The Science of Superstition: How the Developing Brain Creates Supernatural Beliefs by Hood Bruce M

Author:Hood, Bruce M. [Hood, Bruce M.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2010-06-16T16:00:00+00:00

FIG. 13: Mouse with an implanted bioframe. Many people have misinterpreted this image as an example of genetic engineering. © BRITISH BROADCASTING COMPANY.

Who did not feel the “yuck” factor when they first saw the picture of a hairless mouse with what looked like a human ear growing on its back, circulated around the world’s media? It wasn’t actually an example of gene manipulation but rather a demonstration of how an animal could be a surrogate host for growing an implanted bioframe.29 But it certainly looked like a hu-mouse! Our revulsion was not simply because it was a weird image. Rather, we felt simultaneously sick and fascinated because the prospect of human-animal hybrids violates the essentialist view of the world that we developed naturally as children. When I was preparing this chapter, my youngest daughter looked over my shoulder and saw the image of the mouse with the human ear. At first she let out an audible “yugh!” Then she asked if it could hear better. Apparently she is still telling her classmates about it.

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