"The conclusions of both behaviour genetics and evolutionary psychology remain distinctly unpalatable to many non-scientists, whose main objection is a superficially reasonable argument from incredulity. How can a gene, a stretch of DNA ālettersā, cause a behaviour? What conceivable mechanism could link a recipe for a protein with an ability to learn the rule for making the past tense in English? I admit that this seems at first sight a mighty leap, requiring more faith than reason. But it need not be, because the genetics of behaviour is, at root, no different from the genetics of embryonic developmentā¦The idea of genes for behaviour is no more strange than the idea of genes for development. Both are mind-boggling, but nature has never found human incomprehension a reason for changing her methods."
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Science authorsNon-fiction authors from EnglandJournalists from EnglandBusinesspeople from EnglandLibertarians
Original Language: English
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Chapter 7 āInstinctā (p. 106; ellipsis represents a brief elision)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Matt_Ridley
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Matt Ridley
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