Interesting presentation focusing on how genetic and environmental factors affect one’s propensity to addiction. I liked at the end how she looped scientific endeavour back into a pursuit of best practices for the whole community, not just the scientific one.
She calls it an interplay between the two; they both affect in different ways, and ultimately everyone is their own expression of dynamics between genetics & environment, but no one is limited to them. The hope is that having this understanding within the context of an individual’s practice would help free themselves of certain self-sustaining loops.
Her work has been performed within the context of addiction, mainly alcohol, but seems worth recognizing that the same mechanics are at play through a wide number of life equations – many potential forms with the same dynamic at play.
It is interesting that by increasing feedback loops and freeing ourselves of these habitual patterns, transcending them, we can individually contribute to creating a better environment, leading to more positive outcomes for more people. That is what evolution looks like in the 21st century – individual and cultural. A strong culture looks more like a mountain than a spire – a much wider base of inclusion. And, ultimately, this dynamic forms the bedrock of right practice.