Steve Pittelli, MD

Where have all the BG GWAS gone? Have we called it quits? 🧬🖥️🧪

If we crank the N to a few billion, we can find the gene for conscientiousness. 🖥️🧪🧬

Where have all the BG GWAS gone? Have we called it quits? 🧬🖥️🧪

Behavioral genetics is dead. I declare victory. 🖥️🧬🧪

Granted, I’m just a watch the World Cup every 4 years guy, but this 3rd place game suggests teams play way too deliberately conservative. Whatever you say about France’s effort level, they are still a better team than most of the teams that kept it a 2 to 1 game (France scores as I write this).

Ha ha, this is fun. 4-3.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37792698/ Genetics of vegetarianism: A genome-wide association study I was discussing this study with someone recently and couldn’t find a link, so I did a little AI search to find it and maybe it’s worth discussing AI in this context, and how it can reinforce ideology.

Since the AI mentioned “complex interactions,” I asked how such complexity could give high heritability:

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37792698/ Genetics of vegetarianism: A genome-wide association study I was discussing this study with someone recently and couldn’t find a link, so I did a little AI search to find it and maybe it’s worth discussing AI in this context, and how it can reinforce ideology.

It goes on to give the company line:

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37792698/ Genetics of vegetarianism: A genome-wide association study I was discussing this study with someone recently and couldn’t find a link, so I did a little AI search to find it and maybe it’s worth discussing AI in this context, and how it can reinforce ideology.

Then comparing it to the GWAS results:

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37792698/ Genetics of vegetarianism: A genome-wide association study I was discussing this study with someone recently and couldn’t find a link, so I did a little AI search to find it and maybe it’s worth discussing AI in this context, and how it can reinforce ideology.

It added this: A (GWAS) on vegetarianism utilizes large datasets, such as the UK Biobank, to identify specific genetic loci associated with dietary choices. By comparing strict vegetarians to non-vegetarians, research shows that genetics and physiology play a substantial role in food preferences.

I’m making a bit of a joke, but it’s worth discussing some broader issues, here. The first is that “we” in this sense, points to an ideology. I’ve taken a lot of ridicule from what would be considered leaders in the fields of behavioral genetics and my own field of psychiatry for questioning…. 1/

… genetics is not and never was about what “the missing heritability” really is. It’s about the entire mindset of genetic determinism that is absurd on its face and has trapped us into a limited and inadequate view of the world, with selfishness and greed taking ever-increasing roles … 11/

I’m making a bit of a joke, but it’s worth discussing some broader issues, here. The first is that “we” in this sense, points to an ideology. I’ve taken a lot of ridicule from what would be considered leaders in the fields of behavioral genetics and my own field of psychiatry for questioning…. 1/

… to quantify the harm that this mindset has created over the last century and a half, and while some of it is obvious, the rest is more subtle. When we discuss what mental illness is, or sociopathic behavior or human character, more broadly, and the “experts” are unable to view it outside of … 9/

I’m making a bit of a joke, but it’s worth discussing some broader issues, here. The first is that “we” in this sense, points to an ideology. I’ve taken a lot of ridicule from what would be considered leaders in the fields of behavioral genetics and my own field of psychiatry for questioning…. 1/

… of a hydra. The broader issue is a lack of understanding of how bias creeps into statistical analyses, because the statistics you produce inevitably confirm your assumptions. Statistical arguments, in that sense, are really just an intellectualized way to make your argument seem more valid. 7/

I’m making a bit of a joke, but it’s worth discussing some broader issues, here. The first is that “we” in this sense, points to an ideology. I’ve taken a lot of ridicule from what would be considered leaders in the fields of behavioral genetics and my own field of psychiatry for questioning…. 1/

… with the possible exception of more controversial traits like IQ. Thus, it always appears that there is a growing body of scientific evidence, when in fact there is a long string of failures to confirm the genetic assumption, with endless machinations to explain the failure away… 5/

I’m making a bit of a joke, but it’s worth discussing some broader issues, here. The first is that “we” in this sense, points to an ideology. I’ve taken a lot of ridicule from what would be considered leaders in the fields of behavioral genetics and my own field of psychiatry for questioning…. 1/

The problem is that it is only acceptable to base opinions on what is considered hard science and, in this case, hard science is the assumption up front that these traits are genetic. This disregards centuries of philosophy as “woo woo,” and frames this debate as already won save the proof. So … 3/

I’m making a bit of a joke, but it’s worth discussing some broader issues, here. The first is that “we” in this sense, points to an ideology. I’ve taken a lot of ridicule from what would be considered leaders in the fields of behavioral genetics and my own field of psychiatry for questioning…. 1/

🧬 Let’s do a GWAS on zip code. Say, the first two digits are 70 (my choice). You will likely get some correlations if the sample is large enough. What percentage of the variance explained will you get for the SNPs for “70” zip code? Say it’s 10% even with your PCA’s. Is “70” zip code genetic? Now…

Let’s do a within family analysis. Does that bring us down to zero? I think it will hold onto to 1 or 2 percent, at least. Do we have the causal genes for “70” zip code, now? What about the missing heritability? Let’s take those in the “70” zip code without a high pgs for “70” zip code. Next…