Comments on: How culture can invert genetic risk

By: Foray in Fudan » Blog Archive » On Being Foreign

Foray in Fudan » Blog Archive » On Being Foreign — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 02:13:54 +0000

[...] A summary by Mind Hacks [...]

By: Recent Reading – 9/25/10 | Everyday Biology

Recent Reading – 9/25/10 | Everyday Biology — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 01:51:37 +0000

[...] How culture can invert genetic risk | Mind Hacks Neuron Culture has a fantastic piece on how a long touted ‘depression gene’ turned out to reduce the risk of mood problems in people in East Asians and why we can’t always understand genetic effects on behaviour without understanding culture. [...]

By: Interpretation Age « Yes, I think too much

Interpretation Age « Yes, I think too much — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 22:48:24 +0000

[...] the gene and affective problems has been long established, but recently it was pointed out that the presence of this marker was twice as high in East Asian populations but the frequency of the com…. It has been speculated that the gene does not relate to depression or other psychological [...]

By: PsychNews: Sep. 12 - 18 | The Emotion Machine

PsychNews: Sep. 12 - 18 | The Emotion Machine — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 15:55:02 +0000

[...] How culture can invert genetic risk “Neuron Culture has a fantastic piece on how a long touted ‘depression gene’ turned out [...]

By: vaughanbell

vaughanbell — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 12:53:38 +0000

The Chinese dragon is because while dragons are generally considered to be dangerous in Western cultures, they are considered to be a symbol of strength and good luck in China, which I thought was nice analogy for the effect of the 5-HTTLPR gene. As the article notes, there is a large amount of research that suggests Asian cultures are more collectivist, although there are some important caveats (nicely written up in this NewSci article).

By: David

David — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 06:45:04 +0000

Firstly, I’m wondering why a picture of an East Asian dragon is essential for this post.

Secondly, how do you back your outright assertion that “East Asian culture is more likely to be collectivist”? Doesn’t quite seem like a scientific claim to me. In fact, it seems like a dangerous patch to a contradiction made by poorly conducted science to begin with.