Prof. Steve Jones: ‘Nature or Nurture?’ from The Lost Lectures on Vimeo.
“The most dangerous words in genetics,” says geneticist Steve Jones, “are ‘the gene for.’
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It’s just one pithy and wise insight in a talk stuffed with them — an essential warning against hubris, an appeal to humility, and a very funny 20-minute romp through smart genetic thinking. The talk, part of a “Lost Lecture” series in London, in which an unusual lecture site is announced at the last minute, draws on Mickey Mouse, obesity, testosterone and murder rates in Wales and Chicago, and bendy buses to serve up a humorous and necessary reminder that pretty much nothing is just genetics: genes respond to environmental stimuli, and their expression varies by environment. Nature and nurture aren’t in an argument; they’re in a conversation. You’re the outcome.
