TOOLS FOR PUBLIC CONVERSATION ABOUT BEHAVIORAL GENETICS

描述(改编自《调查者摘要》)：行为学研究进展 遗传学已经引起了相当大的公众焦虑。其中一些焦虑是 植根于无知之中。其中一些反映了对过去滥用假想的知识 对复杂的人类行为的科学描述。而行为遗传学也 有时会挑战关于人类本性的深刻假设。 黑斯廷斯中心和该合作项目的第一个前提是 美国科学促进会是一种行为 遗传学承诺不仅揭示疾病的遗传成分， 而且还研究了复杂行为的遗传成分--因此最终 作为人类意味着什么。该项目的第二个前提是行为 遗传学可以用于有害的目的；贝尔曲线就是明证。第三 前提是，对于我们的社会来说，弘扬善用，抵制 行为遗传学的有害使用，必须有公开和知情的公众 关于科学发现能做什么，不能做什么的对话--告诉我们 关于我们的行为以及我们是谁和什么。该项目的主要目标是 为此类有关行为的公开讨论提供工具和资源 关于遗传学及其引发的重大伦理和社会问题。 本文中的工具指的是概念和区别，以便于明确、 在专业和非专业群体之间进行认真、有意义的对话。 实现项目的主要目标需要四个组成部分：第一， 工作组，包括行为遗传学家、生物伦理学家和其他人，将 识别和描述行为学的基本科学思想和方法 遗传学研究。第二，工作组将审查在多大程度上 行为遗传学为长期存在的伦理和社会问题提供了新的曙光 和问题。两个相互关联的大类别抓住了相关问题： (A)身份和责任以及(B)平等和正义。第三，聚焦 它对基本的科学、伦理和社会问题的询问，以及 为了完善概念工具并开发书面资源和其他资源， 工作组将审查三个病例：双相情感障碍、冲动和 智慧。 最后，除了工作组在以下地点举行的五次跨学科会议 黑斯廷斯中心，在项目的中途将有一个公众 关于西海岸的会议和关于东部的最终公开会议 海岸。这些会议的目的既是介绍工具，也是为了 磨练他们。为了传播这些工具，该项目将开发一系列 面向外行和专业受众的资源，包括行为学入门读物 面向普通大众的遗传学(将以硬拷贝和 他们创建的网站)，黑斯廷斯中心报告的特别副刊 分发给不同的专业受众，并为 学者。

DESCRIPTION (Adapted from the Investigator's Abstract): Progress in behavioral genetics has created considerable public anxiety. Some of that anxiety is rooted in ignorance. Some of it reflects knowledge of past abuses of putatively scientific accounts of complex human behaviors. And behavioral genetics also sometimes challenges deep assumptions regarding the nature of human beings. The first premise of this collaborative project between The Hastings Center and the American Association for the Advancement of Science is that behavioral genetics promises to shed light not only on the genetic component of diseases, but also on the genetic component of complex behaviors--and thus ultimately on what it means to be human. The project's second premise is that behavioral genetics can be put to hurtful purposes; witness the Bell Curve. The third premise is that for our society to promote the salutary uses and resist the pernicious uses of behavioral genetics, there must be open and informed public conversation about what the scientific findings do--and do not--tell us about behavior and about what and who we are. This project's primary objective is to provide tools and resources for such public discussion about behavioral genetics and about the significant ethical and social issues raised by it. Tools in this context means concepts and distinctions that facilitate clear, careful, and meaningful conversation among professional and lay groups. Meeting the project's primary objective entails four components: First, the Working Group, including behavioral geneticists, bioethicists, and others, will identify and describe the basic scientific ideas and methods of behavioral genetics research. Second, the Working Group will examine the extent to which behavioral genetics casts new light on enduring ethical and social questions and problems. Two large, interrelated categories capture the relevant issues: (a) identity and responsibility and (b) equality and justice. Third, to focus its inquiries concerning the basic scientific, ethical, and social issues, and to refine the conceptual tools and develop written and other resources, the Working Group will examine three cases: bipolar disorder, impulsivity, and intelligence. Finally, in addition to five interdisciplinary meetings of the Working Group at The Hastings Center, midway through the project there will be a public conference on the West Coast and a culminating public conference on the East Coast. The purposes of those conferences are both to introduce the tools and to hone them. To disseminate the tools, the project will develop a series of resources for lay and professional audiences, including a primer of behavioral genetics for the general public (which will appear both in hard copy and on the Web site they create), a special supplement of the Hastings Center Report distributed to diverse professional audiences, and a volume of essays for scholars.