Table Of ContentDESIGN
LI FE
ALSO BY PATRICK BATESON
The Behavioural and Physiological Effects of
Culling Red Deer
Perspectives in Ethology
(edited with Peter H. Klopfer)
Growing Points in Ethology
(edited with Robert A. Hinde)
Mate Choice (editor)
The Domestic Cat: The Biology of its Behaviour
(edited with Dennis C. Turner)
The Development and Integration of Behaviour
(editor)
Behavioural Mechanisms in Evolutionary Perspective
(edited with Montse Gomendio)
ALSO BY PAUL MARTIN
The Healing Mind: The Vital Links Between Brain
and Behavior, Immunity and Disease
Measuring Behaviour: An Introductory Guide
(with Patrick Bateson)
•
SI 11
ora
PatricR Batesol1
How Behavior and
Personality Develop
SIMON & SCHUSTER
NEW YORK LONDON TORONTO SYDNEY SINGAPORE
al1d
Paul Martil1
1:
"'4
SIMON & SCHUSTER
Rocktfeller Center
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�
Contents
New York, NY 10020
Copyright © 2000 by Patrick Batesoll and Paul Martin
All rights reserved,
including the rigltt oj reproduction
in whole or in part in any form.
SIMON & SCHUSTER and colophon are
registered trademarks oj Simon & Schuster, Inc.
1
Designed by Edith Fowler
Mamifactured in the United States ojAmerica
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
THE DEVELOPMENTAL KITCHEN
9
• Design for
1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bateson,
2
P P G. (Paul Patrick Gordon)
Design for a life: how beltavior and personality
develop / Patrick Bateson and Paul Martin.
p.cm.
I"cludes bibliographical rtferences and illdex.
1. Nature and nurture.
II.
1.
THE SEVEN AGES
18
Players on the Stage • Parents, Offspring, and Conflict •
Life in the JiV£Jmb • A Brave New JiV£Jrld • The Beginning
of the End • They Tuck You Up • And Then the Lover •
And Then the Justice • Last Scene of All
Martill, Paul R.
Title.
BF341.B37
From Egg to Adult • "Nature" and "Nurture"
a Life • The Developmental Menu
3
2000
155.2'34-dc21
99-086972
ISBN 0-684-86932-2
First published in the United Kingdom i" 1999,
4
by Jonatltan Cape
5
•
THE SPARKS OF NATURE
42
The Family Face • Spirally Bound • Twins • What About
the Environment? • Early Handling • Dear Octopus •
Myopia and Music • How Much Nature, How Much
Nurture?
COOKING BEHAVIOR
62
The Great Blueprint Fallacy • Genes Make Proteins, Not
Behavior • Niche-picking • A Picture of Differences •
Little Emperors? • Rules for Changing the Rules • System
and Synthesis
P ROTEAN INSTINCTS
Original Matter • The Universal Smile • The Stink of
Instinct • A Little Dose of Judgment • Managing the
Machine • A Well-designed Life • Flexible Structure
78
8 CONTENTS
6
ALTERNATIVE LIVES
100
The Developmental Jukebox • Forecasting the Weather •
Growing People • Pubertal Precocity • Street Children •
Different
7 • CHANCE AND CHOICE
Darwin's Nose • Storm and Stress • VVhat's in a Name?
Choice • How Much Free Will? • Tangled Threads
8
I
•
SENSITIVE PERIODS
Vulnerable T imes • Something Nasty in the Woodshed •
Learning to Speak • Learning to Sing • Closing Options
Stamping In • Competitive Exclusion • Learning the
Lessons
9
•
133
•
MORNING SHOWS THE DAY
Life Sentence • Wiping the Tapes? • More Than a Seed
Staying on Track • Different Routes to the Same Place •
The Strands of Continuity
10
117
154
The Developmental Kitchen
What is the use of a new-born child?
•
ROOM 101
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
167
Metamorphosis • From Elastic to Plastic • Breaking the
Mold • Stress, Love, and Hormones • Long Live Change
11 •
12 •
13 •
EVERYTHING TO PLAY FOR
182
Pointless Fun • Tom Sawyer's Fence • From Eton to
Waterloo • Connecting the Unconnected • Roaming Freely
FROM EGG TO ADULT
How and why does each human grow up to be a unique indi
vidual? What role do genes play in shaping behavior and personality?
Are people's characters fixed early in life or can they change as
adults? How does early experience affect sexual preferences? Why do
SEX, BEAUTY, AND INCEST
198
It's Just It • Extravagant Ornaments • Some Strangeness in
the Proportion • Striking the Balance • Cooking the
Preferences • The Developmental Origins of Homosexuality
• Serious Commitment • From Inbreeding Avoidance to
Incest Taboos
THIS STRANGE EVENTFUL HISTORY
The One True Cause • The Evolution of Development •
VVho Chooses, VVho Designs? • Building Clever Machines
A Process Too Complicated to Explain?
219
children play? These are all questions about behavioral develop
ment-the lifelong process of growth and change from conception
to death, which is central to an understanding of human nature.
Mter the microscope was invented in the late sixteenth century,
people gazed with excitement at the structure of the fertilized egg
and thought they could see dimly within it the makings of an adult.
Some even saw a small person crouched inside the head of each
human sperm-or, if their prejudices were different, inside the unfer
•
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 233
PERMISSIONS 235
REFERENCES 237
FURTHER READING 253
INDEX 255
tilized egg. It seemed satisfYing to think of growing up as merely get
ting larger. But the satisfaction was deeply misplaced. Most animals,
including humans, do not just grow-they develop. Everybody is the
product of development.
The fertilized egg from which each person develops is barely
visible to the eye. The adult human body consists of millions upon
1 2
DESIGN FOR A LIFE
learning. So congenial was this opinion to Lenin that Pavlov's posi
tion in the Soviet Union was thereafter protected, despite his not
being a Communist. In 1950, long after Pavlov's death, a big govern
THE DEVELOPMENTAL KiTCHEN 13
DESIGN FOR A LIFE
The various stages of an individual's development, from concep
ment-sponsored scientific congress devoted to his teaching was held tion through childhood, adolescence, parenthood (for most), and the
in Moscow. The party line was that man could transcend heredity later years of maturity and senescence, are completely different, and
and be controlled by education. A second prong in the same Stalinist the individual must function at least adequately during each of them.
program was to enforce as dogma the view that all acquired charac Even though it is easy to think of exceptions where brain and behav
ters were passed on to subsequent generations. Under the advocacy ior malfunction terribly, as in paranoid schizophrenia, much of what
of this dogma by T. D. Lysenko in the late 1940s, Soviet genetics ef happens during the process of development looks as though it is well
fectively ceased to exist. designed. The proposition that living organisms' bodies, brains, and
One cynic commented that the "environmentalists seem to be behavior were adapted over the course of evolution to the conditions
lieve that if cats gave birth in a stove, the result would be biscuits. " in which they lived is at least familiar to most nonbiologists. An
Since then, the pendulum has swung a long way in the opposite di adaptation is a modification that makes the organism better suited to
rection, and nowadays it sometimes seems as if almost any aspect of survive and reproduce in a particular environment-better suited,
human behavior or physiology can be accounted for by genes alone. that is, than if it lacked the crucial feature.
With increasing frequency the media report the discover y of a gene In the early part of the nineteenth century, the English theolo
"for " some distinct human characteristic, such as learning foreign gian William Paley wrote incisively about the adaptations of biology.
