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Born That Way: Genes, Behavior, Personality
Sensibly not regarding the perennial nature-nurture debate as an either/or issue, nonspecialist Wright surveys the last half-century of research used to support the view that human behavior is more genetically than environmentally based. Provocative chapters address the chemistry of self, twin studies, stars of the new field, the short and happy life of the tabula rasa, the Jensen furor over race and IQ, and the possibility of a crime gene. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published June 9, 1998
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105 people want to read
About the author
William Wright
14Ìýbooks6ÌýfollowersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ database with this name.
This is William Wright (1930-2016).
This is William Wright (1930-2016).
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 8, 2022
William Wright (October 22, 1930 � June 4, 2016) gives a journalist's overview of as the field stood in 1998, along with the history of the field's development to that time. Behavioral genetics studies the influence of genes, acting in concert with environmental factors, on behavior. The field covers all of animal behavior but the main focus of the book is on human behavior. Behavioral genetics overlaps with the field of (sort of a rebranding of as it applies to humans), but traditionally evolutionary psychology focused on broad similarities in human behaviors across cultures, while behavioral genetics focused mostly on differences between individuals, both within the same racial, ethnic, cultural, or gender group, and (much more controversially) between groups.
The writing quality is excellent and Wright's account is highly readable, making it a fine example of popular science writing. Wright spent several years researching behavioral genetics for the book, embedding with and interviewing a who's who of researchers prominent then, as well as the field's more outspoken (Marxist) critics. The book holds up well despite being 24 years old and continues to be worth reading. However, 24 years is a long time in any rapidly developing field of science, so you'll need an update. Sadly the author passed in 2016 so we must look to others for that.
In particular, the book came out just four years before the first successful (GWAS) was published in 2002. Since then, GWAS methods (part of the genomics revolution we are currently enjoying) have revolutionized the field. Fortunately, plenty of newer books cover the recent progress, such as . The author of that book, , features prominently in Born That Way. It's interesting to read what Plomin was saying then, and how well his hunches have stood up to the vast increase in evidence.
When Wright wrote in 1998, the revolutionary technology was twin studies. The still active "Minnesota Twins" collaboration led by features heavily in several chapters. (For more details closer to the source, see .) For behavioral geneticists, monozygotic (identical) twins are a fabulous gift of nature, since they develop from a single zygote that splits, creating two individuals with identical genomes. Any subsequent discordance between MZ twins must be due to the differing environments they experience as they grow and develop. The degree to which sets of MZ twins are more similar with respect to some measurable trait (such as height, weight, intelligence, psychopathology, etc.) than are heterozygous twins, ordinary siblings, or unrelated people provides an estimate for the of that trait. That is, how much of the observed variation in the trait is due to genetic, as opposed to environmental, influences. Heritability is normally not a fixed property, but tends to increase as the environmental variability decreases. For example, if every individual experiences exactly the same environment, and the trait still varies between individuals, then the variation can only be due to their genetic differences, increasing heritability for that trait to 100%. Thus if the heritability of a trait is rising, it probably means we are making environments more equal for everyone - a traditional measure of social progress.
Wright also covers - and savages - the field's critics. Sadly, at the time Wright seemed unfamiliar with the broader field of science denial, so he didn't explore the odd parallels between the Marxist critics of behavioral genetics and their ideological opposites over at Answers in Genesis who deny evolution altogether. Back in the 1990s, politically conservative climate change deniers were just getting warmed up, and they too have since gone on to crib from the social constructionists' anti-science playbook. Namely: don't do any counter-research of your own. Instead just scour the research of real scientists, think of possible ways the work might be wrong, continue to voice those objections without bothering to test them, and steadfastly ignore the real researchers after they test your objections and find them groundless.
Wright devotes much of a chapter to debunking which, appallingly, still attracts five-star reviews from today's "woke" science deniers. This despite the book's already having been refuted before it was published, and becoming even more comically erroneous after the flood-tide of modern genomics data.
I had only a few complaints about the book. Wright engages in the obligatory pearl-clutching over the evils of eugenics. That is, eugenics in the form of rather rare compulsory sterilization as practiced by the civilized nations that didn't sink into Nazism. Wright does not attempt a cost-benefit analysis or acknowledge that there could be one. He portrays any state restriction on personal reproduction as an unalloyed horror, while remaining apparently oblivious to the ongoing state interference in adoption. Nobody complains when the state rules some individuals unfit to adopt a child, whereas the interests of the child and of the broader society cease to matter when those same unfit individuals decide to breed.
