Un pequeño extracto de una discusión informal sobre herencia,
inteligencia y carácter/temperamento.
Gillian, quien responde último, es psiquiatra.
Anabel
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----- Mensaje original -----
De: "Gillian" <gillianjh@...>
Para: <Free-Debate@yahoogroups.com>
Enviado: Lunes, 30 de Diciembre de 2002 03:17 a.m.
Asunto: Re: [Free-Debate] Genetics (was religion and music)


> Gillian said: "...I think that I posted that a study about
12-15
> years ago did identify some
> genetically heritable personality characteristics -- I recall
> willingness to obey orders as one. It may be that religiosity
is
> linked to one or more heritable characteristics..."

Anabel:
> I refuse to believe that may I lack free will because my
actions
> would be consequence of genetics.

g
I expressed myself badly. I do believe that we all have free
will in a psychological sense and within the constraints of our
culture. I also believe that the person whom we become -- and
this changes over time even in adulthood -- is based upon an
interaction between our basic nature (our temperament) and our
environment (upbringing, culture). I think too that for
different people the relative contributions of temperament and
environment differ -- in other words, living through whatever
trauma will give environment a more profound impact.

> I want to believe that I am
> what I want to be or what my parents raised me to be If it
> weren't so, then slavery and domain, for instance, would be
> genetic.

g
Sorry to have confused you, Anabel. I agree that upbringing is
paramount and that you were not born pre-programmed by your
genetic inheritance. This may be true of lower animals with
very simple nervous systems, but it is not true of humans.

> I believe that when social and cultural education can be the
> reason for people being what they are, then no genetic reason
is
> needed nor is provable.

g
Genetic contribution is difficult to prove. Optimally,
researchers use studies on identical twins raised in separate
environments to establish which attributes may be inherited.
Difficult to do because identical twins raised in separate
environments are quite rare. Another interesting piece about
identical twins came form morphometric studies of the external
shape of brains -- the shape of the brains of identical twins is
highly correlated, as is their IQ. With decreasing genetic
relationship, correlation dwindles to zero.

However, when my patients describe the experience of raising
their children they describe difference in temperament between
children, and consistency in temperament within each child. I
make a point of asking about this because it interests me, and
mothers invariably (so far) answer that the child's temperament
is stable (sometimes that means "unstable") from birth onward.

However, the more evolutionarily primitive parts of our brain do
exhibit a modularity and a sequence of maturation dependent
abilities, so there is some pre-programming. Babies respond to
language right from birth onward and they soon become able to
distinguish the sounds of their native language from that of
other languages. They also preferrentially turn toward their
mother's voice -- they have been hearing this when in utero.
There is some learning, obviously. However, the evidence is
that we are programmed with a strong predeliction to learn
language, and that this function is handled by a very specific
area of the brain. Vocal speech and sign language are handled
in the same areas.

I think that our huge neo-cortex is much more programmable and
is less directly governed by genetics. This is the area of our
cerebrum that governs decision making, etc., and that we most
identify as "self".

It is a fascinating area -- brain and genetics are attracting a
lot of research attention.

;-}
Gillian



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