Genetic Influences on Thinking: 2 October 2011: Philosophy in Action

Genetic Influences on Thinking

Webcast Q&A: Sunday, 2 October 2011, Question 3

In the live broadcast of Philosophy in Action Radio on 2 October 2011, I answered a question on genetic influences on thinking.

Do our genes affect our reasoning? Evolution makes fruit taste sweet and burning human flesh smell awful. Presumably, evolution can hard wire pleasures and pains because interaction with that thing has caused our ancestors to live longer or die earlier. Wouldn't this same process make certain actions easier or more difficult, such as sacrificing yourself to save your child versus watching your child die? Couldn't evolution affect that decision by making focus more difficult, so that a person is easier impelled by his immediate emotions?

My Answer, In Brief: While it's easy and popular to appeal to genetics to explain human behavior, such explanations are almost always implausible on closer inspection.

Tags: Evolution, Free Will, Psychology, Rationality, Science, Values

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Relevant Links

Wikipedia on Fixed Action Pattern and Prey Drive
Philosophy in Action: Evolutionary Psychology (20 Feb 2011)
Nathaniel Branden's articles on free will, causality, and determinism in The Objectivist Newsletter and The Objectivist
Dr. Harry Binswanger's paper Volition as Cognitive Self-Regulation

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I'm Dr. Diana Hsieh. I'm a philosopher specializing the application of rational principles to the challenges of real life. I received my Ph.D in philosophy from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2009. My dissertation defended moral responsibility and moral judgment against the doubts raised by Thomas Nagel's "problem of moral luck."

My radio show, Philosophy in Action Radio, broadcasts live over the internet on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings. On Sunday mornings, I answer four meaty questions applying rational principles to the challenges of real life in a live hour-long show. Greg Perkins of Objectivist Answers co-hosts the show. On Wednesday evenings, I interview an expert guest about a topic of practical importance.

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