I was pleased to read Richard A. Shweder's thoughtful review of Carl N. Degler's important book "In Search of Human Nature" (March 17). My only disappointment was in being reminded, again, of a gulf that unfortunately still separates many social scientists from most of us in the biological sciences, namely, our very different attitudes on the nature-nurture issue.
Most biologists, but not most social scientists, are willing to consider the possibility that almost any behavioral trait may be importantly influenced by both nature and nurture. I believe this attitude follows from knowing the biology, present and past, of our species. This knowledge shows that, in addition to being social beings with a cultural evolution, we are also organisms molded by biological evolution. This evolution, in fact, is a long interaction between nature (our genes and their consequences) and nurture (natural selection by the environment).
Mr. Shweder is in error in implying that since 1946 most of the literature of behavioral genetics is concerned with human group differences. Any survey of articles in the 20 years of the journal Behavior Genetics and of the textbooks of this field would show this. On the contrary, there is even some avoidance of such differences. The emphasis has been on understanding behavioral traits, not on labeling groups by their greater or lesser amount of some behavior.
