Who Chooses? Characters With the Warrior Gene

Hatching a Killer Plan! Get it Out of Your System!

Who Chooses? Characters With the Warrior Gene

The nature versus nurture argument has always been a focal point in explaining what causes humans to behave as they do. It provides writers with an almost limitless wealth of options, on which they can pin the blame for a character’s bad behaviour. The latest cause of argument in the debate is the warrior gene. After watching NatGeo’s documentary “Born to Rage,” it had me taking the argument into another additional dimension: can ‘nurture’ also include how we choose to nurture what lives within our own minds and emotions? Nurture may be dependent on far more than the influence of our families and friends.

The discovery of the warrior gene and it’s use as the ultimate excuse for lashing out, is now so popular it has hit daytime television; changed the course of murder trials (diminished responsibility); and DNA testers actively promote their services, so you can see if you have it or not. It’s an excuse generator and money maker. It supposedly drives high risk taking executives and entrepreneurs; gamblers; gang members and toddlers who bite, hit and rebel. You can pin that tail on any donkey… until the actual DNA results come in…

According to the iGENEA DNA test pushing web site, the MAOA-L gene, “causes its carriers to be more willing to take risks while simultaneously enabling them to better assess their chances of success in critical situations.” Reading around the Internet, you quickly learn that the gene can be considered a cause for aggressive and destructive behaviour; a predisposition towards violence; or a blatant excuse for getting away with literally, everything including murder. The interesting thing is, when watching the NatGeo show, the people who were convinced they would test positive for it (punk rockers, gang members and bikers) did not have the gene. Those who you thought were least likely to have it, the Buddhist monks, tested positive. They were the ones who took their lethal potential and nurtured themselves towards a positive outcome. Nature lost invincibility over personal choice.

So how can you have peaceful people carrying around such potentially lethal DNA? Like most things in life, it comes down to the choices you make in how to handle and channel the emotions inside of you. That is wisdom of choice and self-nurture. As a writer, I am intrigued by how you can use genes as an excuse for what you have done. You can take the added bonus of the clearly stated role that environment and nurture plays, in bringing out socially depraved behaviour and weave it into many plot paths:

Individuals who struggle to overcome their genetic tendency or who cave in to it;
People who have the gene who feel pushed to display aggression by their violently focussed peers, despite the fact they want to be pacifists who overcome any urges;
Societies who will eliminate or exile anyone with the gene including whole lineages;
Ancient or modern societies or financial agencies who glorify such as gene, as they must be dominant warriors with high risk tendencies for high achievement; or
Armies, corporations or secret clubs with political agendas, populated solely by those with the gene for maximum force.

When you think about it, the warrior gene as a scapegoat is not a new concept. I have seen the same kind of biased thinking applied to men who have a high testosterone level. They are labelled as balding, career obsessed ambitious risk takers, who have a high sex drive and are never satisfied. Testosterone has been blamed for societal violence and agression… and guess what, it’s link has been clinically shown to be false. Testosterone isn’t a monster, it’s a basic hormone found in every human being: male and female. The traits are again, attributed to warriors, high risk taking executives and entrepreneurs; gamblers etc.

If this was a moral post, I’d be asking, are we taking typecasting too far? However, this is a writer’s space. I am suggesting you research it, then take it to the maximum limit in your own characters for your own purpose.

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