But in most cases even the possibility that the correlations reflect shared genes is taboo.
Interpretation
The idea that shared genes may influence correlations between traits is often avoided in discussions.
In this quote, Steven Pinker highlights the sensitivity surrounding the topic of genetic influence on behaviors and traits. He suggests that acknowledging the role of genetics in shaping correlations is often considered unacceptable or controversial, indicating a societal reluctance to confront the implications of nature versus nurture debates.
In practice
Use this quote in a discussion on the role of genetics in psychology.
The foundation of individual rights is the assumption that people have wants and needs and are authorities on what those wants and needs are. If people's stated desires were just some kind of erasable inscription or reprogrammable brainwashing, any atrocity could be justified.
The linguistic clumsiness of tourists and students might be the price we pay for the linguistic genius we displayed as babies, just as the decrepitude of age in the price we pay for the vigor of youth.
If we are not to abandon values such as peace and equality, or our commitments to science and truth, then we must pry these values away from claims about our psychological makeup that are vulnerable to being proven false.
We adults protect ourselves with laws, police, workplace regulations and social norms and there is no conceivable reason why children should be left more vulnerable, other that laziness or callousness in considering what life is like from their point of view.
The idea that children are passive repositories to be shaped by their parents has been massively overstated. A child's peer group is a far greater determinant of its development and achievements than parental aspiration.
Reason is non-negotiable. Try to argue against it, or to exclude it from some realm of knowledge, and you've already lost the argument, because you're using reason to make your case. ... We don't "believe" in reason.
Medicine is not only a science; it is also an art. It does not consist of compounding pills and plasters; it deals with the very processes of life, which must be understood before they may be guided.
Nothing in the natural world makes sense - except when seen in the light of evolution
I am, and ever will be, a white socks, pocket protector, nerdy engineer.
We are concerned that, in a few years time, this place of discovery, with its wealth of human fossils, the like of which can be found nowhere else in the world, could be completely destroyed.
If I could remember the names of all these particles, I'd be a botanist.
Evolution is a process of constant branching and expansion.
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