Classic Debate: Parenting Doesn’t Matter (Or Not As Much As You Think)

Intelligence Squared

Arts, News, Society & Culture, News Commentary

4.2 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 19 February 2025

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For today's Classic Debate we're revisiting our 2018 debate "Parenting Doesn’t Matter (Or Not As Much As You Think)". We were joined by Professor of Behavioural Genetics Robert Plomin, the Developmental Clinical Psychologist Susan Pawlby, therapist, parenting counsellor and broadcaster Ann Pleshette Murphy, and Stuart Ritchie, lecturer in social genetics and developmental psychiatry and author of Science Fictions. Hosting the debate was Doctor and broadcaster, Dr Xand van Tulleken. ------- If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events ... Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Intelligence Squared. I'm Connor Boyle. It's the Sunday debate and we're revisiting a conversation from 2018, in which we got to the heart of nature versus nurture.
0:12.0	How much do our parents influence the people we turn out to be?
0:16.0	It might feel like the most natural thing in the world, but parenting, how to do it well and the tools to do it with is a multi-billion dollar industry.
0:25.4	Books such as raising happy kids and the conscious parent tell us that we're very much in control of the situation.
0:32.1	But is it really that simple? Back in 2018, we brought together a panel of experts to explore just how important parenting is.
0:39.5	We were joined by Professor of Behavioral Genetics, Robert Plowman, Susan Polby, the developmental clinical psychologist, therapist, parenting counselor and broadcaster, Anne Plachette Murphy, and Stuart Ritchie, who you may have heard on the podcast previously for his book, Science Fictions,
0:55.7	and he's a lecturer in social genetics and developmental psychiatry.
0:59.4	Our host for the debate was Dr. and TV presenter Zand Van Tulligan.
1:03.4	Just hit that subscribe button, and you'll be directly supporting us in continuing what we do,
1:08.4	bringing you deep discussions, smart debates and asking the big questions.
1:12.0	Now back to today, here's Dr. Zan Van Tulligan with more.
1:19.5	Thank you all for coming. This is very exciting. The motion is parenting doesn't matter or not as much as you
1:30.3	think. We have four amazing speakers. Let me talk you through our first speaker who is in favor of the
1:37.9	motion. Robert Plowman believes that parenting doesn't matter or not nearly as much as you might
1:43.7	think.
1:50.5	He is a psychologist and a professor of behavioral genetics at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology,
1:52.2	and Neuroscience at King's College London. And his new book, Blueprint, How DNA Makes Us Who We Are, argues that the most important thing
1:59.0	our parents give us is our genes,
2:01.5	and that parenting styles don't really affect children's outcomes.
2:06.3	Robert, take it away.
2:11.7	When I was in graduate school, 45 years ago,
2:21.8	psychology was so dominated by environmentalism,
	...

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