The Impulse Society

The Impulse Society by Paul Roberts. Bloomsbury, 2015

Increasingly we want a personally customised life, but an economy orientated to give you what we want is not the best for deliveringwhat we need. The prioritising of 'I' over 'we' makes it harder for each of us to be satisfied.

Mass production meant that fixed costs fell with efficiencies of scale. This was followed by cheap consumer financing. Manufacturers design a range of options for a product - and keep changing them; people gravitate to novelty and status (symbols).

Post WW2 there was a massive economic boom. Natural resources were cheap and workers were increasingly entitled to pensions, medical benefits, a share in a company's productivity gains and higher wages. High top tax levels discouraged CEOs from high executive salaries. There was investment in employee training to keep up with technology. People also engaged in wider society: church, service groups and charities, parent-teacher associations.

Around the turn of the century (2000) inflation was rising and productivity slowing. For the US there was new competition from Asia and Europe; for Europe there was competition from Asia and Eastern Europe. Middle Eastern oil prices started rising. Governments interfered less in economic policy,so companies now stripped away operations or assets that did not turn a profit.

Corporate raider: look for struggling companies, quietly buy up a controlling stake (usually financed by high interest loans known as 'junk bonds') and then 'restructure' by shutting down under-performing divisions and laying off workers, and then selling the company on at a substantial profit. Pension funds were typically drained in this process.

Companies began giving CEOs company stock; CEO priority became high share prices. Automation and 'off-shoring' led to further job shedding. Business became focused on shareholders and there was less investment, with cutbacks in research and development.

Credit cards. The brain perceives cards and cash differently. Pay with cash, cheque or debit card: you recall the price of items accurately. Pay with credit card: recall is less precise or even 'I don't know' on an item bought ten minutes ago. This is due to the way we make intertemporal decisions - do something now or later. The limbic system in the brain (the early reptilian part) works on emotion, while the prefrontal cortex is not as fast and must develop a strong reverse argument to counter the emotional pull. Credit = immediate gratification; the pain of debt comes later.

Big stores - we used to be customers (with a defined social role) but now are just consumers. The rise of supermarkets has seen a decline in smaller businesses.

Hedge funds buy up large stakes in companies, then seek to influence the share price. The term 'churn' describes buying high performing shares and dumping shares that are not. From 2002, bad loan practices set up a housing bubble, with serial refinancing. Another issue is 'risk aversion' - why people continue gambling even when on a losing streak.

There has been a massive flow of talent and resources into the financial sector. US: manufacturing 12% and general economy and finance 8.4%. We should be growing our manufacturing and shrinking the financial sector.

Society. People now more often move (relocate) for lifestyle reasons: politics, cultural amenities, proximity to shopping areas or sports stadiums. They look for neighbourhoods that fit their likes. The result is segregation (not just by race), whereas before we found ways to cope with the differences.

Western workers are not gaining new skills in part because our education system has not kept up with the current job market.

Markets eventually correct themselves. Spend too little on real innovation > run out of things to sell. Demoralise workforce > performance lag. Rely too heavily on cheap foreign labour > problems over quality. Globally automation is reducing jobs. The collapse in manufacturing has left a large pool of unskilled workers, largely male, who are much more likely to remain unemployed or underemployed. This in turn leads to unstable family relationships.

Health. Patients now demand specific treatments, having 'researched' them on the Internet. Actual advantages may be non-existent. [Proton beam therapy is good for difficult to reach cancers (brain, eye and spine) but is no more effective than  standard treatments for e.g. prostate cancer. It is also 2 to 5 times more expensive in use, in addition to the capital cost of initial purchase.] New drugs often give minimal extra life at a very high cost. Some signs of reform: US Medicare's reimbursement policy now pays producers by outcomes acheived instead of the separate services provided.

Political war. Short-term interests and narrow self-interest now dominates political life. Newspapers and broadcasters now more politicised. US political campaigns use Big Data to identify people's interest and customise emails with messages they are most likely to respond to. US campaigns are ever more expensive to run. Left wing groups are less credible; the right wing gets more support from the conservative element of the population.

The We Society. There is some revolt. Poeple stop shopping online, don't use credit cards, decide on technology-free time at home, not being on call 24/7 (but many fear risk to job security). Our culture is now characterised by separate individuals, corporations and political parties all seeking their own self-interest.

More and more of growth goes to a smaller group of beneficiaries, via financialisation and crony capitalism. The current economic model no longer distinguishes between genuinely productive activity and 'capitally efficient' activity. We need to caremoreabout quality than quantity and consider durability and human satisfaction in production.

Roberts ends with some proposals for change.

•  Eliminate incentives that make short-termism attractive to investors and shareholders and corporations. Use a transaction tax on investors each time they buy or sell a security, derivative or other financial asset.
• Target perverse incentives of executive compensation; pay them with 'restricted' stock that cannot be old for 5 years or several specified years after leaving a company.
• Severely restrict the practice of share buybacks; recognise and designate this as an illegal manipulation of the market.
• Break up the 'too big to fail' banks into smaller,more regulatable entities.

