“a man’s natural abilities are derived by inheritance, under exactly the same limitations as are the form and physical features of the whole organic world.” Francis Galton, Hereditary Genius, 1869.
The debate around the influence of nature versus nurture on behaviour has been researched for decades. Behavioural genetics experiments have ranged from twins and adoption studies to contemporary molecular genetics analysis (is there a gene for extroversion?).
In a way, Galton’s statement is indisputable, we do inherit our behavioural traits. But are these passed through biology or environment and education? Do we inherit a personality from genes or from culture? If cancer development is influenced by behaviour then would mutation carriers be less likely to develop the disease if not raised by their biological parents?
While there is still a debate between followers of nativism or empiricism theories around the origins of behaviour, there is a slight paradox in separating the two. Treatments that can be seen as derived from these approaches are often very debatable, such as the attempt to treat homosexuality with psychotherapy or the widespread dispense of Ritalin as a chemical quick fix for behavioural problems. Behaviour probably cannot be 100% native, but neither are we born tabula rasa.
Does DNA change behaviour? And more interestingly, could behaviour manipulate DNA? More on that as soon as I complete reading this.
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