Remember! We live in an ultra super-complex world. These little bits of information may or may not represent a clue to the real picture.
by Alondra Oubré
MAOA — Genetic culprit for violence?
Theories about inborn race-based aggression, violence, and criminality are back in the news [1]. In the ongoing search for genes underlying social behavior, none has sparked more curiosity, if not controversy, than the gene that codes for monoamine oxidase A — MAOA [2, 3, 4]. Nicknamed the “warrior gene,” a variant of the MAOA drew international attention nearly a decade ago when geneticist Rod Lea reported that it was more common in Maori — the indigenous Polynesians of New Zealand — than in whites [2]. According to one journalist, Lea suggested this gene might be the source of poor health and increased rates of violent crime in Maori [5]. The media frenzy over “bad genes causing bad behavior” didn’t stop there. A rare, seemingly even more detrimental version — the “extreme warrior gene” — has since stirred debate because it occurs…
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Liam Uber's Blog 
Liam Ubert: “Remember! We live in an ultra super-complex world. These little bits of information may or may not represent a clue to the real picture.”
Sometimes, a very small clue can be the major lead for changing the entire picture.
I made two comments at ‘Scientia Salon’ on this (see http://scientiasalon.wordpress.com/2014/07/31/the-extreme-warrior-gene-a-reality-check/comment-page-1/#comment-5512 ).
A few days ago, selfawarepatterns posted a great article “Rethinking evolution”, and I made a comment (http://selfawarepatterns.com/2014/10/09/does-evolutionary-theory-need-a-rethink/comment-page-1/#comment-6060 ).
The key point is that ‘intelligence’ is an empirical fact. If it does not come out in the blue, it must be there from the beginning or as an essential part of its emerging process (evolution or else); that is, any ‘blind’ process cannot be a correct process for the evolution of ‘intelligence’. I just wrote an article on this (at http://tienzengong.wordpress.com/2014/10/11/intelligent-evolution/ ) and am looking forward to your comment on it.