"Do our genes decide if we're kind or cruel?"

I was unpacking and found this newspaper page that I had saved for some reason. Initially I had no idea why, until I turned it over and read the bottom - an interesting little piece about how our genes might influence our demeanor. Read the whole article here.

Basically, there are specific genes linked to specific emotional characteristics like aggression, emotional expression, empathy. "In most cruel people, the 'empathy circuit', which runs through 10 different regions of the brain, goes down either temporarily or permanently, leaving the person with 'zero empathy'". The author uses Osama bin Laden as an example. The reasons for the cruel actions could be partly innate, partly a result of some early traumatic experience, or an interaction between nature and nurture.

I'm not sure how I feel about this article - it kind of says nothing at all while saying a whole lot at the same time - but it's kind of interesting to bring back the old nature vs nurture discussion and just how much of how we end up is governed by these principles! Food for thought!