The American sociobiologist Edward O. Wilson expresses the biological determinist view as follows:

If the planned society – the creation of which is inevitable in the coming century – were to deliberately steer its members past those stresses and conflicts that once gave the destructive phenotypes (aggression and selfishness) their Darwinian edge, the other phenotypes (co-operation and altruism) might dwindle with them. In this, the ultimate genetic sense, social control would rob man of his humanity.[82]

In other words, by getting rid of the bad aspects of humanity, we may get rid of the good at the same time! Again, Wilson confuses genotype with phenotype by implying that the phenotype (not the genotype) is fixed and unchanging. It is not. Genotypes do not “code” for traits in the phenotype and there is no gene that is equivalent to altruism in the phenotype. Every living thing is the result of a continuous interaction between the genes, the environment, and the phenotype itself. However, we must also avoid falling into the other trap of believing the organism is putty in the “hands” of genes and the environment. It too is an active part of the process. All living things interact with their environment in a dialectical way. affirmed Dobzhansky:

To suppose that a sex cell transports a particle called ‘intelligence’ which will make its possessor smart and wise no matter what happens to him is, indeed, ridiculous. But it is evident that the people we meet are not all alike in intelligence, abilities, and attitudes, and it is not unreasonable to suppose that these differences are caused partly by the natures of these people and partly by their environments.

Although this clearly demonstrates the materialist and dialectical character of life processes, genetics has given rise to heated controversy and opened the door to idealism and reactionary conceptions. A one-sided fashion of genetics inevitably ends up in error and confusion. Thus, certain geneticists have fallen into the trap of biological determinism or genetic determinism. This is also the case with sociobiologists like EO Wilson and Richard Dawkins. Commenting on this, Steven Rose asks:

Does evolutionary theory imply that certain aspects of human – capitalism, nationalism, patriarchy, xenophobia, aggression and competition – are ‘fixed’ in our ‘selfish genes’? Some biologists have claimed to answer this question in the affirmative, and political theorists of the right – from libertarian monetarists to neo-fascists have seized upon their pronouncements as providing ‘scientific’ justification for their political philosophies.

The only conclusion from this is that capitalism and all its ills are “natural”, being derived from biological facts. Theories of racial and sexual inequality have also sought to base themselves on certain interpretations of science.

Simplistic and crude metaphors of evolution, such as “survival of the fittest” and “the struggle for existence”, made their way through Herbert Spencer into the vocabulary of social Darwinism. Within biology was found the very confirmation of capitalism, class inequalities and imperialism. It appears that the sociobiologists of the EO Wilson mould are following in their footsteps with their views of human nature and biological determinism. Marx and Engels explained that “man makes himself”. Human nature, like consciousness, is a product of the prevailing social and economic conditions. That is why human nature has changed throughout history, following the development of society itself. For the sociobiologist, human characteristics appear biologically fixed through our genes, giving sustenance to the myth that “you can’t change human nature”.

In point of fact, so-called human nature has been transformed and re-transformed many times in the course of human history, as Dobzhansky points out:

Darlington (1953) believes that ‘individual adaptability is indeed one of the great illusions of common-sense observation. It is an illusion responsible for some of the chief errors of political and economic administration today. Individuals and populations cannot be shifted from one place or occupation to another after an appropriate period of training to fit the convenience of some master planner, any more than hill farmers can be turned into deep-sea fishermen or habitual criminals can be turned into good citizens.’

Despite all the inadequacy and uncertainty of our knowledge of human genetics, there is plenty of evidence contrary to Darlington’s view, and this evidence is conclusive.

History abounds in proofs that individuals and populations can successfully be shifted from one place or occupation to another. Industrial revolutions in many countries throughout the world have amply shown this. The near ancestors of millions of industrial workers have been mostly ‘timeless’ peasants tilling the soil. The movement from the soil to industrial cities is even now under way, and on a grand scale, in some ‘underdeveloped’ countries.[83]

  1. Wilson, E. Sociobiology – The New Synthesis, p. 575.

  2. Dobzhansky, T. op cit., p. 264.