He is the wisest who knows that he does not know ^Socrates

A small group of highly visible figures now exert disproportionate control over the public narrative on ADHD and neurodevelopment more broadly.

Through bestselling books, podcasts, and institutional authority, they repeat a message that sounds scientific, compassionate, and reassuring:

ADHD is largely genetic,

biologically fixed,

and not something to be prevented.

Rising prevalence, we are told, reflects recognition rather than change.

Environment is acknowledged, but only as a secondary modifier, never as a primary driver.

The framing feels careful. It is not. It rests on a fundamental error:

treating heritability as destiny.

They would do well by heeding Socrates.

In ADHD Unpacked, this move is made explicitly.

The authors write that “what we do know (almost certainly) is that ADHD is largely a genetic disorder, which means the main reason we have it lies in our DNA,”

This repeatedly reinforces this claim by citing twin studies showing ADHD to be “about 70 to 80 per cent genetic,” and concluding that “it is fair to say that ADHD is largely genetic.”

Simon Baron-Cohen makes the same move in public discourse.

He appeared on The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast (What Do We Actually Know About Autism?, Episode 562),

he cites twin-study heritability figures of around 70 per cent as evidence of a strong genetic basis for autism.

He explicitly chastises the use of the word “prevent,” treating it as conceptually inappropriate.

The implication is unmistakable: if a condition is highly heritable, prevention is either impossible or morally suspect.

That implication is wrong.

And the warning against this exact inference has been repeatedly issued by the very field to…