https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31785281/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31785281/ > Testosterone is often considered a critical regulator of aggressive behav

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31785281/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31785281/ > Testosterone is often considered a critical regulator of aggressive behaviour. There is castration/replacement evidence that testosterone indeed drives aggression in some species, but causal evidence in humans is generally lacking and/or-for the few studies that have pharmacologically manipulated testosterone concentrations-inconsistent. […] > Baseline testosterone shared a weak but significant association with aggression […] in men […] but not women […] Changes in T were positively correlated with aggression […] in men […] but not women […]. The causal effects of testosterone on human aggression were weaker yet, and not statistically significant […] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33309817/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33309817/ > The behavioral tendency to react aggressively increased in three studies out of four (at three months follow-up), whereas only one study out of five found angry emotions to increase (at seven months follow-up). In contrast, one out of three studies reported a decrease in hostility after initiation of testosterone therapy. The remaining studies found no change in aggressive behavior, anger or hostility during hormone therapy. You're arguing that humans are not “blank slates”. I do not dispute this. I do dispute that it's as simplistic as you claim: the evidence that my quick PubMed search turned up is consistent with the idea that testosterone increases arousal in humans, and the effects of that depend on the person and how they believe they're expected to act. This is the case with alcohol (which https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1403295/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1403295/ and https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11469-020-00321-0 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11469-020-00321-0 seem to support). People without the concept of a violent drunk tend to get happy and sleepy when taking alcohol, without exhibiting violent behaviour, whereas people who usually get violent when they're drunk will get violent even if they're not drunk, if they think they are. Does alcohol cause violence, in humans? Well… depends what you mean by those words – but it's true to say that it's cultural.