How Do Genes Influence Our Behaviour? - Robert Plomin - #353

**Chris Williamson** (0:00)
Hello, friends, welcome back to the show. My guest today is Robert Plomin. He's a psychologist, geneticist, and an author. We are talking about how genes influence our behavior. Separating the influence of nature and nurture is something everyone considers. Robert is the 71st most cited psychologist of the 20th century and has run the largest and most clinically detailed twin and adoption studies in history to finally provide definitive answers to these fundamental questions. Today, expect to learn how much of who we are can be attributed to our environment and how much was predisposed by our genetics, why parenting doesn't make a difference, why the choice of school your child goes to only impacts 1% of their outcomes, whether penis size is heritable, if there is a gay gene, and much more. This is one of the biggest switches in my thinking that I've had over the last year. Robert's work really does sort of upend a lot of the commonly held assumptions about how outcomes and intelligence and general life happiness manifests. We live in a world that's a meritocracy where you can be anything you want to be and to discover that there are these immutable truths that are with you from literally as you're conceived can feel restricting to some people. But it can also be liberating. Learning that there are certain things that you are predisposed to enjoy and other things that you're not actually reassures us that a lot of the preferences that we have and the ways that we enjoy living our lives is something that we should just embrace as opposed to fight against. This is a uncomfortable but unbelievably enlightening conversation. I really, really hope that you enjoy this one. Before I get onto other news, the Modern Wisdom reading list is finally finished 100 books that you should read before you die. That will be available on Monday, the 9th of August. I'll tell you where you can get it on the pre-roll for next Monday's podcast. Plus, it will be on the swipe up on my story on Instagram. So make sure that you're following me and make sure that you tune in next Monday so that you can get your copy. It's taken six months and it's nearly 10,000 words long. So, yes, I really hope that you enjoy it and it adds a ton of value. There are so many awesome books in there, some that you'll be familiar with and many that you won't. So, yes, get ready for that. In these other news, this episode is brought to you by Reebok and their brand new Nano XI. They are the best training shoes that I've ever had in my life. I've worn them ever since the Nano 8 came out. I've been in love with this range and the XI are even better. They're stable and supportive. They've got a really good sole, a little bit of a heel drop. They're perfect for lifting in, whether you're doing high intensity interval training, even if you've got plyometric work to do, whatever it is, these shoes can handle it. You can't use a pair of running trainers to go to the gym and lift weights in. The only thing you need to get right is the shoes and the XI's literally are the best for the job. Plus, I've managed to bully Reebok into finally putting the MW20 20% off code so that it is valid on the Nano XI's, which means that you can get a pair for under £90. You can get a pair for £89 now. Head to reebok.co.uk and use the code MW20 at checkout to get 20% off the entire range. So you can hoodies, t-shirts, shorts, leggings, tops, whatever you need, plus the amazing Nano XI's. That's reebok.co.uk and MW20 at checkout to get 20% off. In other other news, this podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. There might be something which is interfering with your happiness or preventing you from achieving your goals. BetterHelp will assess your needs and match you with your own licensed professional therapist you can start communicating with in under 48 hours. It's not a crisis line or self-help. It is professional counseling done securely over the internet. The therapists have a broad range of expertise which may not be available in your area. The service is available for clients worldwide. You can log on to your account at any time and send a message to your counselor. You get timely and thoughtful responses. Plus, you can schedule weekly video or phone sessions. So you don't even have to leave the house. It's easy and free to change counselors if you need. It's more affordable than traditional offline counseling and financial aid is available. You can get 10% off your first month by going to betterhelp.com/modernwisdom. That's betterhelp.com/modernwisdom.