Blueprint

How DNA Makes Us Who We Are

By: Robert Plomin

Narrated by: Robert Plomin

Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

A top behavioral geneticist makes the case that DNA inherited from our parents at the moment of conception can predict our psychological strengths and weaknesses.

In Blueprint, behavioral geneticist Robert Plomin describes how the DNA revolution has made DNA personal by giving us the power to predict our psychological strengths and weaknesses from birth. A century of genetic research shows that DNA differences inherited from our parents are the consistent life-long sources of our psychological individuality - the blueprint that makes us who we are. This, says Plomin, is a game-changer. It calls for a radical rethinking of what makes us who were are.

Plomin has been working on these issues for almost fifty years, conducting longitudinal studies of twins and adoptees. He reports that genetics explains more of the psychological differences among people than all other factors combined. Genetics accounts for fifty percent of psychological differences - not just mental health and school achievement, but all psychological traits, from personality to intellectual abilities. Nature defeats nurture by a landslide.

Plomin explores the implications of this, drawing some provocative conclusions - among them that parenting styles don't really affect children's outcomes once genetics is taken into effect. Neither tiger mothers nor attachment parenting affects children's ability to get into Harvard. After describing why DNA matters, Plomin explains what DNA does, offering listeners a unique insider's view of the exciting synergies that came from combining genetics and psychology.

©2018 Robert Plomin (P)2018 Penguin Books Limited and used by arrangement.

Great story

But the narration will put you to sleep. I appreciate hearing the author narrate their own material, but Mr. Plomin sounds like he's reading a bedtime story to a toddler.

other than that, if you're interested in the future of genomics, this is the book for you.

Some Genuine New Thinking

The mapping of the human genome has created amazing breakthroughs in medicine but what a lot of people don’t realize is that it is also revolutionizing the field of psychology. Using a variety of methods, researchers have made amazing progress in deciphering the “nature vs nurture” quandary that has plagued the field since its founding days.

The past 30 years have been heavily influenced by the believers in “nurture.” An avalanche of self-help and parenting books have set the trajectory. The message is that if you toughen up, buckle down and condition the correct behavior, anything is possible. Human beings are lumps of clay and those who fail to overcome their shortcomings simply lack discipline.

Robert Plomin is a psychology researcher who specializes in studies on twins. Plomin and an army of other researchers have conducted thousands of causality studies for everything from personality traits to major psychological maladies like depression and schizophrenia.

The result is that the answer to the “nature vs nurture” question is becoming clearer. The pendulum is swinging back to the “nature” camp. Solid science shows that our personalities are far more genetically driven than we ever realized. While outside forces such as parenting, peers and self-discipline can bring about real change, it’s becoming increasingly clear that genetic predisposition is the most powerful driver of our feelings and behavior.

Some people are just happy by nature. Others have a more grumpy disposition. Some are achievers, couch potatoes, worriers or happy-go-lucky. For good or for bad, the research is now showing that your ability to pick yourself up by your bootstraps has daunting limitations.

This has profound implications for the field of psychology, education and most importantly, parenting. Today’s helicopter parents will not be nearly as successful as they think. The good news is that kids tend to be a lot like their parents, but this is primarily driven by parents passing down their DNA, not by child-rearing prowess. Good or bad parenting can have a powerful impact, but we are learning that all of us have a mighty inclination to ascend or regress to the behavior that is genetically programmed in our DNA.

The research reveals that genetic predisposition is the dominant determining factor in education success. It’s more of an influence than where a child goes to school, the skill of teachers, or involvement of parents. Don’t get me wrong, all these latter components can make a difference, but they appear to have less impact than was previously thought.

The research is revealing that a systematic change is required in the way we look at the field of psychology. The field still follows a medical model. People in the mental health system are classified as “sick” and in need of a “cure.” They are “healthy” or “normal.” Plomin argues this black and white thinking is the wrong approach.

There is no single gene for depression. This feeling is endemic to human existence. The research is showing that ALL OF US suffer from depression. Some of us have very little, and some of us have a lot. The level of severity can be predictably graphed on a standard bell curve. The daunting conclusion this book reveals is that all of us will still be powerfully compelled to return to a set point coded in our chromosomes.

We will not be able to “cure” something that is hard coded throughout the human genome. This would be like curing someone of the malady of having brown eyes or being tall. What we want to do is to help those in the most distress move up the bell curve to a place where their suffering is lessened.

I also appreciated Plomin’s explanation of how cells divide and pass along their DNA coding. He took a very complicated topic and made it understandable.

I really enjoyed this book. The writing is a bit cumbersome but it has some genuine new insights. A warning - the first chapters are abysmal, filled with methodology and biography. Stick with it and muscle through. It gets better.

Great and accessible journey into genetics

A valuable read for anybody who wants to get a better understanding on the importance of genetics on many aspects of life.

Very Informative; Plenty of Clips saved

Although I am rather pessimistic of society’s utilization of genetic tests for good the author make a great case for every argument he present and clarifies as he asserts the positions presented.

A milestone book

I began learning about DNA nearly 40 years ago. Since that time the advances made in our ability to understand the implications of DNA, and how to modify it, have been incredible. This book does an excellent job of reviewing the advances and discussing the implications of this research.

Important reading.

For me. This is up there with Sapolsky's 'Behave' (reminding us we are just shaved monkeys), Pinker's 'Enlightenment now' (reminding us things have never been better) and Harris's 'Free Will' (reminding us not to be so pleased/displeased with our choices in life).

Plomin is careful to consistently remind us that he is not a genetic reductionist, that genes tell us more about what 'could be'. Most importantly he reminds us that loving your children for who they are might be a better long term strategy than trying to shape and mold them. He suggests that going against the genetic grain will lead to the inevitable disappointment, angst and feelings of failure that many well meaning parents suffer.

I very much enjoyed the audio version. Narrated by Plomin himself who has a very calming and pleasant tone.

Informative and provocative towards more questions

Much of the content is counter intuitive to those steeped in environmental psychology….this is interesting in conjunction with E O Wilson’s Sociobiology

Augmenting patient classification

Very interesting new science, clearly explained with potentials and limitations, with certain phrases repeated ad nauseum in case you didn't get it the first time.

Cultural Enlightenment via an Academic Angle

Wonderful academic research and superb book & the topic for the public domain. This book will at some point in future will achieve a cultural reference point in a positive way, InshallAllah.

A compelling summary of the work of a key behavioral geneticist

Plomin is convincing that the preponderance of psychological traits are heritable. Unfortunately, he may a bit naive in his predictions of how polygenic information will be utilized when trait variance can be directly linked to specific genes. Nevertheless, this a worthy book, especially for those who seek environmental explanations for human behavior.