Polistes Canadensis

It has lately been found in Southern Arizona, where this picture was taken.

A recent study of P. canadensis genetics shows the basic genetic flexibility associated with these semi-eusocial insects. The technical term is phenotypic plasticity.

In his book: Phenotypic Plasticity: Beyond Nature and Nurture, Pigliucci attempts to outline a more realistic big picture framework for understanding the actions of genetic organisms.

In big picture thinking, the nature vs nurture debate breaks down to a level of analysis conundrum. Does nature (the individual level of analysis) or nurture (the structural level of analysis) cause a genetic organism to act, or be, a certain way? When confronted with the question, most people ususally answer with a compromised "both", with the big picture meta answer never really settled.

Metatheoretical and theoretical work in phenotypic plasticity starts with a different set of assumptions. Pigliucci explains, "phenotypic plasticity is the property of a given genotype to produce different phenotypes in response to distinct environmental conditions".

In other words, it assumes the systems level of analysis, rather than the individual or structural level of the nature vs nurture debate, serves as the appropriate approach for understanding the activities or characteristics of all genetic organisms, insects and human alike.

My apologies to evolutionary biologists for probably botching up your vocabulary. Think of a system as a particular configuration of actors, or individual units, operating withing the context of a specific environment, structure or set of rules. The article, The Green State provides an alternative take on the level of analysis problematic.

© 2008 Patricia A. Michaels