About the Episode:

Let’s say you are fat. Is that your fault? Can you really do anything about it? Can we predict that you’re gonna be fat when you’re gonna grow up? Or is that just because of how your parents raised you? This is just one of the many interesting topics that Professor Robert Plomin and I will get into today. Now Professor Plomin is a psychologist and geneticist best known for his work in twin studies and behavior genetics. He is ranked among the 100 most eminent psychologists in the history of science. Just let that sink in. Apart from his incredibly impressive scientific career, Robert also wrote a book with which he hopes to reach beyond the scientific community called “Blueprint: How DNA Makes Us Who We Are”. And I found out about all this by listening to a podcast he did with Sam Harris, after which I started wondering what the point even was of making the monocle moments podcast. We will talk about this. Other topics include whether or not parenting matters, the impact this may have on medical insurance, but mostly how the discoveries could make people’s lives better. Although Robert’s message is purely about his research, and he does not get into emotion all too much, I think you’ll enjoy Robert’s soft spokenness and honesty in this conversation.

Shownotes:

Email:

Find out about your own DNA:

Sam Harris Podcast with Robert Plomin:

Intelligence Squared Debate: