New essay collection challenges 'nature-nurture' debate

For anyone who has ever wondered whether their child’s traits are a product of genes or parenting practices, a major new project could help provide the answer.

‘How We Develop’, a newly published collection of essays written by leading scientists in their respective fields, seeks to replace the centuries-old ‘nature-nurture’ dialogue with a new developmental argument: that everything about us, from brain and body structure to traits and preferences, is a product of a dynamic, developing system.

The aim of the collection is to make cutting-edge science on human development available to non-academic audiences. It is published online for free and in an accessible format at: http://wires.wiley.com/go/howwedevelop.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-01/uoea-nec012617.php

3 Likes

It’s difficult (at least for me) to digest all of this information, but the conclusion seems to slant towards nurture (not 100% nurture).

I focused on the “Heritability Fallacy” because I’ve read that the concordance rate for schizophrenia among monozygotic twins was about 50%. That number seems to be way off to the point that heritability is not a factor at all in regards to schizophrenia.

I found this article that concurs with the “heritability fallacy”:

http://human-nature.com/nibbs/03/joseph.html .

Criticism of “The gene illusion” . http://psycnet.apa.org.sci-hub.cc/index.cfm?fa=buy.optionToBuy&id=2005-08555-001

http://dx.doi.org.secure.sci-hub.cc/10.1016%2Fj.intell.2004.04.001

1 Like