I think we can start to put the socialization (nurture) myth to rest. Virtually each new study in the last 20 plus years has found that genetics (nature) play a far greater role in intelligence and behavioral patterns than does socialization (nurture). The Yale Child Neuroscience Lab has been extensively involved with studies that explore the effect of nature and nurture on human development, much of which debunks the old notion that socialization is the primary force that drives social development and behavior. Now even most of the early pioneers in in developmental studies who once asserted that socialization was the primary force in development have conceded that genetics actually plays a far greater role. The most recent study reinforcing the predominant role of genetic in intelligence and development comes from Georgia State University researchers. news.gsu.edu/2014/07/10/study-chimpanzee-intelligence-determined-genes/ The primary error made by earlier researchers that credited socialization with shaping behaviors is that the early research worked under the assumption that human decision making was largely a conscious process. We now know that most fundamental decisions are made unconsciously while the conscious mind merely rationalizes those largely predetermined choices. David Eagleman, neuroscientist at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas is one of the pioneers in this field. The unconscious brain can be in the drivers seat. We have discovered that the large majority of the brains activity takes place at this low level: the conscious part – the me that flickers to life when you wake up in the morning – is only a tiny bit of the operations. opb.org/artsandlife/article/neuroscientist-david-eagleman-studies-the-subconscious/ Eagleman (and a growing plurality of neuroscientists) has come to largely the same conclusion about Free Will that E.O. Wilson did in his seminal work Sociobiology: “I think what we can conclude, is that if we have free will, it’s actually quite a small player in this system because the way you make decisions has to do with the confluence of your genetics and your entire history up to this moment, presumably neither of which you choose, and so if free will exists, it’s still going to be a bit player in the system.” Genetics and nature are the primary drivers of behavior. Socialization is really little more than conscious rituals performed to rationalize behaviors driven by unconscious processes - processes genetically encoded over hundreds of thousands of years and designed to maximize the propagation of the species. Of course, radical feminists still cling to the socialization myth, even to the point of ostracizing prominent early feminists who pioneered research into socialization and who now, based on the overwhelming evidence, have concluded that genetics and nature play a much bigger role in behavior than does socialization. Radical feminists and religious fanatics have much in common: both groups distrust science; both groups reject objective evidence that contradicts their established belief patterns; both groups tend to avoid cognitive dissonance to the point of self-delusion.
Posted on: Sat, 12 Jul 2014 07:29:33 +0000
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