Natural Theology, Paley emphasized how different parts of
languages, athletic prowess, or male promiscuity. In his book
It is obvious that experience, education, and culture make a big the body relate to each other and contribute to the whole. He illus
difference in how people behave, whatever their genetic inheritance. trated this by considering the various features of the mole:
Yet behavioral and psychological development is frequently ex
plained in terms of the exclusive importance of one set of factors, ei The strong short legs of that animal, the palmated feet
ther genetic or environmental. Such firmly held opinions derive in armed with sharp nails, the pig-like nose, the teeth, the
part from a style of advocacy common to most scientific debates. If velvet coat, the small external ear, the sagacious smell,
Dr. Jones has overstated her case, then Professor Smith feels bound to the sunk protected eye, all conduce to the utilities or to the
redress the balance by overstating the counterargument. The confu safety of its underground life. . . . The mole did not want
sions are amplified because of the way in which scientists analyze de to look about it; nor would a large advanced eye have been
velopmental processes. When somebody has conducted a clever easily defended from the annoyance to which the life of
experiment demonstrating an important long-term influence on be the animal must constantly expose it. How indeed was the
havior, he or she has good reason to feel pleased. It is easy to forget mole, working its way under ground, to guard its eyes at
about all those other influences that they had contrived to keep con all? In order to meet this difficulty, the eyes are made
stant or that play no systematic role. Consequently, debates about be scarcely larger than the head of a corking-pin; and these
havioral and psychological development often degenerate into
minute globules are sunk so deeply in the skull, and lie so
sweeping assertions about the overriding importance of genes (stand sheltered within the velvet of its covering, as that any con
ing in for "nature ") or the crucial significance of the environment traction of what may be called the eye-brows, not only
(which then becomes "nurture "). closes up the apertures which lead to the eyes, but presents
1 4
15
DESIGN FOR A LIFE THE DEVELOPMENTAL KITCHEN
a cushion, as it were, to any sharp or protruding substance propagation-let alone conscious ones. In Richard Dawkins's phrase:
which might push against them. This aperture, even in its "The world became full of organisms that have what it takes to be
ordinary state, is like a pin-hole in a piece of velvet, come ancestors. "
scarcely pervious to loose particles of earth. Biologists have been properly warned not to write evolutionar y
Observe then, in this structure, that which we call re accounts in which the past is seen as leading purposefully toward the
lation. There is no natural connection between a small goal of the present blissful state of perfection. A clear distinction is
sunk eye and shovel palmated foot. Palmated feet might necessarily and wisely drawn between the present-day utility (or
have been joined with goggle eyes; or small eyes might function) of a biological process, structure, or behavior pattern and its
have been joined with feet of any other form. What was it historical, evolutionary origins. Darwin noted, for example, that
therefore which brought them together in the mole? That while the bony plates of the mammalian skull allow the young mam
which brought together the barrel, the chain, and the cogs, mal an easier passage through the mother's birth canal, these same
in a watch-design; and design, in both cases, inferred plates are also present in the mammals' egg-laying reptilian ancestors.
from the relation which the parts bear to one another in Their original biological function clearly must have been different
the prosecution of a common purpose. . . . In a word; the from their current function. 3
feet of the mole are made for digging; the neck, nose, eyes, The distinction between current function and historical evolu
ears, and skin are peculiarly adapted to an underground tion is all the more necessary because current adaptations may result
life; and this is what I call relation. from the experience of the individual during its lifetime. Human
hands form calluses to protect against mechanical wear, and muscles
Paley, who became a bishop, regarded the design he saw ever y
where in nature as proof of the existence of God. These days few bi
develop in response to the specific loads placed upon them during
exercise. Behavior, in particular, becomes adapted to local conditions
ologists would try to pin their religious faith on biological evidence, during the course of an individual's development, whether through
and the design to which Paley referred would be attributed instead to learning by trial and error or through copying others. These are all
the evolutionary mechanism that Charles Darwin called natural se examples of adaptations that are acquired during the lifetime of the
lection. Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection is univer individual, and they are clearly distinct from adaptations that are in
sally accepted among scientists, even if arguments continue over the herited. "Design " in this book is used in its widest sense to denote
details. Darwin proposed a three-stage cycle that starts with random adaptations, whatever their biological origins.
variation in the form and behavior of individuals. In any given set of
environmental conditions some individuals are better able to survive
and reproduce than others because of their distinctive characteristics.
