Look at him! He looked so tough, and he used to scared me a little bit, until I ‘met’ him at a photograph book lecture, and realized he was not scary at all, shorter than I had imagined, and seemed in fact to be an intensively interesting and also very nice guy.
He was on TV this morning to promote ‘Born to Rage?’, a new documentary he has done for National Geographic Channel, that will air on December 14.
The documentary investigates a fascinating subject, the discovery of a single gene, the ‘warrior gene’ directly associated with violent behavior.
A simple DNA test tells you if a person has the gene, and the movie is about Henry Rollins’ search for the warrior gene into his own history of rage, and others’ history with aggressive behavior from different backgrounds: foot soldiers in one of the most violent street gangs in East Los Angeles; fighters in the violent sport of mixed martial arts, Harley Davidson bikers, Navy SEAL veteran and Buddhist monks!
It’s a very disturbing discovery, which can stir up the usual debate nature-nurture, because, if you have this violent gene, can you be excused for having a violent or aggressive behavior? Of course, there is always the influence of the environment, but this genetic predisposition seems crucial, and Rollins said it has already been used in the courtroom to avoid someone to be convicted of first degree murder.
One-third of the male population has this warrior gene, and as a tease, Rollins did not say on TV if he had this violent gene, I suppose we have to watch the documentary to find out!
A simple cheek swab test and $99 can tell you if you have that gene, so if you are interested, go there: