A Biased View on Human Behaviour

A BIASED VIEW ON HUMAN BEHAVIOUR WEIERT VELLE* Disagreement about the relative importance of genes and environment as determinants of human behaviour is not a new phenomenon, and it is unlikely that the debate on the issue will ever end, not even after the publication of the book Human Diversity by Richard Lewontin [I]. Two major groups dominate this debate. The members of one of the groups, placing the main emphasis on environmental factors, have been and are represented by a number of leading personalities in the social sciences—for example, Margaret Mead [2] and Marvin Harris [3] in social anthropology, Christopher Jencks [4] in sociology, and Leon J. Kamin [5] in psychology—but also by some with a background in the natural sciences, one of the few belonging to the last category being Richard Lewontin, professor of zoology at Harvard University. They all stress the importance of socialization and cultural factors, to the almost total neglect of hereditary dispositions. Another view is held by a large group with a background in medicine and the natural sciences, with Professor Edward O. Wilson, the author ofthe book Sociobiology, the New Synthesis, being one ofits key proponents [6]. This school of thought, however, also counts among its adherents a number of well-recognized representatives of anthropology [7]. By their opponents, and specifically by Professor Lewontin, the views expressed by members of this group are often characterized as being genetic determinism . This designation is, however, grossly misleading, and one suspects that the term is being used for political reasons, in order to stigmatize those lacking an absolute belief in the possibility of changing human nature by use of social and political reforms. As a matter of fact, sociobiologists do not at all contest the great impact of cultural determinants on human behaviour. However, their working hypothesis is that although the development of language and ?Department of Physiology, Veterinary College of Norway, P.O. Box 8146 Dep, Oslo 1, Norway.© 1986 by The University of Chicago. AU rights reserved. 0031-5982/86/2902-0466101.00 272 I Weiert Velie ¦ Human Behaviour the ability to reflect on the past, present, and future have put man in a unique position, it is most unlikely that cultural factors should be able to suppress completely tendencies and behavioural patterns that are results of the operation of natural selection throughout millions of years. But not only that: during the last few decades important contributions from research in a variety of disciplines, including ethology, neurophysiology, neuropsychology, lend strong support to the view that genes coding for behavioural traits still play a role also in man, although the strength of these determinants may vary enormously, depending on the character of the traits. Professor Richard Lewontin, renowned geneticist but also known for his rabid attacks on sociobiology in general and on Professor Edward O. Wilson in particular, has as one of his aims in his book to explore "to what extent developed variation between people may reflect (and be built upon) innate biological differences between them." However, it takes little effort to discover that the book is a systematic attempt to invalidate sociobiological theory. Among the many problems dealt with in the book are interaction between genes and environment and simple genetic diversity illustrated by specific hereditary traits for which the genes have been identified (blood groups, enzymes, etc.). Furthermore, it contains an analysis of continuous variation, including consideration of the important question of hereditability. The discussion of hereditability leaves one with the impression that, for the sake of the arguments put forward in the book, the scientific value of the concept had better be reduced as much as possible. In view of the great practical impact that the concept of hereditability has had and still has in genetics, it is somewhat surprising to find such a view expressed by a geneticist. The author also deals with the hereditary basis of mental traits, and again one observes frenetic attempts to reduce the significance of genetic research. This also applies to research on identical twins reared apart. In this connection Lewontin draws fully on the well-known case of the fabricated results published by the late Cyril Burt [8]. However, this most unfortunate...