Genetics and the Individual

By W. F. Twyman, Jr.

Mar 22, 2025

There are over 8 billion people alive and living on the planet. Over 8 billion unique and one-of-a-kind combinations of snps and genes, chromosomes and alleles, save for 3 million identical twins and a negligible number of identical triplets and so forth and so on. For over 99% of the population, there will never be another you, another me. Each of you, dear readers, are so special as to approach the divine. The divine lies in our genes.

“No human in one lifetime could ever know all there is to know about everyone in their life — let alone about tens of even hundreds of millions of people. It is an impossible task. As a result, we are susceptible to caricatures and popular stereotypes about many things, including race. But we can get to see and know others as individuals, and there is no better path for finding common ground and understanding than by speaking plainly and listening attentively.” —Letters in Black and White: A New Correspondence on Race in America, p. 12.

I cannot lay out on a table before you over 8 billion human genomes and show you how we are all variations of the same stuff of life. Wish I could but I can’t. When you put aside race and Blackness and ancestral grievances and tribalism and unexamined lives and examine the deepness of our lives, one comes to the building stuff of life, our genes. As your essayist, I can share with you my genetic essence, my most individual me. I invite you this evening to know me this evening in a color indifferent world where combinations of alleles and chromosomes pre-packaged me at conception on or about November 30, 1960.

What are my building blocks of life that made me me?

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I am me, a unique combination of genes from my Mom and Dad. I am predisposed to have a high strung personality which my buddy, Dan, takes advantage of from time to time. I read about a reparations discount and I am consumed with reaction. I wrote a book over four years because some one said to me “Blackness is Oppression, Nothing Else Matters” on April 21, 2018. I wrote about nearly 150 pioneer black lawyers over five years to channel my frustration with dogma and slogan words. I created this lonely Substack on March 23, 2023 because I wanted to live an examined life. I wrote an opinion piece for the New York Post because I could not tolerate a certain poseur as President of Harvard University. I could not believe my daughter’s opposition to framing a lovely picture of President George Washington in our home, so I wrote it out in two opinion pieces, one for the Richmond Times-Dispatch and the other for the Chicago Tribune.

Yes, I can be high strung. Fault my genes individual to me.

High Strung Personality. I am 100% likely to show a high strung personality. I have the GG alleles on my cell adhesion molecule 1 (CASM2). My Chromosome 3 marked me for life from conception. “A high stung person is one of the characters of “Type-A” personality which is also described as hard-driving, competitive, time-urgent and hostile-irritable. Individuals with high-strung personalities may be praised for their ambitious or goal-centered nature, or else criticized for their lack of patience and elevated stress levels.”

I prefer the label “emotionally intense” but why quibble. My point is oppression and white supremacy were not present in my Mom’s womb when two G G alleles came together on my Chromosome 3. That was divinity.

I am like my intense Southern Baptist uncles, pastors who brought congregants to a state of happiness with their words of faith Sunday mornings. My uncles never doubted their faith in God and the coming of a better time.

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I have an abnormally large hippocampus. On my day of conception, the alleles came together for me and created an outsized hippocampus or memory bank. Didn’t ask for it, fate blessed me. And so I approached school with a natural advantage over my classmates which I did not squander. Great genes are just part of the story. One has to have the presence of mind to use blessings in life. My race was irrelevant to the random combination of alleles.

Strong Memory Performance

One of my tools for living life was a tendency for strong memory performance. Ideal for the classroom six, ten and twelve years after conception. There is a whiff of a connection between an abnormally large hippocampus and a high-functioning autism but let’s not go there/smile. And besides, we prefer the label “quirky” in my dysfunctional family. The Royal Tenenbaums

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More Acute Mathematical Ability

Although I have the genetic stuff for more acute mathematical ability, those snps and alleles passed me by and skipped a generation. Notably, my Aunt Amy Wilson and my older son are probably math geniuses, so go figure. For the curious, my genetic report says I am 100% likely to have a strong acute mathematical ability. Why? I bear the SPOCK1 gene, CC alleles on my Chromosome 5. The SNPS ID is rs11743006. Read the report A Genome-Wide Association Study Identifies Genetic Variants Associated with Mathematics Ability published by Huan Chen, Xiao-Hong Gu, Yuxi Zhou, Zeng Ge, Bin Wang, Wai Ting Siok, Guoqing Wang, Michael Huen, Yuyang Jiang, Li-Hai Tan, Yimin Sun^.

