Beyond human nurture

The culmination of an entire career of research by human behavioral genetics’ most prominent and prolific scholar, Robert Plomin, Blueprint should be recognized as the next big move in the nature–nurture debate. It stands out from most recent contributions to the literature in that it is unapologetically ‘naturist,’ as it presents heaps of evidence in favor of the primacy of genetics over environment. Innovative and ambitious, not only does Blueprint establish a polarized stance in the nature–nurture debate, it lays the foundation for an entirely new genomics-informed hereditarian worldview. It proposes a complete reconceptualization of behavioral psychopathology (Chapter 5, ‘Abnormal is Normal’) and social equality (Chapter 9, ‘Equal Opportunity and Meritocracy’). It reads easily, presenting a logical and fluid telling of how genomics is revolutionizing behavior genetics. His 16th book, Blueprint,showcases Plomin’s ability to boil down sophisticated statistics and cutting-edge...