Born That Way: Genes, Behavior, Personality Book + PRICE WATCH * Amazon pricing is not included in price watch

Born That Way: Genes, Behavior, Personality Book

William Wright takes on the question of nature versus nurture, examining the roles heredity and environment play in determining not only what we look like, but why some of us like coffee rather than tea or prefer cats to dogs. Wright's position is clearly in favor of genetic control of our predispositions, based on compelling evidence from various research such as the famous University of Minnesota studies of identical twins raised separately and from newer work such as that outlined in Dean Hamer's Living with Our Genes. Wright states emphatically, "The nature-nurture war is over." But he carefully avoids much of the outcry that met biologist E.O. Wilson's introduction of the principles of sociobiology by stating up front that genes aren't everything: "None of the data turned up by behavioral geneticists shows genes to be tyrannical commands, but rather nudges, sometimes strong, but more often weak." Wright makes a strong case for genetic determinism, while carefully distancing himself from the socio-political ramifications of saying people are "born that way." He does this by showing how decades of research pointing toward genes as determiners of body and mind has been misinterpreted by groups or individuals intent on achieving their nonscientific goals. --Therese LittletonRead More

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  • Product Description

    Taking the nature vs. nurture debate to a new level, this fascinating, comprehensive journey into the world of genetic research and molecular biology offers a fresh assessment of the work that has been done in this relatively new field during the last half century-work that has demolished common assumptions and overturned existing theories about what determines our personality and behavior. Beginning with the now-famous University of Minnesota twins study, Wright also writes about twin and adoption studies that compare individuals to establish a genetic influence, and about the corroborating research in molecular biology that underlines the links between genes and personality. He discusses the genetic background of the two human conditions that are today the most interesting to behavioral geneticists-depression and homosexuality-and the fluctuations in fortunes of biological versus environmental positions. He describes the evolution of theories concerning mental illness and the mind-body connection, and also discusses the widespread acceptance of Freudian theory, which puts all emphasis on early childhood to explain human behavior. Informative, insightful and highly entertaining for both the public and professionals in the field, Born That Way is a stimulating look at one of the most exciting fields of research on the frontier of science.

  • 0415924944
  • 9780415924948
  • William Wright
  • 26 August 1999
  • Routledge
  • Paperback (Book)
  • 304
  • 1
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