There are several questions that come to my mind. First, is great mathematical ability genetic? Second, do we see genetic evidence of great mathematical ability in my Aunt Amy Wilson and my older son? Third, don’t you agree that race is irrelevant to great genetic positioning for acute mathematical ability? Fourth, why do I carry the right alleles and Snps for acute mathematical ability but have no discernable acute mathematical ability whatsoever? Fifth, shouldn’t we focus on the individual more and the racial group less when it comes to math performance in grade schools?

My Aunt Amy Wilson would find news stories about lowering math standards for black students to be incredibly offensive. So much so she would lose her mind/oops! Love you Aunt Amy Wilson/smile.

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Spatial Attention

Conception had another blessing for me, spatial attention. I am 100% likely to have higher spatial attention skill. This just means “the ability to choose relevant information and ignore irrelevant stimuli. Spatial orienting is a response to objects detected by the eyes and it begins to develop early in life.” Remember how I observed minute details about Shelby’s genius for music? I am hyper observant just like my Bright and Morning Star. We share these genes, our ancestral inheritance, not oppression but a SNP in the COMT gene, which affects dopamine signaling in the prefrontal cortex. This is our Super Power enabling us to control selective attention. The alleles are GG. Chromosome 22, SNPIS rs4680. It is amazing that I can discern the genetic building block I received upon conception in 1960 and that my New Haven Star received upon conception in 2002. Same genetic trait. No white supremacy involved, thank you very much.

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First Autographical Memories

I am off the charts when it comes to genetic predisposition for first autographic memories. I am made to remember everything that ever happened to me in living color and detail. For my faithful readers over the past two years, this genetic blessing is no surprise. My wife has a weak memory for details of her early life. She is always amazed that I remember stark details like bagging groceries for Julie’s Dad at Ukrop’s. I have moved on but just saying….

So let’s talk about this genetic tool in my arsenal for living life.

I am 100% more likely to recall more details for positive and negative events. “The majority of people usually report specific events as their first autobiographical memories. It has been suggested that the first autobiographical memories are mostly of emotional events and the autobiographical memory skills develop alongside other cognitive attainments and are influenced by socialization throughout the preschool years. Most people date the first events they can recall to an age of three to four years and women report more specific memories in their life histories compared to men.”

What happened at conception that gave me this genetic trait? Two GG alleles. The gene is COMT on my Chromosome 22. The rs4680. Just imagine how oblivious my parents were to the random mixing of the genetic stuff of life. We should all love our genetic uniqueness. Every one of us — we are all one of a kind in the vast universe.

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Strong Tendency to be Open-Minded

Who is surprised by this genetic trait of mine?

On that fateful date of conception, I received a heavy dose of open mindedness. I could not be closed minded and incurious if I tried. '“Openness indicates the extent to which a person is open to new experiences and ideas. Someone with a high level of openness is imaginative, curious, and open-minded. Psychologists have defined openness as one of the five psychological traits (the “Big 5”) forming the basis of personality.”

I have a strong tendency to be open-minded on multiple genetic levels. I have two TT alleles on my Chromosome 17, SNP ID rs4990638. Add into the mix two CC alleles on my Chromosome 2, SNP rs1879637. And cementing the deal would be two GG alleles on Chromosome X, SNP ID rs6610953. I came into the world very curious, more than the average bear. Curiosity leads to giftedness, I suspect.

My Mom knew none of this genetic information as she gave birth to me. She just recognized as I was a toddler and pre schooler that I always asked questions, that I questioned things like my math genius Aunt Amy Wilson, that I was moved by Mom’s brothers at the pulpit in a way serious beyond my years.

I made Mom happy.

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Before I continue, a young writer I know just welcomed a baby into the world. Congratulations and well-wishes from me!

Social Rejection

I am not feeling it. Like this whole need to conform and ape the latest directive from Far Left Mission Control. Nope, not me. Never was me.

When I was conceived, I received a genetic mix that made me 100% more likely to be resilient to social rejection. I just don’t care, which is a great asset for a writer. “Social rejection or deliberate exclusion from social interaction by individuals or groups, can be a painful experience. Literally. Growing evidence has suggested that psychological distress due to social rejection shares a similar neural pathway with the experience of physical pain. Like with physical pain, tolerance to social rejection depends on the person, and some of this is already wired into your DNA.”

I thank my OPRM1 gene associated with dispositional and neural sensitivity to social rejection. Digging deeper, we see I inherited two AA alleles which meant I was less sensitive to social rejection. My Chromosome 6, SPN ID rs1799971, came in handy when encountering racial bullies and slurs of Acting White. I don’t feel it. I don’t care.

