The Genome Project and Liberation Psychology: It's All About Evolution and Exchange of Information
- © Michele Toomey, PhD • February 15, 2001

The thrilling event of decoding the human genome is bursting on the scene as we march boldly into the 21st century and the new millennium. It is so exciting it surpasses our capacity to comprehend its magnitude. For me, an added thrill is the living proof that our complexity arises not from "sheer quantity of genes" but from the structure of our genetic make up and the "dynamics of its interactions". (As reported by The New York Times.) The double helix of our genetic structure is consistent with the vision I have of the self's communication network, that of a spiral. The interactive sequence of the human genome is in keeping with the spiraling image of our paradoxical forces exchanging information by forming, informing and being informed by each other. Information is constantly being exchanged and interactions are continual.

Then there is the whole evolutionary nature of genetic information. What an awesome discovery that genetically we have now a way to document "the journey of our species through time". (Dr. Francis Collins) A hundred million years ago we last shared a common ancestor with mice. That we are evolutionary is one of the basic tenets of liberation psychology. In 1980 I wrote: "The self is, by nature, evolutionary, evolving as it ages, becoming more complex as it goes through life, making life a journey, not a test." Psychologically, we evolve through our personal life, journeying with parents, family, friends, and society. Theirs and our past experiences affect the way we relate to them and the way they relate to us. It is a spiral of information exchange and of relationships with the past forming, and informing, and being informed by the present as the present forms and informs the future.

The human genome has been decoded by placing its 3 billion sub units of DNA into the correct sequence and order. Liberation psychology places great emphasis on sequence, not from the point of hierarchy, but of order. The universality of essential truth dictates a sequence and an order for the human genome. Regardless of race or gender, there is a natural order. I feel the same holds true for the psychological sequencing of the inner world. In the communication network, reactions are the first response in the sequence. Once a message is received, a reaction is triggered. Reflection and processing must follow. There is also a sequence and order to the fundamental human need for intimacy and protection. The need for intimacy precedes the need for protection. Intimacy involves vulnerability and openness, while protection precludes them. If one is protected first one cannot be open to intimacy.

The added complication to sequence and order in the psychological dimension of the self is the fact that we participate in it. We can violate the integrity of the information exchange by violating its sequence and the natural order that it is meant to follow. We can be fearful and protective first, withdrawing, defending or even attacking prior to allowing intimacy and understanding to occur. Instead of using information for clarity and discovery, it can be used for superiority or advantage and to defeat. We can also get caught in reacting to reactions instead of reflecting on them and processing them, or we can stifle reactions and only analyze and solve instead of becoming involved and intimate with our reactions. This aborts the sequence and violates the order. Liberation requires that we follow the natural sequence and order of our system.

There is so much to be learned from this decoded book of life, but one of the most dramatic things is that life is an evolutionary journey of dynamic interactions, not a hierarchical battle between warring parties. The "junk DNA" is not inferior or an enemy. Rather, it is the residue of our evolutionary journey. It is our link to the past and our link to the present, and our bridge to the future. Everything has its place and its legitimate role. The integrity of the interaction is dependent on this truth. Psychology's erroneous claims of a self at war with itself, fighting its demons, needing to control its evil or inferior forces, fall flat in the face of the decoded human genome. It speaks of a lateral transfer of information and an architecture that is fluid and dynamic. The erroneous assumption that the goal of our psychological communication network is to prevent fluidity and to dominate and control itself is counter indicated by the genome research. One wonders why psychology isn't joining biology in proclaiming astonishment at the fact it made such erroneous assumptions.

Biologists are faced with proof of their over estimation of the quantity of human genes. They have had to scale back from 100,000 to as few as 30,000 to 40,000. This excites them as they discover their error. Now they want to know how we can be so complex and not need more genes. They seem more invested in discovering the truth than in proving they weren't wrong. Not so psychologists. Perhaps because psychology is not a legitimate science and is always striving to establish itself as such. Perhaps the lack of statue and credibility that psychologists must endure, prevents them from daring to risk looking even less credible by claiming their erroneous assumptions. To them I say, the jig is up. The proof is out. You are being given the greatest of opportunities. Learn from them. Liberation psychology has been rejected by traditional psychologists, yet it is supported by the genome research. We are evolutionary. We are laterally involved with our exchange of information. We are a dynamic team. We are not at war with ourselves. We are at one.