Are We Hardwired?: The Role of Genes in Human Behavior

Description

Taken literally the answer to the title question is obviously "somewhat". The more interesting question, as alluded to in the subtitle, is "how much"? This book provides a very good and well documented discussion of the role of genetics in several aspects of human behavior. The topics covered include aggression, eating disorders, substance abuse, cognitive capabilities and sexual preference. The claims made by the authors are supported by multiple methods. Not only are statistical correlations from case studies used, but so are causes directly from biochemistry. It doesn't require any special prior knowledge, it presents all the material from biology that is needed to follow the evidence. This is mainly basic genetics, biochemistry and neurology. This material is necessary because the authors are very careful to justify their claims. To summarize I thought this was a very good book. The only minor complaint I have is that a couple of times the authors seemed almost apologetic when the influence of genetics was found to be larger than some people apparently want them to be. While the book is written for non-experts, the fact that the authors support their claims to thoroughly with evidence makes this book more challenging than a typical popular book.