Dr. Giordana Grossi recently published an analysis of the concept of “hardwiring” as used in psychology and neuroscience. The article, titled “Hardwiring: Innateness in the Age of the Brain,” is an in-depth analysis of the meanings associated with the term in the past 50 years. The author documented at least 11 different meanings. Such analysis reveals a partial overlap with the concept of innateness and a familiar (and misleading) way of conceptualizing human behavior and development in terms of dichotomies (innate vs. unlearned, nature vs. nurture, hardwired vs. softwired, etc.). As various complications arise from such overlap, the author argues against the usefulness and legitimacy of “hardwiring” in scientific discourse.
The peer-review paper is published in the philosophy of science journal Biology and Psychology and can be found here.
