• About This Guide
  
• How This Guide is Being Developed
  
• Philosophy of this guide
  
• Using this Guide
  
• Thinking Scientifically
  
• About the Author
  
• Documented Genes
  
• What is a documented gene?
  
• Black/Red (MC1R)
  
• Bay (ASIP)
  
• Cream/Pearl (SLC45A2)
  
• Dun (TBX3)
  
• Gray (STX17)
  
• Silver (PMEL17)
  
• Champagne (SLC36A1)
  
• Roan/Tobiano/Sabino/White Spotting (KIT)
  
• Splash White (MITF/PAX3)
  
• Leopard Complex (TRPM1/ECA3P)
  
• Frame (EDNRB)
  
• Tiger Eye (SLC24A5)
  
• Height Regulation (HMGA2/LCORL)
  
• Mushroom (MFSD12)
  
• Hypothetical Genes
  
• What is a hypothetical gene?
  
• Borrowed Genes
  
• Glossaries
  
• Glossary of Colors
  
• Glossary of Terms
  

Thinking Scientifically

• Last updated: 2026-01-14

  What makes thinking dogmatic?

  An idea is dogmatic when it is applied with rigid certainty, often because an authority figure, or peers said it was the truth. When someone is thinking dogmatically they don't apply a spirit of critical enquiry to information they have learned. They don't question the biases or larger context of the information. That information might still be true. The way of thinking about something does not make it true or false. However, rigid dogmatic thinking is the opposite of scientific thinking.

  
  

  What makes thinking scientific?

  Scientific thinking weighs the data presented against previously gathered evidence, applies careful observation, and most importantly revises its conclusions as new data is presented. We should all strive to approach genetics as a science that is ever growing and evolving in knowledge and never as a universal truth to be applied. Be wary of those who insist something is true without providing evidence and sources.