The historical process of becoming adapted notches forward a step if
make it resistant to the latest antibiotic. While all the others are killed
by antibiotics, this one will survive and multiply rapidly. Before long,
the world (or, at least, the hospital ward) is full of antibiotic-resistant
bacteria. Darwinian evolution requires no unconscious motives for
THE DEVELOPMENTAL MENU
A young man who was contemplating a career as a chef visited a
the factors that gave rise to those distinctive characteristics are inher country hotel that prided itself on using only the best locally grown
ited in the course of reproduction. Suppose, for example, that an in produce. He was solemnly told that the only thing that matters in
dividual bacterium happens to have heritable characteristics that good cooking is to ensure the ingredients are of high quality. The
young man was not stupid, however, and felt this advice must be incomplete. T hen he consulted the celebrated chef of a fashionable
urban restaurant and was told emphatically that what really matters is
hav ing the right kitchen equipment and paying meticulous attention
1 6
DESIGN FOR A LIFE
to the presentation of the food at the table: "You can make anything
THE DEVELOPMENTAL KITCHEN
1 7
Undoubtedly, many important aspects of behavioral and psy
look beautiful and taste marvelous." Our novice chef sensed that chological development do relate to the individual's future rather
both his advisers had been claiming too much. Their prejudices were than current needs. Certain adaptations-such as play behavior
compounded by self-righteousness when they heard about the views assist the developmental process of acquiring skills or knowledge of
of the other. Though as yet unversed in the mysteries of cooking, the the social and physical environment, which will be needed in later
young man realized intuitively that the ingredients of a meal and the life. Preparation for the future may make use of predictive informa
way in which they are put together must both matter. He went on to tion about the environment that the individual will inhabit. The
become a much better chef than either of his advisers. need to predict becomes especially important when the physical or
The processes involved in behavioral and psychological devel social environment may take radically different forms, forcing indi
opment have certain metaphorical similarities to cooking. Both the viduals to use quite different solutions according to the particular
raw ingredients and the manner in which they are combined are im problems they face. The habitats in which humans may end up are
portant. Timing also matters. In the cooking analogy, the raw ingre dramatically different from each other, some demanding physically
dients represent the many genetic and environmental influences, and others demanding socially. Individuals are prepared in some mea
while cooking represents the biological and psychological processes sure during their early development for the particular adult world
of development. Nobody expects to find all the separate ingredients they will enter.
represented as discrete, identifiable components in a souffle. Similarly, Inevitably, much of what we shall describe in this book reflects
nobody should expect to find a simple correspondence between a common experience. We shall draw from time to time on the writ
particular gene (or a particular experience) and particular aspects of ings of novelists and poets who have expressed themselves more
an individual's behavior or personality. This point, which we hope memorably, amusingly, or imaginatively than we could ever-have
will be obvious, is central to much of what we describe in this book. done. We hope that this interweaving of science and literature will
"Man is born to live, not to prepare for life," wrote Boris Paster seem as natural to others as it did to us. When dealing with substance
nak in Doctor Zhivago. The behavior seen at a particular stage of life
may be part of the cooking process of development, but it may also
serve a current need. Many attributes of a young, developing organ
ism are adaptations to the environment it inhabits at that stage in its
life. To become an adult, the young animal or child must obviously
survive in the here and now. But some of what goes on in develop
ment is also about preparing for the future, setting the menu for the
life yet to come. This forward-looking aspect of development was
expressed by Simone de Beauvoir in her autobiography:
All through my childhood and my young days, my life had
a distinct meaning: its goal and its motive was to reach the
adult age. At twenty, living does not mean getting ready to
be forty. Yet for my people and for me, my duty as a child
and an adolescent consisted of forming the woman I was
to be tomor row.
rather than method, we believe that the wall built between the sci
ences and the humanities is artificial and unhelpful-and nowhere
more so than in the kitchen of human development.
