Science explains Scrooge

Auntie S was the family Scrooge. She used to hoard everything – food, money, sheets, even chocolate bars! Sometimes, she even kept for herself what her kids sent to her – things that were meant to be gifts to other people! She let out long, unsolicited speeches of how little she had, despite evidence to the contrary, and on the rare occasions that she would give something to someone, would never let the chance pass to let him/her know how much the thing was. My Dad, who was the youngest in their brood, would pull all possible theories in order to explain my Aunt’s behavior to us because he knew it puzzled us and often, offended us. My Mom just compensated by being an example of the opposite – she was generous with everyone. When I think about it, all members of the clan devoted so much energy to explain to each other, why she was the way she was. Well, they may be interested to know that recent science news is no exception.

We recently got some clues from science on how characters like Scrooge and Auntie S have come to live in our midst. These clues are from a study done by scientists who are trying to find genetic links to human behavior. These are the fellows who are trying to find out what aspects of human behavior can be partly accounted for by our genes. They say that our prehistoric ancestors who were hunter-gatherers probably hoarded food so that they and their offspring could live longer. But the evolutionary price they had to pay to survive was in terms of enduring the loneliness resulting from their isolation. The "loneliness" in these characters has also led to "developed dispositions toward anxiety, hostility, negativity and social avoidance." This is what the research teams from the Free University in Amsterdam and the University of Chicago led by Professor Dorret Boomsma think when they looked at data on 8,000 identical and non-identical, twins. Their study is published in the journal Behavior Genetics and also reported in the BBC last Nov 11. Twins are ideal subjects for "nature-nurture" studies like this because identical twins share all their genes while non-identical genes share half of their genes. The study’s subjects, aged 13 to 20 and brought up in the same households, regularly answered surveys for 14 years since 1991 and their results reveal that identical twins share less difference in their "loneliness ratings" which seems to suggest that "genes play a major role in determining whether or not people will experience the feeling throughout their life." This also means that altering the "environment" in order to cure "loneliness" and all its accompanying "downers," may not be enough for everyone who has the trait.

Now I am not sure how that affects how I remember Auntie S now. I am fond of my "kuyas" who are her sons who seem to have that genetic trait (if it really is one) turned off in their generation. From my observations, cases like this usually make the religious call for some emergency purging or catharsis but I really am obliged to print the fact that she has tried more religions, major and minor ones, than anyone I have ever known and even if her schedules and costumes changed over the years, her basic Scrooge attitude remained staunchly constant. So then with this initial clue in science, I am inclined to think that if Auntie S really had the "S" (for Scrooge) gene, and "Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and psychotherapy" is what science recommends to address it, then that would be the end of the story because I don’t think she would ever be willing to put a dent on her golden accounts to pay for such a service.

Our closest genetic cousins, the chimps, may also be giving us a related insight on "generosity." A team led by Joan Silk of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) studied 29 chimps that involved giving rewards to chimps in two ways. One gave the chimp the chance to serve himself/herself with food, while the other gave him/her the same option but also enabled food delivery to another chimpanzee in the next enclosure within the chimps’ sight. Dr. Silk’s team found that the second option was not the likelier choice of the chimps even if it allowed them to give to another chimp at no costs to themselves. This was quite a revelation since chimpanzees have been observed to share food in the wild. Yes, these subject chimps were in captivity and were unrelated but they have been living together for 15 years! The study is published in the recent issue of the journal Nature.

When scientists study the links between genes and diseases, we are usually more open to their findings and suggestions but when it comes to genes and behavior, we are usually repelled by it. But I am more open to explanations like this because they make so much more sense than being told that we were "bad’ because the "devil" got us or that we were not "anchored" enough that the "devil" could easily sway us. That strips actions of their accountability and also hope for change, the kind that is within reach of our humanity, with clear thinking, understanding and awareness of what things could possibly make you behave the way you do. I think our fear of finding any genetic links to human behavior springs from our fear of determinism – that if we have the "Scrooge" gene, we will be Scrooge. But scientists are very careful to remind the public that anything that is smack of determinism between genes and behavior is hogwash. Even if the "S" gene lurks within you or whatever else DNA drama you have inherited, it is only a bio-chemical play within the more complex play of your larger life. Your "will" is not spelled with ATCG as DNA is; it is fleshed out and shaped by the environment, and more importantly, by your choices in life. We no longer live in caves and we no longer need to wait for the next season to hunt beast to skin and make it through the day that even if our genes are screaming "Hoard and Hide!", we can go tell them to shut their nasty little protein codes off because those "mechanisms" are no longer necessary. So Auntie S cannot come up with that scientific excuse and point to the ungenerous chimps and to her "S" genes and say they made her do it. That will simply be "Humbug."

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