Christopher X J. Jensen
Professor, Pratt Institute

Fantastic piece on nature/nurture by Patrick F. Clarkin in TVOL

Posted 23 Sep 2017 / 0

There’s a lot that has been written about the nature/nurture dilemma, perhaps because misconceptions about the role that genes and environment play in biological development are so persistent. Patrick F. Clarkin recently published a couple of wonderful short essays on the topic:

This View of LifeWe Are Not Hard-Wired

This View of LifeEvolution Makes Us Flexible Because Life Is Unpredictable

Not only do I think that these essays totally get it right, but they also do so using a wonderful blend of biological examples and poignant quotes (both from biologists and from a variety of historical figures). I particularly appreciated the Tomasello quote (fish born expecting water, humans born expecting culture) and a variety of Matt Ridley quotes that really call into question both genetic determinism and constructivism.

A Minor Post, Adaptation, Articles, Behavior, Behavioral Ecology, Cultural Evolution, Development, Epigenetics, EvoDevo, Gene by Environment Interactions, Gene-Culture Coevolution, Genetics, Human Evolution, Language Evolution, Phenotypic Plasticity, Psychological Adaptation

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