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Title: Alone Beyond Infinity Source: Restless genes: the compulsion to see what lies beyond that far ridge or that ocean--or this planet--is a defining part of human identity and success by David Dobbs for National Geographic magazine

This source is a magazine article that explores the possible genetic causes for the desire to explore that occurs in humans. Throughout the piece Dobbs keeps a firm but uncertain tone to his writing. When making his case about genetic similarities between migratory cultures, he acknowledges that there is uncertainty in what he is asserting, even going so far to say that to get a clear answer "you'd have to have been around back [in ancient times]". The case that he revolves his article around is the existence of a gene known as "DRD4-7R". The gene in question has been linked to curiosity and restlessness, and studies have shown that people who have larger quantities of this gene exhibit a "taste for both movement and novelty". Coincidentally, the gene has also been linked to ADHD. Dobbs believes that this gene may be the element that drives humans to explore the world around us . While it is true that this gene is more prevalent in traditionally migratory cultures, it is important to remember that correlation does not always imply causation. Many geneticists, including Kenneth Kidd, disagree this Dobbs’s assumption. Kidd is quoted as saying “You just can't reduce something as complex as human exploration to a single gene, Genetics doesn't work that way.” In this quote Kidd highlights some of the faults of Dobbs’s theory, but he does not completely reject the idea that the desire for exploration may be linked to genetics. In my opinion, I think that it is completely probably that there are several different genetic codes unique to humans that, when combined, cause us to feel a desire to travel and to explore, to go beyond the boundaries of what we know and see what exactly is out there.

Dobbs, David. "Restless genes: the compulsion to see what lies beyond that far ridge or that ocean--or this planet--is a defining part of human identity and success." National Geographic Jan. 2013: 44+. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 3 June 2014.