Living with Our Genes: Why They
Matter More Than You Think by Peter
Copeland
Groundbreaking
How many of our faults are in our genetic stars, and how many in
ourselves? Human geneticist Dean Hamer, whose research team found
the popularly termed gay gene, surveys what is currently known about the
inheritance of human behavior and personality. Hamer and science writer
Peter Copeland take a calm, broad-minded look at hot-button topics such
as sex, drugs (especially tobacco and alcohol), and violence, as well as
anxiety, intelligence, and eating habits. Their conclusions are solidly on
the side of both nature and nurture: A DNA map offers possibilities and
predictions but not certainty.... Free will is alive and well, and probably
genetic.
Personal Review: Living with Our Genes: Why They Matter More
Than You Think by Peter Copeland

Dean Hamer, while working in his laboratory at the National Institute of
Health, made headlines around the world when he discovered a genetic
link to male homosexuality. From such notoriety comes this book, the
essence of which is that ones behavior is much more a function of
nature/genetics than it is of nurture or whether mother's dominance warped
you for life. Hamer goes through the effects of your genetics as it relates to
your personality; your propensity to seek thrills; your tendencies toward
aggression, anger and violence; your capacity for addiction; your needs in
regard to sex and love; your body weight and eating habits; your rate of
aging; and your emotional temperament. And, guess what? The odds are
about 70% genetic and 30% upbringing and character as to how you'll turn
out as an adult. This book doesn't try to mystify the reader and is, in fact,
easy to read. Hamer weaves in the stories of individuals in order to keep
the reader glued to each individual's saga. The sine qua non comes with
the twin studies. They've multiplied over the years and today offer an
abundant body of proof in support of Hamer's assertions. The factual
evidence is overwhelming in favor of genetics as the deciding factor in
behavior. Read it and you will see.This book was published in 1998 which
makes it quite old in the rapidly moving world of genetic research. Let me
give you an example of what has happened in the interim. Not only have
genes for fear and confidence been revealed, but a gene or constellation
of genes has been posited for one's proclivity for belief in a higher order
being, God. The Darwinian selection for such a trait comes from man's
need to organize and work together in groups, in arduous circumstances,
over long periods of time. Wow? I knew that profound unshakeable belief
had to be genetic after talking to so many "true believer" anti-war
protestors. The whole concept gives a new slant to Eric Hoffer's classic,
"the True Believer". I've written often about man's seeming infinite
capacity for self deception, but now I have, presto, a genetic component
where none was available prior. The other half of this juxtaposition is
man's inexhaustible need to feel morally virtuous, a way of puffing one's
self-importance or so it seems from here. After you read this book, and if
you've never read much on the genetic influences on your behavior, you
might see yourself and many of your friends in a completely different light.
I really enjoyed the experience of reading what Hamer has to say, and I
believe you will too.
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