Wright was also a bit weak on the field of human intelligence, although some of that isn't his fault as a lot of progress has been more recent. For a vitally needed catch-up I recommand:
The writing quality is excellent and Wright's account is highly readable, making it a fine example of popular science writing. Wright spent several years researching behavioral genetics for the book, embedding with and interviewing a who's who of researchers prominent then, as well as the field's more outspoken (Marxist) critics. The book holds up well despite being 24 years old and continues to be worth reading. However, 24 years is a long time in any rapidly developing field of science, so you'll need an update. Sadly the author passed in 2016 so we must look to others for that.
In particular, the book came out just four years before the first successful (GWAS) was published in 2002. Since then, GWAS methods (part of the genomics revolution we are currently enjoying) have revolutionized the field. Fortunately, plenty of newer books cover the recent progress, such as . The author of that book, , features prominently in Born That Way. It's interesting to read what Plomin was saying then, and how well his hunches have stood up to the vast increase in evidence.
When Wright wrote in 1998, the revolutionary technology was twin studies. The still active "Minnesota Twins" collaboration led by features heavily in several chapters. (For more details closer to the source, see .) For behavioral geneticists, monozygotic (identical) twins are a fabulous gift of nature, since they develop from a single zygote that splits, creating two individuals with identical genomes. Any subsequent discordance between MZ twins must be due to the differing environments they experience as they grow and develop. The degree to which sets of MZ twins are more similar with respect to some measurable trait (such as height, weight, intelligence, psychopathology, etc.) than are heterozygous twins, ordinary siblings, or unrelated people provides an estimate for the of that trait. That is, how much of the observed variation in the trait is due to genetic, as opposed to environmental, influences. Heritability is normally not a fixed property, but tends to increase as the environmental variability decreases. For example, if every individual experiences exactly the same environment, and the trait still varies between individuals, then the variation can only be due to their genetic differences, increasing heritability for that trait to 100%. Thus if the heritability of a trait is rising, it probably means we are making environments more equal for everyone - a traditional measure of social progress.
Wright also covers - and savages - the field's critics. Sadly, at the time Wright seemed unfamiliar with the broader field of science denial, so he didn't explore the odd parallels between the Marxist critics of behavioral genetics and their ideological opposites over at Answers in Genesis who deny evolution altogether. Back in the 1990s, politically conservative climate change deniers were just getting warmed up, and they too have since gone on to crib from the social constructionists' anti-science playbook. Namely: don't do any counter-research of your own. Instead just scour the research of real scientists, think of possible ways the work might be wrong, continue to voice those objections without bothering to test them, and steadfastly ignore the real researchers after they test your objections and find them groundless.
Wright devotes much of a chapter to debunking which, appallingly, still attracts five-star reviews from today's "woke" science deniers. This despite the book's already having been refuted before it was published, and becoming even more comically erroneous after the flood-tide of modern genomics data.
I had only a few complaints about the book. Wright engages in the obligatory pearl-clutching over the evils of eugenics. That is, eugenics in the form of rather rare compulsory sterilization as practiced by the civilized nations that didn't sink into Nazism. Wright does not attempt a cost-benefit analysis or acknowledge that there could be one. He portrays any state restriction on personal reproduction as an unalloyed horror, while remaining apparently oblivious to the ongoing state interference in adoption. Nobody complains when the state rules some individuals unfit to adopt a child, whereas the interests of the child and of the broader society cease to matter when those same unfit individuals decide to breed.
Wright was also a bit weak on the field of human intelligence, although some of that isn't his fault as a lot of progress has been more recent. For a vitally needed catch-up I recommand:
February 10, 2014
I think it's pretty clear we have genetic predispositions.
It's also clear enough that our environment affects us in lots of ways.
Now, trying to answer "are genes the primary influence on human personality and behavior?" seems pretty silly to me.
Human behavior is an extremely complicated phenomenon to go crazy quantifying it.
We can certainly study it, but to turn that into a science might be out of our reach.
There's not enough data, and no way to isolate influential factors to do true scientific experiments.
So, guys and gals on both sides of the controversy
please keep the research going,
but chill out with the spectacular claims.
It's also clear enough that our environment affects us in lots of ways.
Now, trying to answer "are genes the primary influence on human personality and behavior?" seems pretty silly to me.
Human behavior is an extremely complicated phenomenon to go crazy quantifying it.
We can certainly study it, but to turn that into a science might be out of our reach.
There's not enough data, and no way to isolate influential factors to do true scientific experiments.
So, guys and gals on both sides of the controversy
please keep the research going,
but chill out with the spectacular claims.
October 5, 2016
This book perfectly converts the theory of genetic engineering to a language that is easy and fun to read about, by reading actual testimonials and stories of cases it makes it enjoyable for anyone to learn about our genetics and how they may play roles in areas we thought had nothing to do with genetics
August 4, 2012
A few minor scientific inaccuracies, but altogether a fascinating look at the history of behavioral genetic research.
March 7, 2022
A very good, although dated (re: GWAS vs candidate gene), history of things.
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