Imagine if we injected this gene, allele and SPN ID on the Chromosome 6 of every Black American. Would we see a dramatic drop in conformity and group think? I think so. Providence blessed me with a super weapon against racial bullying.

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High Impulse Control

At the age of 15 years old, my genes predisposed me to think things through before acting. “Teenagers, undergoing important developmental changes, are likely to engage in risky behavior, often on a whim. Impulsivity, or the tendency to swiftly act without careful consideration of possible effects, is stereotypically adolescent, but some teenagers can be especially wild. Interestingly, among teens who had negative psychosocial experiences when they were younger, their genotype influences their tendency toward impulsivity.”

I was never an at-risk teen. I was never a potential drug dealer or car jacker. This conduct was alien to me as a youngster for a million and one reasons. We should appreciate how my genetic inheritance upon conception set me up for a life on the straight and narrow course.

In addition to my wonderful Mom, Dad, Grandma, Uncles, Aunts, and Friends in Grade School, I thank the hand of providence for giving me two CC alleles which meant I was wired to be less impulsive than the average kid at age 15. The gene CNRT1, Chromosome 6, SNP ID rs1049353. Oppression and racism were irrelevant to the fateful mixture of genetic material in my Mom’s belly in late 1960.

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Social Network

I do not have the gene for social networking My close family members are natural-born networkers. It is a wonder to behold my Mother-in-law at any social event. She is the last person to leave and always leaves with a friend and contact. My wife is the same way as are my children. It is incredible. Where did my adult children come from?

I am the opposite. I prefer solitude and a good book. If I were more social, this Substack would not be a lonely Substack but I have to be true to myself.

Let’s face it — I am more likely to have trouble expanding my social network. “Most people crave a sense of community, a social network on which they can depend. After all, human beings are social animals. Today, with 2/3 of American adults using Facebook and billions of internet users, networking and finding your community can be done at our fingertips. However, maintaining and expanding your personal and professional networks can be challenging . While most people can improve their social skills, some — especially those with a variant at the dopamine receptor D2 gene — are more likely to be natural at networking.”

Blame my genes. I have two CC alleles which lends itself to a narrower social network. The Chromosome is 11, the SNP ID is rs1076560.

So lonely girl.

Yesterday, I was losing my motivation for writing. What was the purpose? What was my motive? As I have a narrow social network and my family have wished my writing into the cornfield, I reached out to a young writer who gets me. I asked, why? Why continue writing? I can’t go on without knowing my motivation. She understood me as a fellow introvert. I said I was writing to understand and to tell the truth. But times had changed. The Woke were defeated. Why continue? She said, to tell the truth. A simple thing and, after reading her text, I decided to keep going on.

So my writing sees another day.

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Impact of Autistic Traits on Social Anxiety

My Dad has never been comfortable in social gatherings. Even among his brothers and sisters at Grandma’s house, he held his head down and only talked when spoken to. Social anxiety is part of his makeup, and me too although less so. Once again, I prefer the label quirky, not autistic. Anyway, “autistic traits exhibit a variety of characteristics such as difficulty in communicating and socializing, repetitive or stereotypical behaviors, or obsession with numbers and letters. A positive association between autistic traits and social anxiety has been reported not only in patients with autism spectrum disorder but also in the general population.”

My Mom would punish me by making me attend dances and parties. I was not a social person in grade school.

Credit my FKBP5 gene, the two AA alleles which increase social anxiety on Chromosome 6, SNP ID rs3800373.

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Positive Optimism

I have a gene for positive optimism. At the end of the day, my default setting is onwards and upwards. Sure, I can be moody but then I return to happiness which is my natural state of affairs. Perhaps, my boredom with race is because I weary of gloom and doom commentators. It is not me.

Conclusion: When my young writer reminded me of writing as truth, she asked me what did I want to write about? I fired off about seven to ten ideas. The top idea was this essay Genetics and the Individual. For you see, there are 8 billion beautiful combinations of all manner of genes and alleles, SNPs and chromosomes in the human condition. Would we know each other at a divine level of understanding, we must explore the building blocks of the individual. What makes you tick? What makes me tick? What made my Aunt Amy Wilson tick? My Mom? My Dad?

I will never know anyone if I only know one’s race. I want to know people as deeply as I can. And the curiosity leads me to alleles, genes, snps and chromosomes.

Try seeing the individual and not the race for a change. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Another day and still I write….