Ridley, Matt (2004) THE AGILE GENE New York: Harper/Collins.

Ridley indicates that evolutionary psychology is not as threatening to the social sciences as first thought. The social sciences bravely held on to the blank slate in reaction to biological reductionisms. What Ridley is saying is that not only do nature
AND nurture help explain behavior, but that the two are interactive and complimentary. They become entwined.

After hundreds of pages of discussion, he follows with these generalities.
1. Genes are enablers they do not make a human one type of person. Environment still plays a powerful role.
2. Parents are extremely important for their genetic contributions as well as their environmental ones.
3. After about 10 years old, the peer group has an extremely powerful message. Parental determinism is overstated. What parents can do is choose neighborhoods where their children can prosper.
4. Meritocracies are more equalitarian and are best helped by genes followed by environment... Smart ambitious people rise to the top and choose attractive mates. That is the leveler. Beauty does not necessarily translate into brains. Further, they may seek a number of partners sire kids and then essentially leave them. They also can have children and indulge them, thus reducing their ambition. In the previous sentences, nearly every sentence has both nature and nurture in it. Beauty also requires a lot of environment with diet, exercise, cosmetics. Brainy people can lose in the market if they are not street wise. That requires the environment.
5. Race is not only genetic but socially constructed. As time goes on, what alliances have the racial minority encouraged to get their share of the pie? Each IQ tests show improvement in intellectual growth. Many in minorities live horrible lives and thus academic cognition suffers. However, sex, age, and race are the most notable and noticeable. Cognitive growth is correlated with the diminishment of caste. Further, nearly 20% of whites are black (have black heritage.)
6. Individuality prospers in societies where it is allowed. When there is opposition, the group sooner or later falls or changes. Social policy will bloom if individuality is encouraged.
7. Individuals make choices flavored by nature and nature and are accountable for their violations of law. There appears to be a non-linear causality. It means that the brain may be predisposed to one thing and yet is surrounded by external factors that then become part of the brain. Free will of the soft indeterminism variety appears to be salient here.

It is time to move on with the use of looking at the combined work of both nature and nurture people and look upon the combination of the two as the next new paradigm.