Speaking in Washington at a noon briefing for congressmen, Professor William Garfield of the University of Minnesota said this:
“Despite what you hear, nobody has ever proven a single gene causes a single human behavioral trait. Some of my colleagues believe such associations may eventually be found. Others don’t think it will ever happen, that the interaction of genes and the environment is just too complex. But, in any case, we see reports of new genes for this or that in the papers every day, and none of them has ever proven true in the end.”
“What are you talking about?” said the aide to Senator Wilson. “What about the gay gene, that causes gayness?”
“A statistical association. Not causal. No gene causes sexual orientation.”
“What about the violence gene?”
“Not verified in later research.”
“A sleep gene was reported…”
“In rats.”
“The gene for alcoholism?”
“Didn’t hold up.”
“What about the diabetes gene?”
“So far,” he said, “we’ve identified ninety-six genes involved in diabetes. We’ll undoubtedly find more.”
There was a stunned silence. Finally, one aide said,
“If no gene has been shown to cause behavior, what is all the fuss about?”
Professor Garfield shrugged. “Call it an urban legend. Call it a media myth. Blame public education in science. Because the public certainly believes that genes cause behavior. It seems to make sense. In reality, even hair color and height are not simple traits fixed by genes. And conditions like alcoholism certainly aren’t.” From: New Visions of Nature: Complexity and Authenticity by Martin Drenthen, Jozef Keulartz, James Proctor
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If you are among those that periodically declare, when talking about human behavior, that “it’s genetic,” or “it’s hereditary,” or “it’s in the gene’s,” please, my friend, be aware you are helping circulate this growing – and so far completely false – urban legend. Please stop. You have no scientific reason to continue this growing falsehood. Also, please note, psychiatric geneticists do the vast majority of these “studies”. Please make room for your well-placed disdain for psychiatry to include this growing industry. Why do they do this? You know why. To develop “medications” to provide “treatment.” Tell your friends, colleagues, confidants – and those you provide services to – that so far, up to and including today, it’s all nonsense. Help end to this equally harmful, quickly growing, misguided media, psychiatric myth.
We’re not “sick.” And it’s not “genetic” either. – R . Cima, Ph.D
Excellent! This is so crystal clear I could print out copies, carry them with me and give them out everytime someone gives a psych-label to another..or claims “genetic” or “inheritance”.