A top behavioral geneticist makes the case that DNA inherited from our
parents at the moment of conception can predict our psychological
strengths and weaknesses.
In Blueprint, behavioral geneticist Robert Plomin describes how the
DNA revolution has made DNA personal by giving us the power to predict
our psychological strengths and weaknesses from birth. A century of
genetic research shows that DNA differences inherited from our parents
are the consistent life-long sources of our psychological
individuality―the blueprint that makes us who we are. This, says Plomin,
is a game-changer. It calls for a radical rethinking of what makes us
who were are.
Plomin has been working on these issues for almost fifty years,
conducting longitudinal studies of twins and adoptees. He reports that
genetics explains more of the psychological differences among people
than all other factors combined. Genetics accounts for fifty percent of
psychological differences―not just mental health and school achievement,
but all psychological traits, from personality to intellectual
abilities. Nature defeats nurture by a landslide.
Plomin explores the implications of this, drawing some provocative
conclusions―among them that parenting styles don't really affect
children's outcomes once genetics is taken into effect. Neither tiger
mothers nor attachment parenting affects children's ability to get into
Harvard. After describing why DNA matters, Plomin explains what DNA
does, offering readers a unique insider's view of the exciting synergies
that came from combining genetics and psychology.
