&gt;  isn&#x27;t that actually quite a strong argument for &quot;biological determinism&quot;<p>Good question! You should go read some philosophy of biology, if you are interested in these issues, there&#x27;s ton of stuff about this debate. The issue, as you are right to sense, isn&#x27;t about &quot;biological&quot; determinism; rather it is about whether genes are special or unique compared to other cues that affect the development of the organism (such as gravity). It&#x27;s a complicated issue, with various implications. I actually don&#x27;t think Levins is particularly important for this debate, by the way. A little bit about it can be gleaned from this description:<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;plato.stanford.edu&#x2F;entries&#x2F;inheritance-systems&#x2F;#MonHolMulSysVie" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;plato.stanford.edu&#x2F;entries&#x2F;inheritance-systems&#x2F;#MonHo...</a>