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No Two Alike (Paperback)

by Judith Harris (Author)

4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: WW Norton; 1 edition (May 21 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0393329712
ISBN-13: 978-0393329711
Product Dimensions: 20.6 x 14 x 2.3 cm
Shipping Weight: 318 g

Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

Amazon.ca Sales Rank: #204,953 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

Why do identical twins who grow up together differ in personality? Harris attempts to solve that mystery. Her initial thesis in The Nurture Assumption: Why Children Turn Out the Way They Do is replaced here with a stronger, more detailed one based on evolutionary psychology. Reading this book is akin to working your way through a mystery novel—complete with periodic references to Sherlock Holmes. And Harris has a knack for interspersing scientific and research-laden text with personal anecdotes. Initially, she refutes five red herring theories of personality differences, including differences in environment and gene-environment interactions. Eventually, Harris presents her own theory, starting from modular notions of the brain (as Steven Pinker puts it, "the mind is not a single organ but a system of organs"). Harris offers a three-systems theory of personality: there's the relationship system, the socialization system and the status system. And while she admits her theory of personality isn't simple, it is thought provoking. Harris ties up the loose ends of the new theory, showing how the development of the three systems creates personality. Harris's writing is highly entertaining, which will help readers stick with her through the elaboration of a fairly complex theory. 12 b&w illus. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

The controversial author of The Nurture Assumption (1998)--in which it was argued that peer relations, not nature or nurture, were the driving force in child development--continues her exploration of what makes us the way we are. This time Harris offers a "scientific detective story" aimed at uncovering the secret of human individuality. Armed with new psychological theories and cutting-edge, high-tech tools, Harris takes a multidisciplinary approach to answering the nagging question of why identical twins raised in the same household often differ, sometimes dramatically, in personality? Harris delivers an answer (and, yes, it's sure to be controversial), but it's the quest itself that will prove most fascinating for general readers, who will marvel at the step-by-step accumulation of facts, as the author marshals her argument by adeptly juggling a wide array of tools, from new theories of evolutionary psychology to behavioral genetics and linguistics. Expect some off-the-book-page attention. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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3.0 out of 5 stars Not An Idea That Will Change the World., April 22 2008

By	Too Soon Old (Rothesay, New Brunswick Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

"No Two Alike" is really two books in one, and this makes it difficult to rate, as like the title of her book, the "two" are not "alike". The first half of Harris's book is devoted to responding to the critics of her first book, "The Nurture Assumption" in which she argued quite convincingly that parent nurturing after age three or four does not have the importance in forming children's personality and behavior that parents would like to think. Many people, especially in the academic community, took exception to this and attacked her views, in part because she has no academic qualifications. Harris has taken much of this criticism personally and she has some scores to settle.

The first part of "No Two Alike" is devoted to a well documented attack on her critics, which at times becomes somewhat sarcastic in tone. She even feels it necessary to make some references to her own physical situation and limitations in perhaps an unconscious attempt to draw some sympathy to herself. Although I agreed with the common sense arguments and scientific studies she references to support the ideas she presented in "The Nurture Assumption", for some reason in "No Two Alike" she does not admit to why many people quite naturally take exception to what she had to say until the very end of the book. It is human nature for people to want to believe that the way they raise their kids is having some effect, and the last thing a parent wants to hear is that what they do is not particularly useful. For some strange reason she claims that "the feeling of parental importance needn't be built in." At one point though she does admit that as a child she "flunked socialization" and it is easy to see why. She definitely has no problem with self esteem however.

Ultimately the nature of the argument between Harris and her critics can best be summed up by paraphrasing Henry Kissinger's observation about university politics, that the reason disputes between academics become so vicious, are that the stakes are so small.

Once Harris has gets the bile out her system and reestablished her original premise about the limitations of nurture, in the second half of the book, she settles down to develop her theory (strictly speaking it is really only a hypothesis) that personality differences between twins and people in general are created not by parental nurture, birth order or several other "red herrings", but through a combination of genetics, peer relationships, socialization, and status. As in her first book she does a great job of explaining what, with the assist of some reader introspection, are arguments that appeal to the common sense experience of our own childhoods.

Ultimately though does any of this really matter except to academics? Few parents will change their attitudes towards their kids as a result of reading this book and apparently it would not matter much if they did anyway. I would suggest you should only read this book if you think her arguments in "The Nurture Assumption" make sense and it generated a Judith Harris reading itch you feel compelled to scratch.

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4.0 out of 5 stars It's not just random...wait, maybe it is, Nov 16 2006

By	Peter Marrier (Winnipeg, MB, Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: No Two Alike (Hardcover)

Judith Harris does an excellent job explaining why current theories of personality don't explain the evidence, and she does an excellent job de-bunking a lot of research that has been used to support these theories. She then offers her own theory, which makes a lot of sense, and invites others to test it, though she admits that testing it may be very difficult.