END

Getting The Best Out of the School Years

Whether you are looking at starting school life, moving up schools or finding a new school after a house move, it all comes down to 'will it suit my child?'

• State funded or fee paying? Look at the individual school, not the type of school. Statistical averages and league tables don't show how each child got their result. Increasingly many children in both systems have evening tutors to help in specific subjects.
• What do you want in a school? You (and your child if old enough) should identify these factors before starting a search.
• School open days will have a set route for prospective parents and children - good schools will be happy for you to divert from this. # Individual departments are as important as whole school. # Low staff turnover indicates staff and management work well together. # Look out for 'value-added' features - after school clubs, approach to bullying.
• Talk to other parents and let child talk to other prospective children and those already there.
• Ask 'what are the main strengths of this school?' and 'how are new arrivals supported?'   

Once your child is at a school, build a good relationship with staff. Schools are busy places and misunderstandings and difficult situations will happen on occasion. If there is a problem, make the focus sorting it out fairly for all parties. Listen to everyone's viewpoint, take stock of the actual facts, reflect on the main issues and how actions may impact on your child both short term and long term.

If your child has a bad day or a problem: (1) acknowledge it, (2) let them tell you the problem and (3) let child lead discussion about what they should do. Don't let small problems build into big ones.

Find out the school structure, so you know which member of staff to approach on which issues and make an appointment to see them.

Main source: Make Your Child Brilliant by Bernadette Tynon. Quadrille, 2008 (ISBN 978-184400-579-6)

The Gene Code

Archaea are single-celled organisms, 3 billion years old, and older than bacteria. Humans share around 200 archaea genes that are common to all living things (e.g. respiration, utilizing food), including one on chromosome 6 that tells other genes what to do.

For the 1^st billion years only single-celled organisms (archaea and bacteria). Then around 2 billion years ago, more complex organisms appeared; the consensus now is that this occurred when an archaea enveloped a bacteria. In the plants and animals that developed, the bacteria function as a cell powerhouse – the mitochondria. 

Amphioxus (lancelets) are invertebrates that split from vertebrates more than 520 million years ago; their genomes hold clues about evolution, particularly how vertebrates have employed old genes for new functions. Amphioxus have a dorsal nerve cord surrounded by a cylinder of cells – the notochord.

Vertebrates appear some 450 million years ago; now thought that their genome is essentially quadrupled amphioxus genome. Analysis of the human genome shows quadrupled ‘old’ genome, though not all genes are there 4 times (some 3 times, some twice and some only once).

A boa constrictor has 304 vertebrae while humans have 33. The difference is not in the genes but how they are expressed. One gene tells a developing organism to grow a vertebra; another gene acts as a clock counting how many times this happens and how fast, resulting in the different numbers. An examination of mammal skulls reveals that they are all made of the same set of bones, though the shape varies due to when relevant genes were switched on and for how long in the embryo stage.

In the reproductive process, chromosomes divide and exchange genetic material in meiosis. This process can result in ‘misspellings’, duplications, inversions and loss of specific genes. Successful changes determine evolution. There are specific places where this happens, known as recombination hotspots and marked by specific 13 base pair sequences. Each species has its own recombination hotspot locations. Ch.5 has a gene that controls where hotspots occur. Changes here make organisms incapable of cross-breeding, leading to a split in a population and ultimately two species.

In human colour vision, the gene for seeing blue is on ch.7 while those for seeing red and green are on the X ch. The red and green genes are very close together and 98% similar; thought that the original one was duplicated and then took on a new function. Other species can see infra-red and ultraviolet. [Now thought that some women can distinguish more shades of green, since they have a version of the green vision gene from both parents. In females, in each cell one of the X ch is switched off in a random fashion, so some cells use the maternal X and others the paternal. This explains how women are carriers for conditions they do not suffer from.]

‘Fossil’ genes are present but no longer functional due to random changes (e.g. few people can now smell androstenone, a steroid found in sweat and urine).

Humans are very similar to chimpanzees but have weaker muscles, less developed sense of smell and far fewer digestives enzymes: humans can no longer eat a diet of only raw food – we have replaced our lack of enzymes by cooking.

There is very little difference between humans, who are a very inbred population, suggesting that we were a rare species for most of our history and descended from a tiny original population. DNA analysis can trace maternal line origins. Early modern humans left Africa in two groups; group 1 went east to south India and that lineage is only found there while group 2 went to Europe and thence to north India.

The Indian caste system has restricted breeding populations over 108 generations (3,000 years) resulting in medical problems and genetic disorders with varying degrees of severity. Members of the merchant class (Vaishyas) cannot break down a commonly used anaesthetic and remain unconscious for long periods so a different anaesthetic must be used.

Some of the genome has unidentified functions; it was initially thought that this was irrelevant and known as ‘junk code’. Now known that these stretches are often found across species and it is now thought that these areas tell genes to switch on and off, especially in embryo development.

Many traits (e.g. height) and specific conditions are of polygenetic origin.

