Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Into the Wormhole of Genetic Memory

Award-winning writer, journalist, and mullet whisperer Michael Rutschky redirected me to thoughts on genetic memory by way of his link to a post on The Schpat Dope, Is There Such a Thing as Genetic Memory? The following passage, in particular, got my mental gears grinding:

Their findings: rats that had been fed the livers and brains of rats that had been stressed learnt to avoid pain more quickly. This they found out was due to chemicals produced by the stressed rats, the higher the stress the higher the levels of these chemicals and the quicker the learning rate.


Does this qualify as proof that eating animals that died in fear passes that fear on to the eater? Does this mean that after countless generations of eating scared, stressed animals has led humanity to be more fearful and stressed? If so, why aren't meat eating wild animals like lions and tigers and bears (Oh my!) full of fear and stress? Are prey animals taken down in the wild less full of fear and stress than domestic livestock? Are lab rats rolled around in sealed jars more full of fear and stress than domestic livestock and free-roaming wildebeests? Are lab rats fed a diet of chopped up lab rats that were rolled around in sealed jars more likely to inherit the fear and stress of their tortured predecessors than humans fed a diet of chopped up chickens that were kept in wire cages? Are the stress and fear of tortured lab rats more "contagious" than, say, the stress and fear of a capybara killed by having its windpipe crushed by a jaguar?



And how could any of that be proved?

I believe that eating severely stressed animals is worse for you than eating animals that were happy right before we slit their throats or bashed their heads in or shot them with a Muzzy MX-3 100 Grain 3-Blade broadhead.