Gene expression varies with age. At any particular point in a human's life, the current expression state of its genes affects not only the biology, but more interestingly it is likely also to shape the way the brain acts and reacts, the way it thinks.

How much of what we think is controlled by genes? Probably everything, if you consider how the brain acts a as a chemical reaction chamber where constant and uninterrupted gene expression leads to consciousness. Even as we sleep the chemical reactions keep on going, and we dream as the brain interprets those chemical reactions. It is the uniqueness of each individual's genotype, as expressed in the brain, why humans price their individuality more than anything else. Because we are all the same, but we are all different, preciously different.

As people age, sometimes its inevitable to look back and think about where do you come from and where are you going. Philosophical questions, such as this, are probably being controlled by the gene expression at that moment. It is then, at some devastatingly lucid moments, when suddenly as if a turbulent storm had struck you, you come to the frightening realization that time does not exist other than the present, what your genes are expressing then and there. Future and past are the document the progression of the chemical reaction, but the doors of destiny are open but lead to now.

If we are nothing but the expression of our genes under a particular set of environmental conditions, are there any real life choices?

Being a choice a conscious decision, and being a conscious decision nothing but another chemical reaction produced genes expressed in the brain under particular environmental conditions, can we ever make real choices? Do we have that power? Are those decisions already made?

I don't know, but I guess that what I think right now is nothing but the perfect expression of whichever set of genes is active in my brain, under 70% humidity, 93F of temperature, and two glasses of wine.

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