BBC TV documentary 'The Gene Code' presented by Dr Adam Rutherford; broadcast April 2011.

Be Green in the Garden

We are bombarded with new tools and products to use in the garden, but it is important to 'think green' before we buy. So here is some guidance.

• Don't use a sprinkler. Most plants will extend their roots in search of water. If you grow vegetables, unless it is a prolonged dry period it is not necessary to water until they are forming fruit (e.g. beans and tomatoes). See post on Watering Vegetables.
• Get a water butt and collect rainwater for the garden.
• Have a veg patch. If you only have a small outside area, many vegetables and fruits can be grown in pots. 
• Don't use peat-based composts. Find alternatives like coir.
• If you buy plants in pots, keep them to re-use when growing from seed. If you cannot re-use them, see if your council recycling centre will take them. 
• Buy (or make) and use a compost bin. Preferably go for wooden bins, or ones made from recycled plastic. If you have a tiny garden, use your local council 'green waste' recycling services.
• Buy recycled garden furniture.
• Use non-toxic forms of pest control. Used coffee grounds will deter slugs and snails; some coffee shops are now willing to give away or sell used coffee grounds.

Various sources

Genetic Disorders

These are caused by mutations, duplications or omissions of parts of the genetic code. Some disorders are passed on from one or both of the parents, while others (c. 33%) are spontaneous occcurrences (usually in sperm cell production). Examples are:

• Down's syndrome: three sets of chromomes instead of two.
• Klinefelter's syndrome: XXY genotype resulting in feminised males.
• Turner's syndrome: X genotype lacond second X resulting in immature sexual development of females.
• Genotype XYY: males have increased height. A link with criminality is not proven but perplexingly high frequency of XYY males in high security mental hospital settings (c. 20 times the normal rate).

Monogenic diseases are caused by a single gene defect; polygenic diseases are caused by more than one gene.

• Sickle cell anaemia is monogenic for red blood cell distortion. In Africa up to 30% of the population have sickle cell trait (Hh) and survive malaria better than those with normal (HH) or anaemic (hh) genes. 
• In adult American Indians, Australian aborigines and some other racial groups, the enzyme lactase (essential to digest lactose sugar in milk) is rare or absent.

Mutations are caused by natural or synthetic chemicals, various radiations, some viruses, plus random 'spontaneous' mutations. Chromosome abnormalities affect abour 1 in every 200 newborns. More than 3,000 genetic diseases are attributable to a single gene but occur infrequently in the general population.

• Nuclear bombings: ionising radiation is more efficient at killing cells by disrupting metabolic processes than at inducing genetic mutations. There are many cases of acute radiation sickness. A tenfold increase in leukemia in the 1960's (two decades later) shows delayed effects, but this was transient and levels fell to normal later on. There has been no sign of increased chromosomal abnormalities in the offspring of survivors.
• It seems that humans are at least 4 times as resistant as mice to genetic damage from a given dose of radiation. The only damage by radiation that can be passed on to the next generation is damage to the germ cells. Most damaged embryos result in spontaneous abortion very early in pregnancy. Life threatening damage occurs first to rapidly dividing tissues, such as those that produce red and white blood cells (hence cases of leukemia). To produce high enough levels of hamful genes, such a high dose of radiation would be needed that the victim would die of radiation poisoning before being able to reproduce.

The X chromosome contains many genes. Although women have two X chromosomes, within a few days of conception most of one X chromosome in every cell in a female body is inactivated, except the part that pairs with the Y chromosome and a few other genes. The chromosomes that shuts down are selected at random; in any organ of the body some cells will shut down the paternal X and others the maternal X. This is why women can carry a recessive gene but not suffer from it.

• Colour blindness affects males almost entirely: in Caucasian popuations 1 in 12 males but 1 in 200 femals. A single gene that describes red pigment sits alongside 1 to 5 copies of a gene for red pigment on the X chromosome (the gene for blue pigment is on chromosome 7). The genes for red and green colour and for blood (factor VIII or haemophilia) are no more than 1.1 million base pairs apart in band Xq28 (i.e. very close).
• A paper in the Lancet (1996) claimed there is evidence that several genes that determine intelligence appear to be located on the X chromosome. Boys inherit a single X from their mother; girls receive one from each parent. Boys therefore have the full advantage of bright genes from their mother, while girls may have their mother's bright genes diluted by a less intelligent father. The paper suggests that this is why males are more likely to be geniuses and that if women are weighing up men with regard to future children, they should consider the intelligence of the man's mother.
• Bodmer & McKie report that children in large families tend to have lower IQs than those from small families, that in any given family IQ generally decreases with birth order. They also note that only 3% to 4% of high IQ individuals fail to have families, while more than 30% of those with IQs under 70 have children.

Sources
Walter Bodmer & Robin McKie: The Book of Man: the quest to discover our genetic heritage. Scribner, 1995.
Suzuki & Knudtson: Genethics. Stoddart, 1990.
Article: Smart boys wear Mum's genes: Daily Mail 28 June 1996