The remarkably productive mid-twentieth century modern synthesis of genetics with evolution slanted our understanding of evolution and of ourselves, leaving gaps that social and life sciences have since been filling. Boundary crossings inform our understanding of behaviour's role in evolution, supporting a more open, participatory image of humanity. The geographies of thought and emotion suggest social influences on and consequences of biological thought and folk biology, with implications in turn for our prospects of living sustainably.  In this paper we attempt to elucidate these connections. We appeal for loosening the cultural collar of genetic determinism by affirming in theory and in the public square a more open image of human "nature", as science reveals it to be - the constructed, context dependent, causally distributed, product of development. Though not panacean, it would help. Achieving the collective self-regulation sustainability requires of us may depend on straightening slanted reasoning about ourselves.