DNA Is Not Destiny: Book talk event with Dr. Steven J. Heine

Do you fear what might be lurking in your DNA?
Well, now you can find out, and you most likely will. Scientists expect one billion people to have their genomes sequenced by 2025, and as the price drops it may even become a standard medical procedure. Yet cultural psychologist Steven Heine argues that the first thing we’ll do upon receiving our DNA test results is to misinterpret them completely. We’ve become accustomed to breathless media coverage about newly discovered “cancer” or “IQ” or “infidelity” genes, each one promising a deeper understanding of what makes us tick. But as UBC Psychology professor Steven Heine shows, most of these claims are oversimplified and overhyped misinterpretations of how our DNA really works. With few exceptions, it is a complex combination of experience, environment, and genetics that determines who we are, how we behave, and what diseases will afflict us in the future.
Join Steven Heine at this special book talk event where he shares his research — and own genome sequencing results — to reveal the cognitive traps which make people overly fatalistic when they think about genes.
This free event is open to everyone.