Genetic determinism

Genetic determinism would like all psyche functioning data to be determined by genes. On the contrary, cultural determinism assumes that characters and behaviours are determined by culture.

These two extreme theses each hold a share of truth. Certain fundamental components of behaviour are found in all cultures: fear, aggressiveness, trust, mistrust, imitation, opposition, the basis of language, etc. are clearly universal characteristics of human beings and therefore most likely genetically determined, regardless of the influences of culture. Other components are highly variable and very accurately reflect education and social constraints. Only certain predispositions can then be determined genetically.

The structure of the brain is almost identical from one individual to another, up to the microscopic details of the circumvolutions, the layers of the cortex and the different areas with their basic connections already present at birth. It is in each individual the frontal cortex that manages executive functions, the amygdale that controls emotions, the hippocampus that stores memory, the Broca areas that are responsible for articulation, etc. It is therefore invariant hereditary structures, which can be attributed to human genome characteristics.

On the other hand, interneuronal connections that occur mainly during growth depend on learning: as neuropsychology teaches, those stimulated develop and multiply, while others, remaining unused, are abandoned. Thus, the cultural environment sculpts somehow in the raw brain as it is genetically determined, a culturally determined brain.

This is a physiologically verifiable confirmation, and even anatomically at the level of interneuronal connections, of the coexistence of the two determinisms. Human ecogenetics adds to these considerations the fact that certain cultural conditionings, therefore some non-natural brain structures, may promote or inhibit certain behaviors related to the satisfaction of basic needs. The individual thus finds himself in a contradictory situation: his basic needs, linked to the genome, persist, but the acquired structuring of his brain does not allow him to satisfy them in accordance with the requirements of nature.

Examples: the lack of language learning during growth leads to a lack of communication or even analysis, which will penalize the individual throughout his life. The use of alcohol can generate internal connections that will control addictive behavior very irreversibly. The musicians develop additional bonds between the two hemispheres (coordination of the reflexes of the hands of the pianist or other instrumentalist), which is recognized by a thickening of the callous body (white mass at the base of the brain, consisting of nerve fibers).

Thus it is understood that functional anomalies can settle very permanently in all types of behaviour subject to inappropriate learning: relational, food, sexual, environmental relations etc. Behavioural trends can have serious consequences for health, sociability, psychosexual balance, environmental preservation, etc. In other words: the psychological structure induced by education and social constraints are very irreversible because of their neurological support.

It is therefore necessary to define, on the one hand, what would be a psychological structure in line with basic needs, which may take different forms but must remain within the limits of adaptability of the species. And on the other hand, to identify in our culture the factors that induce a psychic structure inappropriate to the basic needs of the human being, or other actors in biocenosis.

In the first case, we will talk about progenetic cultures; in the second, antigenetic cultures (not to be confused with the notion of antigen in the immunological sense). This distinction is particularly significant if we know that it is not only behavioral habits, but different brain structures induced in one case or another. This explains the enormous difficulty of changing mass behaviour, and the time (several generations) required for such a process.

The question is to what extent the pro-genetic or anti-genetic nature of a culture, or some of its components, is related to environmental disorders; then determine the root causes of the evolution of culture towards these anti-genetic structures in order to define ways to remedy them.