Evolutionary biologist at the University of Reading Professor, Mark Pagel, argues that our cultural influences are more important to our success as a species than our genes in his new book, 'Wired for Culture: The Natural History of Human Co-operation,' published this week.
'He (Pagel) says other animals are limited to living in the environment their genes adapt them to, for example wildebeest can't climb trees for fruit...'
Um, humans are genetically specialized to be behaviorally unspecialized thanks to massive amounts of associative, cortical fibers. Anybody note that it's our genes that "wire" us? Outmoded, absolutist, two-valued, "either/or" thinking strikes again.
We are each entitled to our own opinion, but no one is entitled to his own facts. -- Patrick Moynihan