(10-27-2013, 03:40 PM)kandrathe Wrote: Having self-awareness, intelligence, etc. one can alter their choices against their programming. We are not simple creatures with merely a fight, or flight response -- however, our original programming might still induce adrenaline etc.
I think often Dawkins position on genetics is overly simplified to blame bad behavior, like sexual assault, on this innate programming. Society, as its cornerstone, holds people accountable for their actions.
If by that you mean, "Richard Dawkins' position is frequently strawmanned to mean that," then yes. Or, to quote the man himself, from The Selfish Gene:
"Let us try to teach generosity and altruism, because we are born selfish. Let us understand what our own selfish genes are up to, because we may then at least have the chance to upset their designs, something that no other species has ever aspired to do.”
Nevertheless, I would argue that our ability to act in non-instinctual ways, is itself a product of our genetic code. We did not lift ourselves up by our bootstraps. We evolved to be reflective, social, moral creatures.
-Jester