Making Sense of Cancer

By Jarle Breivik

Chapter 1: The Purpose

Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution, but how do we make sense of cancer?

Chapter 2: The Background

A New Oil: A neighbor highlights the gap between the promises of cancer research and the growing cancer epidemic.

A Failed Moon Landing: Obama and Biden’s personal tragedies and their ambitions to conquer cancer “once and for all.”

A Rude Provocation: An op-ed in The New York Times challenges the scientific and political narrative of cancer research.

A Big White Lie: Lance Armstrong realizes that a world without cancer might be an illusion.

An Enemy of the People: The author faces a backlash for challenging the establishment with scientific realities.

Chapter 3: The Enemy

Malevolent Crabs: Cancerous tumors may seem like dreadful monsters, but it is time to face the enemy.

Multidimensional Warfare: The war on cancer casts researchers as heroes and patients as battlefields in a story about good versus evil.

The Difficult Peace: Cancer is not evil. We need a new narrative that fosters understanding rather than fear and alienation.

Chapter 4: The Problem

A Biotechnological Conundrum: Cancer may be seen as a technological problem involving faulty cells that need to be repaired or eliminated.

A Challenge to Society: Cancer is also a societal problem involving complex issues of economy, ethics, and equality.

A Personal Journey: Behind every cancer diagnosis lies a personal story, and empathy may be the most powerful medicine.

An Alternative Reality: Many see cancer through a metaphysical lens colored by pseudoscience and superstition.

An Elephant: The challenge is integrating the different perspectives to build a multidimensional model of understanding.

Chapter 5: The Cause

Smoke without Fire: 250 years ago, Percivall Pott discovered that smoke promotes cancer, and the tobacco industry still doesn’t care.

Cancer from Living: We get cancer from everything, from viruses and hormones to sunlight and sugar, but most of all, we get cancer from living.

Fading Flowers: The human body is a beautiful flower that gives life to a new generation before it withers and dies.

Chapter 6: The Principle

Darwin’s Idea: The theory of evolution has been widely misused and misunderstood by both its proponents and opponents.

The Building Blocks of Life: The origin of cancer—and life—lies in the evolution of self-replicating molecules.

Selfish Genes: They are not our genes. We are their disposable vehicle of transportation to the next generation.

In the Light of Evolution: To understand cancer, we must disregard our egocentric worldview and follow the logic of the replicators.

Chapter 7: The Evolution

Genetic Crossroads: While one copy of the genome follows the germinal highway, another constructs our multicellular body.

Evolution Within: Natural selection within our body explains how the immune system learns and remembers.

The Final Countdown: Every cell division yields thousands of mutations, while the telomeres are counting down for cellular suicide.

Evolution of Cancer: The guardian of the genome is kicked out, and the immortal renegades take hold of the organism.

Chapter 8: The Synthesis

Epigenes: The epigenetic code determines how the genes perform their theatrical roles on different stages.

Memes: If our body is made by genes, and our soul is made by memes, then who are we?

Darwin’s Theory of Information: The concept of information unites biology and culture, providing an integrated understanding of life—and cancer.

Information in Concert: A meme originating in the Norwegian mountains changes the genes of an unborn child in Australia.

Levels of Understanding: As we climb the ladder of understanding, cancer transforms from a mysterious foe to a logical consequence of evolution.

Chapter 9: The Solution

False Solutions: Myths, exaggeration, and conspiracy theories obstruct more meaningful conversations about cancer research.

Nature’s Solutions: The Greenland shark lives for centuries, and trees can live for millennia, so why don’t we?

Immunological Warfare: Activating the immune system can kill cancer, but the longer we live, the more cancer we get.

The Immortal Body: We may be able to rejuvenate all our cells and organs, but it’s not really the body we care about.

The Immortal Soul: The ultimate cure for cancer is to free our minds from our mortal bodies—but will we still be human?