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Alex
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New article "Hacking the genome"

Hi dudes,
This article is now in the library, NH "Methods & Technology" section. Since it's destined to end up in NH book # 2, I welcome any constructive comments, facts, experiences, discussion or ideas. For those studying epigenetics, does it explain mechanisms enough? Would you call this intermediate NH or basics? Does it have enough jokes in it, etc., etc.
Best
AR


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Sakiro
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Re: New article "Hacking the genome"

Alex, thanks for sharing this "preview" of what will be your second ebook, it will be even more amazing that the first one!

Now, from a point of view of a "padawan neurohacker": smile

".. But a lot of gene transcription is in an ongoing relationship with feedback in real time from the environment (which is why those muscles do waste away; your body thinks you don’t need them any more –and this is the secret behind the fact -and golden rule in NH- that you must “use it in the right way, or lose it”.).. " 

This have sense, but at what point that can limit us to scale our intelligence/skills? If i'm a guy who wants learn and master new skills ("tools") constantly my time is finit (only 24 hours and 7 days a week, etc) can i reach a point where i just can't learn new things whithout "losing" others because i could don't have the time to "use" the old ones enough?


.."behaving as though"..

This was the part where i think people whithout scientific background has a "wow" moment (at least for me!).

If i understand you correctly you said that GT can be tigger from physical signals (hardware) or thoughts/emotions/behaving as though/visualization (software) etc?

This is interesting, and it overlaps for me a lot for things like "creative visualization" "law of attraction" "positive thinkng"  "suggestion" stuff etc .. is just the same or you are explaining something totally different?

How can i do an experiment to try to hack the genome via software and see what happens? I can think of a lot of weird and interesting things to try but i don't know what are the "limits" of this .

You give an example you said about building muscle or losing fat.

If i understand well i can tigger by software GT to achieve more muscle or lose fat by:

- Imagining doing weight training or running
- "Behaving as though" mm .. acting like a fit guy? lol a little tricky!
- Thoughts ... having thoughts over the day like "yeah, look at this i'm really more fit!" with really convicción
- Visualization .. maybe imagine with clearly detail how your body will look when GT finish their job?
- Any more .. ?

Is obvious that, like you said, is better to hack it by hardware+software but, here i'm trying to understand if it can be done this kind of things only by software.

The changes in muscle and fat is something that is not the key of the subject for me, because is a change that can be achieved by doing physical exercises anyway .. but how about to obtain changes that only can be obtained by software hacking?

Things that changes physical things in our body but that can be only done by software. (Like i said before i don't know the 'limits' of GT, and probably we really don't know yet so i'm taking the risk in this one).

Can for example hack the genome to turn off the genes that cause hair loss, and turn on again the genes again (who stopped somehow) which cause the hair grow again?

Sorry if this is a really stupid quesiton, if so probably i misunderstood the info of the article!

I'm really interested in learning more about this kind of things, and experiment a little with me, so if you think there are additional resources (books, webs, videos, etc) to learn more about this, i want to give it a try.

Thanks!


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Alex
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Re: New article "Hacking the genome"

Hi dude,

Another epic mail  :  )
I've tried to fill in some background information here along with answering the questions.


Sakiro Wrote: 
At what point can that limit us to scale our intelligence/skills? If I'm a guy who wants to learn and master new skills ("tools") constantly,  my time is finite (only 24 hours and 7 days a week, etc), can I reach a point where I just can't learn new things without "losing" others because I don't have the time to "use" the old ones enough? ..

We don't actually know the limits of intelligence. If we specialize in anything overmuch, and neglect all else, losing ability is always a danger. But there are two ways to ensure that we lose as little as possible: First, always do things in the right order. That's another golden rule for a good reason; in beginners' NH most of us are usually working to achieve full development and optimal function of what we've got, (before enhancing anything) because just achieving full development brings us a lot of extra new skills to play with. If we get all these basics in first, the brain will then perform optimally in processing the details and maintaining existing tools while we continue to learn.
Trying to add new skills without the 'machinery' to do so is a bit like trying to learn stunt driving on a sit-down lawn mower.  :  )

Second, if you practice new skills often enough initially for them to become automatic, you don't need to practice much at all to maintain them after that. The more abilities you can transfer to automatic, the more you can add new skills without losing anything.
Also, there are some abilities we may decide we no longer need, as our overall goals change and as we are working to prevent wrong use habits. Deliberately not practicing bad habits (eg., by practising good ones) is a very good way of freeing up more space and time for processing useful abilities. So normally as you practice, the good habits take over the networks that were causing problems and put them to better purposes and there is no need for new networks to be constructed because we're recycling the old ones.

Most augmentation skills depend on all the basics. If we practise the basic skills regularly all the abilities depending on them remain fresh in memory too because the associations are reconsolidated. That way, skills we haven't practised for a while are faster & easier to get back into. Example -you may know a language that you haven't spoken for some time, but because you speak in SOME language every day, all the basics remain fresh and if you suddenly had to start using the 'forgotten' one you'd pick it up much faster than an absolute beginner.
Sleeping well is the last essential to get as much out of the system as possible.


[s] ("behaving as though") If I understand you correctly you said that GT can be triggered from physical signals (hardware) or thoughts/emotions/behaving as though/visualization (software) etc?

And a whole lot of other things, but yes. Both together work best.
First let's make sure we're talking about the same thing ok? Because I don't want to cause confusion. I refer to “Behaving as though”, and stuff like creative play and visualization as 'software' as analogy in order to contrast with using physical signals (the brain/body being the hardware, and mind being our 'software' or 'wetware' if you prefer). But I should make it clear that such things are not literally software -they are mental techniques or psychological methods.

