetic instincts, and our future will be assured.
This genetic understanding gives meaning and understanding to our lives. It puts things into perspective. It should enable us to identify what is important in life.
The pursuit of our Genetic Priority – doing what our genes command of us to the best of our ability – is our route to salvation. It is the means by which we will further our genes and ensure both their and our continued survival. If we shun our genetic responsibility, if we are non-believers, if we are non-followers, then our demise is inevitable. Our genes become lost or are weakened in the face of competitive pressures and we begin the slippery decline to genetic damnation.
There are three fundamental laws laid down by out genetic gods:
Firstly, that we ensure our procreation and thereby our genetic survival.
Secondly, that we select the best available partner for procreation in order that we strengthen our personal genetic make up.
Thirdly, that we ensure our offspring has the best opportunity to maximise their genetic potential.
Genetic disciples are those that live by their Genetic Priority, those that live by these core rules. Throughout nature we see species living by these rules yet, when observing the human species, it is apparent that we have started to lose our genetic focus.
With human advancement and societal development these rules are increasingly infringed or overlooked. We are attaching less importance to them; other interests, diversions and pre-occupations are assuming more importance.
So what are some of the ways that we break the genetic code?
Infringements of Rule One:
- More and more people choose not to have children.
- Gay people are less likely to procreate.
- The later age at which we choose to have children means we are more likely to fail to procreate.
- Wars – a creation of society – mean that many young men are killed before they reproduce, thereby losing any genetic future.
Infringements of Rule Two:
- Casual sex, often driven by alcohol, drugs or sexual pleasure, means we are less selective in our choice of partners.
- Medical advances and fertility treatment mean that, in some cases, couples that could not have children are now able to do so.
Infringements of Rule Three:
- We put our careers before our family.
- We attach more importance to having a nice house, car and holiday rather than giving our off-spring our full attention.
- The high divorce and separation rates weaken the family unit and thereby undermine, arguably, the best organisational structure for raising children.
- We send our children to nurseries from an early age, to be raised by others.
- The rise of the step-parent who will obviously be less committed to any children which are not of their genetic make-up.
Our priorities have drifted. We are ceasing to live by the Genetic code. It is not right, not in our best interests. All we can do is ask for forgiveness – we know not what we do – and revert back to fulfilling our genetic responsibilities.
We should be well aware that our Genetic Gods do not have it all their own way. There is a devil out there that seeks to undermine God’s work, tempting us away from our Genetic Priority. That undermining influence is built around society. Too often, society distracts us from our Genetic Priority. And that means our genetic prospects may not necessarily be as bright as they should be.
We should reflect on the fact that our Genetic Gods will always do their best to save the world but that they have no special affinity to the human condition. There is no divine right to human existence. If we didn’t exist then our genes would just live somewhere else, in a different vessel.
So, next time you’re in a bar and somebody approaches you with a chat up line that suggests they’ve been doing some serious survey work, valuing your assets and trying to establish what sort of genetic investment opportunity you represent, then listen to those genetic voices inside you. After all, we must think of our Genetic Priority and follow the word of God.
Genetically Wrapped 