I agree that it is probably some of both. When nature and nurture align in a good direction it really benefits society. When they align in negative directions then it often causes great harm. There seemd to be no effort to direct certain groups in a positive direction. It seems to be the opposite.
His name is Robert Sopolsky. Anyone with some free time should check him out.
“The concept of sociobiology was strongly criticized, partly for political reasons, as being linked to real or imagined political and ideological consequences. Those who were critical of the concept and of “biological determinism,” included Marxist writers who saw the concept as injurious to the progress of human beings. They argue, for example, that traits such as aggressiveness, can be explained more by social environment than by biology. Critics accused Wilson of racism and sexism. The most vocal critics, Steven Jay Gould and Richard Lewontin, argue that human traits can be explained more by social environment than by biology. They were critical of sociobiology and evolutionary psychology, and argued that many physical and psychological traits are evolved adaptions, not the result of some innate characteristic. Critics argued thar sociobiology was a new version of biological determinism and of eugenic policies. Wilson dismissed the criticism and the physical attacks, including one in which Gould threw ice water over him, as self-righteous vigilantism.”
I never knew much about Wilson, but if he was opposed by Gould and his ilk, then Wilson may really have been on to something.
As the child becomes more aware of the world around them, he quickly learns that the same behavior that gives him comfort can also now be used to fulfill their worldly desires and whims, and to control the behavior of others, siblings and parents. Unchecked, this is now a problem in self-will running amuck. This is a child not an infant. How far a child will push this is a combination of nature and nurture.
To live in the exciting broader and more complex world, it is necessary that a child be taught that their existence is no longer, “just about them”. There are other people and things in the world that require their attention and respect. They must also learn that there will always be some authority over them. It may be a parent, a peer, a teacher, a boss - OR - the police, a judge and a jailer (or even a hot potbelly stove). But ultimately a child’s best opportunity is to recognize that there is a loving God, to whom he is willing to give authority, over him.
Kids are pretty tough both physically and emotionally and the key is to bend (nurture) that young branch of the family tree (nature) without breaking it.
The evolutionary psychology field that E.O. Wilson got started was really a response to the “Selfish Gene” book by Richard Dawkins. There were several theories of human evolution that were based on game theory principles and refered to as kin selection. The notion was that our group behaviors were based on the closeness of our genetic ties and that altruism and xenophobia were biologically driven.
Wilson and his followers rejected this gene determinism and instead proposed that our evolution was driven by the survival advantages of “eusocial” or true social behavior. We evolved the use of language to leverage the experience of prior generations and accelerate cultural evolution beyond what biological evolution could achieve as rapidly.
This produced a feedback influence on biology where language-driven cultural changes lead to biological selection pressures through marriage and reproduction patterns over time. This helps explain why 24% of the world’s Nobel prizes have been awarded to Ashkenazi Jews who are only 0.2% of the population. Jewish culture selected for literacy and numeracy which became more highly valued as the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions placed a greater value on these skills over traditional agricultural skills.
Nature and nurture both interact over time but nuture (eusocial) evolution is far faster and more influential for modern human evolution.