We should be clear on what sort of thing we are calling 'software', because there are of course software computer applications that can help with GT; body building software such as slendertone controllers, computer games that help you to 'behave as though', or biofeedback programs and so on.
So I'm assuming that you mean software/wetware in the sense that I was using it, correct me if that's not the case.


[s] This is interesting, and it overlaps for me a lot for things like "creative visualization" "law of attraction" "positive thinking" "suggestion" stuff etc .. is just the same or you are explaining something totally different?

Same tools; different procedure. Most people don't use these tools very well, and usually achieve only temporary improvements that depend on constant repetition of input for duration.

If you want to use these methods to induce gene transcription and permanent change (instead of temporary, input-dependent improvement), you will have to know exactly what you are doing (in the sense of what changes you want to make and exactly what sort of input will induce those changes). That doesn't mean you have to know what all the genes are called and what they all do or anything that complicated, but it IS very useful to know the chemistry and the signaling required. More on this below...

Creative visualisation, positive thinking etc only work well if you are able to model properly; to use the method 'behave as though' (which most practitioners don't know how to do). It's a kind of focused attention to detail that comes when you are trying to copy behavior really accurately. It's what method actors do. “Become” the character. This is not just going through the motions. Everything must be copied -including the state of mind, facial expressions, sounds, movements, emotions. If you don't know what they are, you imagine as best you can.

Doing this well relies on the basics of attention, orientation, association, imagination, empathy and concentration. So get those in good working order first, and modeling will be a lot easier.


[s] How can i do an experiment to try to hack the genome via software and see what happens? I can think of a lot of weird and interesting things to try but i don't know what are the "limits" of this.   Is obvious that, like you said, is better to hack it by hardware+software but, here i'm trying to understand if it can be done this kind of things only by software.

how about to obtain changes that only can be obtained by software hacking? Things that changes physical things in our body but that can be only done by software.

Here's a quick experiment that will enable you to see the power of wetware interacting with and controlling physical matter:

Sit or lie somewhere warm and comfortable and loosen any restrictive clothing. Make sure there will be no interruptions (turn off your phone etc).
Fold your arms or place them behind your head. Without moving, start to imagine the sort of things, people and behaviors that make you feel sexy.
How long does it take your mind (wetware) to have an effect on your neurochemistry, hormones,
physical body?  :  )

Congratulations; you just hacked your physiology with your imagination. Your thoughts were the only signals required, which is usually the case with our drives such as hunger and sexuality, because they are about immediate need.

Genome changes are not about immediate need; they are about permanent change and adaptation and as such a 'single hit' hack will not do anything unless it is extremely intense (for example a serious trauma or hard radiation could cause acute sudden genome changes). Otherwise (and ordinarily in NH) the signals'  'critical mass' nature must be achieved by repetition rather than intensity. We send the signals again and again. Now, on to your example below:


[s] Can I for example hack the genome to turn off the genes that cause hair loss, and turn on again the genes again (who stopped somehow) which cause the hair grow again?

First of all there are no “genes that cause hair loss”. There are combinations of gene expressions associated with hair loss. Sometimes a problem happens because some genes have been switched off, sometimes because they have been switched on. Some key genes control many other genes, so it gets complicated, but as I said above, we don't need to know all that. We don't even need to know if we're turning something on or off; all we need to know is what hacks achieve the desired result.

So what is the desired result? Well if you think about it, you do not actually want to 'turn off' hair loss, because since new hair is growing all over our bodies all the time, you would soon become very hairy all over like a Yeti or Chewbacca or something.  :  )  We DO want hairs to fall out regularly -what we DON'T want is the amount of hair falling out to be loads more than the new hair growth.

Lack of sufficient growth is the problem. Now that we've named the beast, we can hack it...We know some of the causes of growth failure are things that put the body into 'protection mode' instead of 'growth & repair mode' (high levels of steroids, physical trauma, insufficient nutrients) so what we are hacking is causes (signals), not symptoms.

The 'stop growth' signal in this particular case often comes from excessive blood cortisol (which switches us to 'protection mode' and blocks 'growth & repair  mode' in the brain too), and the easiest methods of reducing that combine physical and psychological input, in that they do involve either body contact or deliberately keeping the body still; for example in meditation, or sitting still watching comedy, or lying still having a massage (anything that increases oxytocin or endorphins will reduce cortisol).

Obviously the psychology of a calm, comfortable state of mind is very useful in achieving this hack, but using psychological methods alone is rarely sufficient for permanent GT because they would need constant repetition to a degree that would probably bore us. New skills depend on new associations between parts of the brain, rather than excessive use of one or two parts. That's why combining methods is much faster than sticking with one or two; different methods integrate the knowledge in different parts of brain.

Psychological methods alone will do wonders for emotional stability and behavior because they work best on the chemical level to induce transient neurochemical states. Even the effects of meditation are practice-dependent until that critical mass is reached and GT happens.


[s] if you think there are additional resources (books, webs, videos, etc) to learn more about this, i want to give it a try. Thanks!

For a good exploration of how mind affects matter check out Bruce Lipton's talks on TED. Bear in mind he makes a couple of personal assumptions that are probably not correct, but the biochemistry information is extremely good and right up to date.

Check the NHA Library Basics section for articles on epigenetics, plasticity, anxiety & input control, learning & memory.

If you want to learn more about the creative play aspect of learning/improvement, natural learning,   association and imagination or how modeling works, study the tutorials.
If you've already gone through all the tutorials here, there are some others being prepared that may contain notes of interest to you. These can be sent by private mail if required; just let us know (a lot of people here learn faster than we can write)  :  )
Best,
AR


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Sakiro
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Re: New article "Hacking the genome"

T-h-a-n-k  Y-o-u! smile

I learn more about this subject every day!

Ps: Sent you an e-mail


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