Genes and behaviour, a short story

Only a few years ago the nature nurture issue seemed to have mercifully receded into a comfortable state of scientific oblivion. But as so many times before, this reliable ogre has now managed to raise its ugly head again. Due to the recent wildfirelike spreading of evolutionary thinking to the social sciences the problem is once more in need of clarification. A kind of tacit agreement that seems to exist among many behavioural biologists on this point is understandably not satisfactory for this new clientele as that consensus is nowhere succinctly and expressly laid down. Since conversing at the level of abstract theory can easily lead to the conclusion that the nature-nurture dispute is a major issue I prefer to start with a concrete piece of behaviour that will help me to argue that it is almost no issue at all. Because of the context in which this chapter finds itself the behaviour is to be an aggressiye act but the reader should realize that an argument along quite similar lines can be developed for almost any piece of behaViour, whether agonistic or not.