Schizophrenia Genetic Research: Still Running on Empty
By Jay Joseph, Psy.D. Awais Aftab’s arguments in his 3/21/2020 post “ Defending Aggregate Genetic Effects in Psychiatric Disorders ” are based largely on his claim that the “high genetic heritability of schizophrenia” and other major psychiatric disorders “has been pretty consistently reported in [the] literature.” Indeed it has, but the “literature” could still be wrong, especially when it is based on the acceptance of false assumptions, and on textbook and other authoritative authors’ frequent failure to critically analyze (or even read closely ) the original “landmark” studies they cite. Not to mention that, as a pair of critics wrote, “ The term ‘heritability,’ as it is used today in human behavioral genetics, is one of the most misleading in the history of science.” (See my description of the “heritability fallacy ” HERE .) Aftab then asked, in relation to Duncan Double’s 3/20/2020 commentary “ The Causes of Psychiatric Illness ,” whether Double can “cite even one good