Terry Burnham and Jay Phelan take a pragmatic approach to the nature-nurture
debate in Mean Genes. Some of our instincts may be hard wired but inappropriate
in these modern times. Take risk: we should be much more afraid of lone sharks
than of snakes, but our savannah roots show, so the opposite tends to be true.
To trust our instincts would be disastrous, but then again, to advise someone to
“Just say no” is not that helpful. Published by Perseus, $24, ISBN
0738202304.
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