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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sun Tzu who wrote (142418)	8/3/2004 2:36:42 PM
From: Dr. Id	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

To draw the conclusions that they did, the mice would have to be twins. And, if twins separated at birth, they would obviously have an identical genetic structure and thus any differences would have to be due to environment (or an interaction with the environment and genetics). If not twins, the study would mean that in identical environments that genetics were primarily responsible for differences in tastes and behaviors. The question of nature vs nurture is an old one and probably a somewhat spurious one. There are so many interactions that to somehow relate a trait or behavior to one or the other is overly simplistic (though many try to reduce everything these days). Many have tried to suggest that genetics play a larger part than environment, and many racist arguments have used the genetics over environment idea to suggest differences in intelligence. Most real scientists reject those kinds of conclusions as full of confounds and inconsistencies. Even if you could somehow say that a given trait is primarily genetic, there is no way to measure how much of the varience is determined by environmental factors. And to bring the discussion to be relevant to the list, if one has good genetics but is raised in an environment in which he doesn't study, drinks excessively, and snorts too much cocaine, that can mediate whatever genetic advantages with which that person began life. Thus, even with decent genetics but a poor environment, one can wind up a little stupid.