I lost a link to a really interesting article I wanted to read... can YOU help me find it?

August 10, 2009 7:11 PM

I lost a link to a really interesting article I wanted to read... can YOU help me find it? The article was probably on a science blog. It was, more or less, a debunking of arguments in favor of behavioral heritability and the genetic predisposition for certain horrible actions. If not a blog, perhaps it was in a weekly sitting in my therapist's office?

The article went to great lengths to debunk, by way of example, the myth that step-parents are more likely to abuse their children than non-step/non-adoptive parents.

There were extended critiques of the statistical methods used to arrive at the myth, and the nearly-invisible (but significantly flawed) logical leaps taken to arrive there.

There were also quotes by EO Wilson, whose work spoke out fairly strongly against what, I think, was referred to as biological determinism.

There may have been a bit about the currency the 'autism by vaccine' canard carries, but I may also be conflating that from another article.

posted by mr. remy to Science & Nature (5 answers total)

Response by poster: i remember the article scoffing at the term "discriminative parental solicitude"
posted by mr. remy at 7:17 PM on August 10, 2009

Best answer: Maybe one of these?

Link1

Link2

Link3
posted by clanger at 7:31 PM on August 10, 2009 [1 favorite]

Was it this Newsweek article?
posted by pluckemin at 7:34 PM on August 10, 2009

Response by poster: metafilter, you are fantastic. It is Link3, but the Newsweek article looks fun, too.
posted by mr. remy at 7:40 PM on August 10, 2009

Response by poster: (err, Link2)
posted by mr. remy at 7:43 PM on August 10, 2009