S Rose1. 1. Gresham College, London. s.p.r.rose@open.ac.uk
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Genetics is increasingly being used to explain human behaviours, with growing enthusiasm for what could be termed 'genetic determinism', which an ultra-Darwinist approach seeks to apply to all aspects of the human condition. AIMS: To consider the validity of the claims concerning the genetics of human behaviour and psychological distress. METHOD: A critical review of the current assumptions about the relative contributions of genetics and the environment. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Organisms are in constant interaction with their environment: that is, organisms select environments just as environments select organisms. Like organisms, environments evolve and are homeodynamic rather than homeostatic; both 'genome' and 'envirome' are abstractions from this continuous dialectic.
BACKGROUND: Genetics is increasingly being used to explain human behaviours, with growing enthusiasm for what could be termed 'genetic determinism', which an ultra-Darwinist approach seeks to apply to all aspects of the human condition. AIMS: To consider the validity of the claims concerning the genetics of human behaviour and psychological distress. METHOD: A critical review of the current assumptions about the relative contributions of genetics and the environment. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Organisms are in constant interaction with their environment: that is, organisms select environments just as environments select organisms. Like organisms, environments evolve and are homeodynamic rather than homeostatic; both 'genome' and 'envirome' are abstractions from this continuous dialectic.