The Heredity Hoax Challenging Flawed Genetic Theories of Human Development

"Genetics enjoy a high profile today in the minds of the intelligentsia and lay public alike. Fresh genetic results are often announced in newspapers with fanfare and draw immediate attention. No doubt they are "sexy," and, undeniably, we are in part products of our inheritance - our nature. However, only in part, and the ultimate story genetic reductionism tells always turns out to be more nuanced and complex than originally touted. Vigilant academics who follow the literature have come to understand that precious few heralded genetic findings survive follow-up scrutiny or replication. Where's the pushback? Well, here. In The Heredity Hoax, Richard Lerner and Gary Greenberg crystallize conceptual and methodological shortcomings of genetic reductionism in their own words as they expose problematic implications of genetic reductionist ideas for policy, programs, and social justice. Moreover, they skillfully marshal the words of proponents and critics to buttress their contentions. But, you ask, what perspective is left to supplant or, at least, supplement the genetic project? Lerner and Greenberg do not leave you in the lurch, but are persuasive that relational developmental systems - the coaction of nature and nurture - offer a more rational, productive, and optimistic framework for understanding human development. Want to be an intelligent consumer of the scientific literature in this grand debate of the 21st century? The Heredity Hoax is where to start."
- Marc H. Bornstein, President Emeritus, Society for Research in Child Development; Editor, Parenting: Science and Practice

"In this magnificent and timely volume Richard Lerner and Gary Greenberg have brought together a collection of chapters by the world's leading authorities that address the fatal misconceptions of classical genetic accounts of human development. Just as quantum theory has upended our classical view of the physical world, the various chapters in this volume systematically challenge and replace the determinist view of genetic heritability with a dynamic Relational Developmental Systems metatheoretical framework that revolutionizes our understanding of human development and its potential. This reframing of the dynamic nature of the relations between genetics and development has profound and potentially positive implications for our approaches to education, parenting and broader issues of social justice."

- Larry Nucci, Professor, Graduate School of Education, University of California Berkeley

"The Heredity Hoax is an important collection that battles genetic determinism on multiple fronts. Curated by two field leaders who have devoted their careers to this fight, this collection dismantles fallacies of simplistic reductionism in ethology, evolutionary biology, behavior genetics, and sociobiology. Not content with critique, Professors Lerner and Greenberg bring together perspectives to build a real and rigorous alternative framework that analyzes behavior as an emergent property of dynamic, relational, bio-social systems of organismal development. Connecting this new paradigm to policy frameworks, they show how bio-social science can take part in the optimistic cultivation of human flourishing and greater equality. This guide will be essential reading for newcomers to this field as well as experienced experts."

- Aaron Panofsky, Professor, UCLA Institute for Society and Genetics, Public Policy, and Sociology; Director, Institute for Society and Genetics

"For a long time, most people have believed that human behavior such as one's intelligence, attitude, personality, and even fate, is influenced by genetic factors. However, Richard M. Lerner and Gary Greenberg discuss otherwise through the book which comes as a sharp criticism to dismantle genetic theories in human behavior and offers an alternative with the Rational Developmental Systems (RDS) approach. The RDS approach discusses the prediction of changes in human behavior while also presenting a practical guide to the application of RDS in policy systems, programs, and interventions in the social environment. Chapter 1 begins with the belief that genes determine all aspects including human behavior from intelligence, to morality. However, they show that this belief is incorrect, as it is based on weak methodology, over-generalization, and lack of context. In Chapter 2, Greenberg shows the history and concept of how beliefs about genes have survived in academia despite criticism. According to him, the study of genetics has failed but is widely accepted or called 'bad science'. In addition, Greenberg invites to change the perspective from the genetic approach to the RDS approach because it offers many scientific options so that change and development can be facilitated with various types of appropriate interventions. In conclusion, the book discusses the factors that can influence human behavior, not only genetic factors, but also environmental, social, and life experiences. The book not only critiques but also provides a newer and more complete approach to understanding human behavior change in various contexts."

-Agung Subakti Nuzulullail, Master of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, Pubic Health, and Nursing, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia