On Behavior, It's Complex

David Brooks (as always) has a great, insightful column today called "Luxurious Growth." Read it. In a nutshell, Brooks explains that those who study genes are far less sure that they will figure out how humans tick. He writes:

"It wasn’t long ago that headlines were blaring about the discovery of an aggression gene, a happiness gene or a depression gene. The implication was obvious: We’re beginning to understand the wellsprings of human behavior, and it won’t be long before we can begin to intervene to enhance or transform human life.

"Few talk that way now. There seems to be a general feeling, as a Hastings Center working group put it, that 'behavioral genetics will never explain as much of human behavior as was once promised.'"

He continues:

"The bottom line is this: For a time, it seemed as if we were about to use the bright beam of science to illuminate the murky world of human action. Instead, as Turkheimer writes in his chapter in the book, 'Wrestling With Behavioral Genetics,' science finds itself enmeshed with social science and the humanities in what researchers call the Gloomy Prospect, the ineffable mystery of why people do what they do.

"The prospect may be gloomy for those who seek to understand human behavior, but the flip side is the reminder that each of us is a Luxurious Growth. Our lives are not determined by uniform processes. Instead, human behavior is complex, nonlinear and unpredictable. The Brave New World is far away. Novels and history can still produce insights into human behavior that science can’t match."

This, of course, is a simple insight into the mind of God. God is God, we are not. You see, God uses everything to bring about his purposes. 'Everything' is huge; far too huge to comprehend. Every circumstance, every happening, every occurence. The movings of molecules, of cars, of words, of hurricanes, of stars, all with the intended purpose of glorifiying him. Though modern humans might find this disturbing, it is not new. God never said we wouldn't be able to peer behind the curtain. He just never said we'd ever fully understand it. And so we react the only way those who have been overfilled with majesty do. With praise.