On Generational Trauma

Brown hair, brown hair, short legs, nose bump. Our physical traits are easily observed as they pass from generation to generation. Personality similarities are observed generationally, but environmental influences frequently play a role.

A study from the Emory University School of Medicine found that two generations of offspring of mice trained to fear the smell of cherry blossoms would instinctively avoid it without any prior contact. Scientists even observed changes in their brain structure, proving that the environment can cause changes in genetics.

Photograph courtesy of Nick Fewings via Unsplash; https://unsplash.com/@jannerboy62

While I don't support or condone animal testing, I do find the results of this test extremely interesting.

How traumatizing does something need to be to accent DNA? Does it need to be traumatizing at all? Do I love lilacs because an ancestor of mine had an amazing, wonderful experience in a field of lilacs? Does my ridiculous inability to choose what I want for dinner actually spring from an ancestor's disastrous dinner choice 100 years ago? What experiences have I passed on to my children?

Moreover, is deja vu related to memories of our ancestors? Maybe memories are also passed down in our genetics in ways we don't yet understand.

Photograph courtesy of Ahmad Odeh via Unsplash; https://unsplash.com/@aoddeh

Back in high school English class, I was taught about Ralph Waldo Emerson and the idea of the oversoul. The influence of Western religions made the idea of "every man's particular being ]being] contained and made one with all other" seem blasphemous to me. However, as an adult, I'm more open to alternative ideas about the soul, God, and humanity. What if we are this beautiful, messy combination of individuals and our ancestors? If that's true, it's not such a leap to think that we are all connected in more ways than we know. It would explain empathy and intuition as more than subconscious readings of subtle body language.

I don't have answers, but I do know that humans are far from understanding all the wonders of this universe.