The greatest strength of the book is the fresh thinking it brings to the sources of personality differences. Harris's proposals of the mind's relationship, socialization and status systems are unlikely to survive intact as more thinkers and researchers advance the subject, but they are excellent starting points for new research and new theories.

In the end, some readers may be disappointed by Harris's theory. Early in the book, she concedes that minor random events and fluctuations may have some effect on personality, but she promises us that this is not the main effect she is looking for. However, in the end, her theory relies on those small random effects and fluctuations in order to provide the initial differences for her proposed mental systems to work on. She tells us it is not about randomness, but then tells us that it is basically about the amplification of randomness, which to me means that it is largely about randomness. However, just because a theory is not satisfying doesn't mean it is not a good theory, and Harris's is a good theory. Even if, at the end, you are not convinced, the journey makes this book worthwhile.

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5.0 out of 5 stars From shibboleths to systems, Jun 30 2006

By	Stephen A. Haines (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: No Two Alike (Hardcover)

For someone nearly housebound and bereft of academic qualifications, Harris is an imposing figure in the world of social behaviour. Her earlier book having raised a storm of controversy among academics, this one will extend the arena to family relations. There is probably no greater shibboleth than the notion that parents are wholly responsible for how their children develop. In this book, Harris demolishes that idea. She applies the mode of a "detective story" to line up evidence and possible perpetrators. Although much of the focus in this book relies on the study of twins, she also raises the issue of birth order and how each of us interacts at home, school and social contact. With an easy, conversational style and use of much evidence, Harris has once again built a cogent and convincing argument.

As with every "detective novel", the investigator must eliminate possible perpetrators. Harris defines a number of "red herrings" that she must dispense with prior to presenting her own thesis of what drives our relationships with others. Among the outdated or mistaken ideas she tackles are those of Freud and the "blank slate" aficionados. This latter has come to dominate both academic and family thinking about raising offspring. Whatever the shifting fashions of psychology have favoured, the one element long overlooked has been the evolutionary basis of family development. The growing field of evolutionary psychology is helping to fill that gap. Harris draws on many scholars of the past generation in support of her desire to call attention to our genetic roots. Steven Pinker, John Tooby and Leda Cosmides loom large in her narrative. Skirting the term "sociobiology" as likely too inflammatory, she still pays homage to Edward O. Wilson's efforts to equate the social species of our world.

One of the major targets of her updating of social thinking is the "correlation". It's possible to measure a child's behaviour and that of its family. The flaw in the research has been to assign cause through correlation. Harris contends there's no evidence to support the link. While most families regard themselves as at least guiding their offspring's behaviour, she shows that it's equally likely the child is driving theirs. With nearly half a child's conduct due to genetic drive, attributing traits to parental influence alone has little basis. Moreover, many home behaviours are shed when the child departs the home for school. An entire new set of rules for interaction arise in the classroom and playground. There, the issues of acceptance in various groups become the dominant concern. Classroom performance influences how one is viewed by peers, as is physique, deportment and understanding rank. These are complex issues, strongly interacting. Even sibling rivalry seems simple by comparison. There, the dealings are with only a few in a relatively fixed environment. Outside the home, the situation becomes almost infinitely complex. Yet, the child must learn to adapt to it.

Harris thinks our brains have mechanisms to deal with that complexity. After all, she reminds us, we've had several million years to develop the ability to make those adjustments. The mechanisms she proposes are a trio of "systems". The "Relationship System" begins at home with parents and siblings. It must be greatly enhanced as the child moves from home to school and beyond. Obviously, it must be highly flexible, allowing for rapid change in varying environments. The second, the "Socialisation System" has a foundation in home life, but must be drastically reconfigured when moving from home to school, then in later life. Finally, but hardly least, is the "Status System". "Status" in home life has been dealt with in the "birth order" scenarios put forward by Frank Sulloway. Harris, who challenged Sulloway in her earlier book, completes the task here.

In conclusion, Harris notes that her "Systems" are theoretical. If they lack "hard" evidence to sustain, that is the nature of a new concept. She implores academic and other researchers to take up these questions and pursue them more fully. Not only are the ideas complex and deal with difficult interactions, there are ethical issues to contend with. How do you perform "experiments" in family, school or social structures. Those who have already attempted it, have caused irreparable damage to some subjects. Along with dispensing with "red herrings" then, Harris has constructed a solid base for further investigation. It's a tempting scenario for young readers to consider entering. It's to be hoped they will take up the challenge. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

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