Blueprint: How DNA Makes Us Who We Are is a book by behavioral geneticist Robert Plomin, first published in 2018 by the MIT Press and Allen Lane. The book argues that genetic factors, and specifically variations in individuals' DNA, have a large effect on human psychological traits, accounting for approximately half of all variation in such traits. The book also claims that genes play a more important role in people's personalities than does the environment.[1] In Blueprint, Plomin argues that environmental effects on human psychological differences, although they exist, are "...mostly random – unsystematic and unstable – which means that we cannot do much about them."[2]
Reviews
Science journalist Matt Ridley praised Blueprint as "a hugely important book."[3] Behavior geneticist Kathryn Paige Harden criticized the book for overstating the importance of genes for the development of human traits, writing, "Insisting that DNA matters is scientifically accurate; insisting that it is the only thing that matters is scientifically outlandish."[4] Steven Mithen gave the book a mixed review in the Guardian, in which he wrote, "I am happy to bow to Plomin as a psychologist and a geneticist, but I found his sociology rather lacking, in fact quite baffling."[5] Nathaniel Comfort criticized the book for promoting genetic determinism and "play[ing] fast and loose with the concept of heritability". He concluded that "Ultimately, if unintentionally, Blueprint is a road map for regressive social policy."[6] Journalist David Goodhart reviewed the book more positively, calling it "an important and challenging book that reveals to the general reader what has quietly become a new scientific consensus: psychological traits, including intelligence, are significantly influenced by our genes."[7] Geneticist Barbara Jennings reviewed the book positively, suggesting that those who have criticized it for being "a manifesto for genetic determinism" are "misreading [...] the book".[8]
References
- ^ "Blueprint". The MIT Press. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
- ^ Anthony, Andrew (2018-09-29). "So is it nature not nurture after all?". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 2019-04-18.
- ^ Ridley, Matt (2018-10-13). "Review: Blueprint: How DNA Makes Us Who We Are by Robert Plomin — why nature always trumps nurture". The Times.
- ^ Harden, Kathryn Paige (2018-10-27). "Heredity is only half the story". The Spectator. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
- ^ Mithen, Steven (2018-10-24). "Blueprint by Robert Plomin review – how DNA dictates who we are". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
- ^ Comfort, Nathaniel (September 2018). "Genetic determinism rides again". Nature. 561 (7724): 461–463. Bibcode:2018Natur.561..461C. doi:10.1038/d41586-018-06784-5. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 30254357.
- ^ Goodhart, David (2018-10-04). "Blueprint: How DNA Makes Us Who We Are by Robert Plomin". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 2019-04-18.
- ^ Jennings, Barbara A. (October 2019). "The nurturing of nature" (PDF). European Journal of Human Genetics. 27 (10): 1619–1620. doi:10.1038/s41431-019-0456-8. ISSN 1476-5438.