The Genie in Your Genes – Dawson Church
This book was written to lay out a theory of Epigenetic medicine, a term I had never come across despite my fascination with science. A search on the internet for the term brings up quite a few references to this book, so I turned to it to find an explanation. The general thesis of the book is that humans have the ability to effectively ‘change their genes’ through their own thoughts, behaviours and environment. Dawson Church referenced many studies and examined a great deal of previous research on this topic, which gives the book both substance and gravity. The author doesn’t just dump the studies into the chapters and baffle you with scientific jargon. He explains his theories clearly and tries to lay out as much evidence as he can in support of it.
Of course, every scientific study can be interpreted in different ways, and I did find some of Church’s interpretations surprising. There were times I felt he dismissed studies which perhaps negated his thesis in ways that weren’t convincing, and emphasised studies which were perhaps a little more tenuous. The one thing I have gained out of reading this book is an enormous list of studies that I want to go and look up. If there is one thing I have learnt in my fascination with the scientific method is that you need to be skeptical and if something sounds like it needs to be questioned, then question it.
I also found myself somewhat turned off by the religious and moralistic overtones which seemed to go through the book. The author used more hyperbole than most popular science writers and I know that when something is touted as a ‘miracle’, a flag should go up to be a little cautious. I have done a lot of reading about science and the scientific method and although my understanding of genetics is limited to what I learnt at school as well as reading Dawkins, I found myself wondering about what the author’s agenda was.
There is no doubt that the hypothesis that he placed was fascinating – it would be truly incredible (and paradigm shifting in many ways) if it really were possible for each one of us to ‘change our genes’ simply through thought, belief and circumstance. I would have liked to see a testimonal from a geneticist or biologist at the beginning of this book which would have convinced me more. Most of the testimonials were from professionals within the same fields of ‘Soul Medicine’ and various researchers of spiritual energy. I, sadly, am not convinced by either of these fields and so I found the testimonials carried very little weight for me.
I think this book would most definitely appeal to someone of a similar religious or spiritual bent to the author. As an atheist, I was unconvinced by the arguments that my life could be better if I shared a strong and spiritual marriage, prayed and was prayed for and attended church regularly. By all means, if I were reading a book on morals and the spirit then I would expect this, but this was purported to be a scientfic study. In that respect I felt somewhat cheated – I don’t expect a science book to be instructing me morally. I have no issue whatsoever with anyone’s individual moral agenda. I live my own moral and very happy life free from the spiritual aspects which this book expounded. I am afraid that as a result, I just couldn’t come to grips with it.
I am not a scientist, but like you have read a lot about the scientific method and this seems to have written pseudo-science all over it: cherrypicking the evidence, a religious agenda, a premise that goes against all received scientific knowledge… The whole thing sounds more like wishful thinking than science to me.
I am agnostic, so I’m not keen on any religious agenda, but my husband – who is also agnostic – is reading the book and is quite swept up in the science Dawson presents. As long as I don’t get preached to, I’m up for anything that deals with consciousness and possible improvement of my life.