bad or good gene

Recent discoveries in genetics are turning this bad gene vs. good gene model on its head and pointing toward what looks a lot more like the concept of intensifiers. Psychologists call it the “differential susceptibility hypothesis.” The same genes that lead to bad stuff can actually lead to great stuff in a different situation. The same knife that can be used to viciously stab someone can also prepare food for your family. Whether the knife is good or bad depends on context.

 Let’s get specific. Most people have a normal DRD4 gene, but some have a variant called DRD4-7R. Uh-oh. 7R has been associated with ADHD, alcoholism, and violence. It’s a “bad” gene. Yet researcher Ariel Knafo did a study to see which kids would share candy without being asked. Most three-year-olds are not about to give up tasty treats if they don’t have to, but the kids who had the 7R gene were more likely to. Why were the kids with this “bad” gene so inclined to help, even when they weren’t asked? Because 7R isn’t “bad.” Like that knife, it’s reliant on context. 7R kids who were raised in rough environments, who were abused or neglected, were more likely to become alcoholics and bullies. But 7R children who received good parenting were even kinder than kids who had the standard DRD4 gene. Context made the difference.

A number of other genes associated with behavior have shown similar effects. Teenagers with one type of the CHRM2 gene who are raised poorly end up as the worst delinquents, but teens with the same gene, raised in good homes, come out on top. Children who have a 5-HTTLPR variant and domineering parents are more likely to cheat, while kids with the same gene who receive kind nurturing are the tykes most likely to obey the rules.

Most people are dandelions; they’ll come out okay under almost any circumstances. Others are orchids; they’re not just more sensitive to negative outcomes but more sensitive to everything. They won’t flourish in the dirt by the side of a road like a dandelion would. But when they’re well tended in a nice greenhouse, their beauty will put the dandelions to shame. As writer David Dobbs said in a piece for The Atlantic, “the very genes that give us the most trouble as a species, causing behaviors that are self-destructive and antisocial, also underlie humankind’s phenomenal adaptability and evolutionary success. With a bad environment and poor parenting, orchid children can end up depressed, drug-addicted, or in jail—but with the right environment and good parenting, they can grow up to be society’s most creative, successful, and happy people.

Dr. David Weeks, a clinical neuropsychologist, wrote, “Eccentrics are the mutations of social evolution, providing the intellectual materials for natural selection.” They can be orchids like Glenn Gould or hopeful monsters like Michael Phelps. We spend too much time trying to be “good” when good is often merely average. To be great we must be different. And that doesn’t come from trying to follow society’s vision of what is best, because society doesn’t always know what it needs. More often being the best means just being the best version of you. As John Stuart Mill remarked, “That so few now dare to be eccentric, marks the chief danger of our time.”

In the right environment, bad can be good and odd can be beautiful.

Eric Barker - Barkink up the wrong tree