DNA traits, 300 gauges and other fiction/The Mt. Hope Scrolls – Kingstree News

Hey! Have you seen the commercials about getting your DNA checked? You swab the inside of your mouth and send in a sample and you can find out all kinds of things. You can find out where your ancestors came from and what kind of traits you have. By traits, the report should tell you what kind of food you would eat and whether or not you can run fast. I dont know about you but I cry, Bull to all of that.

One of the ads, claims that a person is from everywhere from India to Western Europe to Oklahoma. That person should run fast, drink coffee and speak Italian. Are you kidding me?

I dont believe any of that is true. Your ancestors may have come from Russia but that doesnt have anything to do with whether or not you would drink vodka. Take a look at any family you know. The environment you live in determines many things. You think? Thats not even true either. Both my parents drank coffee but I never liked the taste of it. That might have been different had my parents made me drink coffee everyday. That would probably not be in my DNA in any way.

Wonder how long these habits or characteristics would take to develop had your ancestors come from a country of fast runners? Just because you have traces of characteristics from several countries in Europe, why dont you speak four languages?

Im not knocking someone wanting to learn about his or her family tree. I just dont think we should over exaggerate what this report will tell us.

Exaggeration is a just part of the advertising process. If exaggeration helps, Go for it.

I recently heard a speaker talking about flying a jet. She proudly proclaimed that her jet had 300 gauges in it. Just imagine going 400 mph and having 300 gauges to look at. Now imagine that it is night.

That sounds really neat but that doesnt mean she can run fast. What it actually means is we all like to exaggerate. In an airplane, there might be a lot of gauges but you dont look at them all at once. The gauges are still there whether you are going 200 or 300. It doesnt matter whether it is day or night. It is just a little exaggeration to help with the talk. Think of all the books in your house. You dont have to read them all at once. Lets just exaggerate about things just a little.

The purpose of all this is to sell more products. Think of all the things you could learn from getting your DNA tested. The jet pilot would be an interesting speaker for your meeting. All of this exaggeration might not be a lie. I certainly dont want to say that. All Im saying is that some ads stretch the validity of a statement. Some exaggerations are just a little too much. Three hundred gauges are probably exaggerated a lot. How can we be sure that the DNA report is correct? You see the point. My favorite exaggeration is doing something a million times. That should show that we have a lot of experience.

Instead it just shows that we exaggerate. A million times does show lots of experience. That is doing something once a day for 2,700 years. Thats a lot no matter where your ancestors are from.

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DNA traits, 300 gauges and other fiction/The Mt. Hope Scrolls - Kingstree News