The sequence of our genes is what we are, but genes are only a small fraction of our DNA. It is a very long double helix chain unique to each of us consisting of pairs of only four nucleotides, adenine, guanine, cytosine and thymine. It is all biochemical and it determines how, when, and where every cell in our bodies develops, lives, and functions. It determines our development from the moment of conception and determines virtually everything about us from skin color to hair texture to diseases we may be predisposed to, and it certainly includes our intelligence. If we could exactly clone Albert Einstein's brain, we would not have Albert Einstein, but the neural functioning, the synapses, and the mental capacity would be identical in every way. But if intelligence was mostly nurture vs. nature, or developed instead of inherited as you and Mike contend, we would expect to find that Albert Einstein or Stephen Hawking's siblings who were raised by the same parents under virtually the same conditions and environment would also be geniuses. That just does not happen.

I just finished telling Mike I just didn't have the time tonite to provide the links to prove my contention, but for the hell of it, I just took a quick look at several articles. I noted that we could both find plenty of links to "prove" our contentions, but the majority seem to favor nature over nurture as a predictor of intelligence. Here is one good article you might enjoy. http://www.wired.com/2013/07/genetics-of-iq/

I'm sure you'll find a few gotcha's in it, but I found the ideas put forth by Steve Hsu very interesting where he feels that the genome may have as many as 10,000 different locations that determine intelligence, and that mutations on some of them, inherited or otherwise, have an additive negative effect upon our intelligence. In other words, an Albert Einstein or a Stephen Hawking has a lesser number of mutations in those estimated 10,000 locations where zero or few mutations might produce a 150 I.Q. and 100 mutations might produce a 100 or average I.Q. I do know from reading prior twin studies that nurture or upbringing has a small effect upon I.Q. which is why I strongly believe that it is mostly inherited. And the Kenyan athlete I mentioned earlier will still need training and conditioning to win Marathons despite being genetically predisposed to running long distances quickly.

A true sign of mental illness is any gun owner who would vote for an Anti-Gunner like Joe Biden.