# Quote — Nicholas Wade, A Troublesome Inheritance

> There are two important factors to consider in the emergence of social change. One is that a society develops through changes in its institutions, which are blends of culture and genetically shaped social behavior. The other is that the genes and culture interact. This may seem paradoxical to anyone who considers genes and culture to be entirely separate realms. But it is scarcely surprising from an evolutionary perspective, given that the genome is designed to respond to the environment, and a major component of the human environment is society and its cultural practices.

- Author: [Nicholas Wade](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nicholas-wade.md)
- Book: [A Troublesome Inheritance](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nicholas-wade/a-troublesome-inheritance.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nicholas_Wade#A_Troublesome_Inheritance:_Genes,_Race_and_Human_History_(2014)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/nicholas-wade/a-troublesome-inheritance/there-are-two

## More from this book

> If running a productive, Western-style economy were simply a matter of culture, it should be possible for African and Middle Eastern countries to import Western institutions and business methods, just as East Asian countries have done. But this is evidently not a straightforward task. Though it was justifiable at first to blame the evils of colonialism, two generations or more have now passed since most foreign powers withdrew from Africa and the Middle East, and the strength of this explanation has to some extent faded.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nicholas-wade/a-troublesome-inheritance/if-running-a-productive.md)

> Each of the major civilizations has developed the institutions appropriate for its circumstances and survival. But these institutions, though heavily imbued with cultural traditions, rest of a bedrock of genetically shaped human behavior.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nicholas-wade/a-troublesome-inheritance/each-of-the.md)

> Many forms of new knowledge are potentially dangerous, the energy of the atom being a preeminent example. But instead of curtailing inquiry Western societies have in general assumed that the better policy is to continue exploration in confidence that the rewards can be reaped and the risks managed. It is hard to see why exploration of the human genome and its racial variations should be made an exception to this principle, even though researchers and their audience must first develop the words and concepts to discuss a dangerous subject objectively.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nicholas-wade/a-troublesome-inheritance/many-forms-of-new.md)